I tried to study for the HSC-- well what I call study, however it wasn't as much as most of my friends did. I had never studied for anything before and I didn't know how to do it (I still don't). I was very stressed because of this-- I never felt as prepared as everyone else because I didn't know the stuff well enough and relied waaaaay too much on bullshitting skills.
I think working hard is worth it, because although I spent Yr 12 pretty happy about the fact that I was breezing through not doing any work and pretty much bludging the whole time.
I freaked out before the exams because of how much I had to know for the HSC. I had never studied before, so I didn't know how to and I never felt as prepared as all my friends and ended up feeling like I failed every exam. By my last exam, I had pretty much given up studying.
I guess I relied mostly on natural ability but my UAI was only 89.70 and all my friends who worked really hard got 98.10, 96.9, 94.9 & 94.0.... I guess the numbers speak for themselves. If you rely only on your natural ability, you will always have this regret that maybe you could have achieved more than you did. If I had studied throughout the whole year I wouldnt have felt so stressed going into my HSC exams because I would have known the stuff and wouldnt have been bullshitting most of it.
I guess I'm saying, hard work pays off and you won't have regrets about your UAI, so don't rely only on natural ability because it can only get you so far. Working hard and studying will result in a much calmer HSC exam period and less stress during exams. Just IMO.