Can I ask you, how on earth did you manage to finish all the other sections of the exam but not the R and R section? That's pretty weird. In what order did you do the sections of the exam? If I were you, I would have done the exam in the order of firstly fixing up my answers for listening, then doing the R and R section, and lastly doing the writing section, which is the most flexible part of the exam that you can manipulate if you are pressed for time. Anyway, to answer your question, I really don't know, but I'd guess that if you are doing French continuers; and you have an average mark of 85+ across all of your internal assessments, even with an overall rank of 30/50; and you maintain all those excellent marks across speaking, listening, and writing together with a drastically huge improvement in the R and R section when you do the HSC exam, you will have a good chance of earning a band 6. However, I must ask you, does it really matter if you still can get a band 6 or not in this subject? Are you going to put less effort into French because you are rather doubtful about earning a mark in that band? If so, I have to tell you, what's in the past is in the past and you can't do anything about it. Don't go worrying or trying to control something you can't control as it doesn't do s h i t (sorry for swearing if you are demure and all, but no other word does what I am saying by this justice) and you will only lose and suffer from it in the end. You did your best in the circumstances of the time, so stop flapping about your rank because you can't do s h i t about it now and just study your ass off and try your best to get the best mark you possibly can get even if you feel that the chances for you of earning a band 6 may be a bit forlorn. Anyhow, in extrapolating from your excellent marks across all the other sections besides R and R (improve on that), I am 100% sure that you will get a high band 5 as a minimum mark in the HSC in French and, as you probably already know, a high band 5 and higher (i.e. a mark of 85+) in a language subject at the continuers level scales will very well, and, plus, when you get into university nobody gives a crap about what you got in the HSC or what your ATAR was, well, unless if you decide to transfer into another more competitive course or university along the way.