To help support high school students achieve their best, the Higher School Certificate (HSC) is being reformed.
The changes are designed to help motivate and challenge students to achieve at their highest possible level, reduce excessive stress and give students more skills and career options.
The reform will create stronger HSC standards by focusing on:
The changes will provide a flexible HSC that caters to all students' needs, with options for further study extensions. Plagiarism and pre-prepared responses will also be reduced.
From 2020, all Year 12 students in NSW must reach the minimum standard of numeracy and literacy to receive an HSC. This means students undertaking Year 9 in 2017 will be the first students expected to meet the minimum standard.
NSW Educational Standards Authority (NESA) is responsible for the reforms, which emerged from extensive consultation over three years. We will continue working with teachers, educators, parents, business and the community to ensure the reforms provide a solid grounding for all students.
The New South Wales Education Standards Authority (NESA) has produced information pamphlets to explain the changes that will be introduced for students studying for the HSC from the Year 11 year in 2018.
- Flyer - Stronger HSC Parent (pdf 985 KB)
- Flyer - Stronger HSC Students (pdf 1383 KB)
- New syllabus guide - parent (pdf 207 KB)
- Implementation Timeline (pdf 328 KB)
The NESA President has also written to all Year 9 parents and students to explain the impact of the changes to minimum standards linked to the NAPLAN tests. Copies can be downloaded from the below links;
Further information can be found by clicking the below site;