HSC Information

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General Information

The HSC in 2024/25
  • The Higher School Certificate recognises 13 years of schooling, or its equivalent, in pathways (ie you can take up to 5 years to finish your HSC year). In the interests of greater career choices and increased opportunities at university and TAFE, it offers you a full range of study areas matching individual abilities, interests and goals.
  • Some courses will be linked to further education and training.
  • Extension courses (including undergraduate university courses) will enable students to undertake more in-depth study in areas of special interest.
  • Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses can count towards the HSC and will also lead to qualifications recognised across a range of industries.
  • The HSC can include life skills courses for students with special education needs to a predetermined list of outcomes.
  • The HSC fairly assesses each student’s knowledge and skills.
  • If you meet the minimum standard expected in a course, you will receive a mark of 50. If you have a higher standard of performance, you will receive a higher mark.
  • For each course you will receive easy-to-understand reports which contain much more information. These reports provide clearer indications of what a student has demonstrated she/he knows, understands and can do in each course.
Eligibility Requirements for the HSC

To be awarded the HSC students must:

  • Satisfactorily complete courses that meet the pattern of study required by NESA for the award of the HSC. This includes the completion of the practical, oral or project works required for specific courses as well as the assessment requirements for each course;
  • Sit and made a serious attempt at the Higher School Certificate examinations;
  • Study a minimum of 12 units in Preliminary and a minimum of 10 units in the HSC Course;
  • Complete the HSC: All My Own Work program; and
  • Demonstrate a minimum standard of literacy and numeracy.

Requirements for Preliminary (Year 11) and the HSC (Year 12)

  • In Preliminary, students must study a minimum of 12 units.
  • In the HSC, students must study a minimum of 10 units.
  • Students must satisfactorily complete the Year 11 Course before they are eligible to commence the HSC.

Both the Preliminary and HSC courses of study must include:

  • At least 6 units from Board Developed Courses, including at least two units of a Board Developed Course in English
  • At least 3 courses of two units in value or greater
  • At least four subjects (including English)
  • At most six units of courses in Science that can count towards Higher School Certificate eligibility
What Are Units?

All courses offered for the Higher School Certificate have a unit value. Subjects may have a value of 1, 2 or 4 unit(s). Most courses are 2 units. Each unit involves class time of approximately 2 hours per week (60 hours per year). In the HSC, each unit has a value of 50 marks. Hence a 2 unit course has a value of 100 marks.

2 units = 4 hours per week (120 hours per year) = 100 marks

The following is a guideline to help you understand the pattern of courses:

  • 1 Unit Course: 1 unit equals approximately 2 hours of class time each week or 60 hours per year and is given a mark out of 50.
  • 2 Unit Course: This is the basic structure for all courses. Each 2 unit course has a value of 100 marks and class time of 120 hours per year.

Extension Course

Extension study is available in a number of subjects. Extension courses mostly build on the content of a 2 unit course and carry an additional value of 1 or 2 units. Requiring students to work beyond the standard of the 2 unit course, Extension courses are available in English, Mathematics, History, Music, some Languages and VET.

Avondale School offers Extension 1 courses in English and Mathematics, being available at both the Preliminary and HSC levels. Students must study the Preliminary Extension 1 course in these subjects before proceeding to either of the HSC Extension 2 courses available (HSC English Extension 2 or HSC Mathematics Extension 2). The Extension 2 courses require students to work beyond the standard of the Extension 1 course.


What Types Of Courses Can I Select?

There are different types of courses that you can select in Years 11 and 12.

Board Determined Courses

These courses are developed by the NSW Education Standards Authority. There is a syllabus for each course which contains:

  • The course objectives, structure, content and outcomes
  • Specific course requirements
  • Assessment requirements
  • Sample examination papers and marking guidelines
  • The performance scale (except for VET Courses)

All students entered for the HSC who are studying these courses follow these syllabuses. Most of these courses are examined externally at the end of the HSC course and can count towards the calculation of the Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank (ATAR).

Board Endorsed Courses

The two main types of Board Endorsed Courses are Content Endorsed Courses and School Designed Courses.

  • Content Endorsed Courses (CECs) have syllabuses endorsed by NESA (NSW Education Standards Authority) to cater for areas of special interest not covered in the Board Developed Courses.
  • Most HSC VET courses delivered by TAFE are Content Endorsed Courses.
  • School Designed Courses are developed by individual schools to especially meet student needs. These courses must be approved by NESA. Once approval is granted, schools offer selected courses to senior students as part of the Higher School Certificate.

Some Board Endorsed Courses are one year courses.

There is no external examination for any Content Endorsed Course or School Designed Course, but all Board Endorsed Courses count towards the Higher School Certificate and appear on each Record of Student Achievement.

How Do I Choose My Courses?

Key considerations:

  • Abilities - Choose subjects in which you can do well.
  • Interests - Choose subjects that interest you.
  • Motivation - Choose subjects/areas that you want to study.
  • Career aspirations and needs - Be realistic about career and subject choices.
  • ATAR or PROPEL?
    • Take into consideration:
      - Your level of self–motivation and maturity.
      - The total package available through either pathway.
      - Career information and guidance.
Assessment & Reporting
  • The HSC reports will provide you with more detailed descriptions of the knowledge, skills and understanding you have attained in each subject.
  • Teachers have been provided with a syllabus package for each course. These packages include the syllabus content which teachers use to develop teaching programs, examination specifications, sample examination papers, sample marking guidelines and a performance scale.
  • The syllabuses, along with assessment/examination information and a performance scale, will be used to describe your level of achievement and give a clear idea of the standards that are expected.
  • The HSC report will provide a description of your achievements.
  • School-based assessment tasks will contribute to 50% of your HSC mark in each course. Your school assessment mark will be based on your performance in assessment tasks you have undertaken during the course. The other 50% will come from the HSC examination. If the school believes an assessment or component mark is neither valid nor reliable, the school has the right to omit that component or adjust the mark appropriately on either assessment tasks or tests.
  • Your school-based HSC mark for 2 unit courses will be reported on a scale of 0 to 100. An HSC examination mark of 50 will represent the minimum standard expected. This means that if you achieve the minimum standard expected in a course, you will receive a mark of 50.

Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank

Students who wish to gain a HSC that gives them entrance to tertiary institutions need to attain a sufficiently high standard of achievement when compared with all other students in all states (except Queensland). The process that ranks students on HSC performance for tertiary entrance is done by existing universities and is called the Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank (ATAR).

To maximise their rank position, students should choose courses that:

    1. are within their capability;
    2. they are interested in or currently enjoying; and/or
    3. satisfy course prerequisites.

    In carrying out the tertiary entrance ranking, the universities rescale HSC marks. Rumours abound as to the exact process of scaling and many students believe that by choosing certain subjects their results will automatically be scaled up. Students who choose courses not suited to their needs, interests or abilities in the mistaken belief that they will still maximise their ATAR may very well disadvantage themselves by performing relatively poorly and achieve low contributing marks to their ATAR.

    The ATAR is calculated on a student’s best 10 units of Board Developed Courses, including at least 2 units of English.

    Students need to focus their endeavours on the HSC so that they work consistently and diligently throughout the courses, otherwise they will not achieve to a level at which they are capable. This will necessarily involve some hard decisions being made about priorities regarding work, leisure time and other extracurricular activities.

    Students should be encouraged to set clear goals before they commence their course (writing them down as a reminder) and critically assess their progress on a continual basis.

    Students should note that 50% of their final HSC mark is based on school assessment tasks, earned throughout the HSC year.

    Please note that on the next few pages are excerpts from the 2022 UAC publication on HSC Scaling which includes information about scaling, ATARs and frequently asked questions. For more information on this publication, visit www.uac.edu.au