To be eligible for the award of the HSC a student must have:[9] Some courses have certain rules and prerequisites such as:[9] Further restrictions may apply in certain subject areas.
There are four types of Board Endorsed Courses:[12] For most board developed courses, a student's final mark in each subject is determined by a combination of in-school assessments conducted throughout the HSC component of the course (constituting 50% of their HSC mark) and an externally administered final exam, typically held in October or November of that year (constituting 50% of their HSC mark).
Schools are responsible for setting assessment tasks such as exams, assignments, fieldwork or practical activities, as well as deciding due dates.
[11][12] Upon successful completion of a satisfactory pattern of study, students are awarded the Higher School Certificate by way of a testamur.
HSIE (Human Society and Its Environment): [20] Mathematics: [21] Science: [22] TAS (Technological and Applied Studies): [23] Creative Arts: [24] PDHPE (Personal Development, Health and Physical Education): [25] Content Endorsed Courses (CEC) fall under Board Endorsed Courses.
[26] Languages are also offered as Beginners, Continuers, Extension, Background Speakers and recently, Heritage courses.
The letters B (beginners), C (continuers), E (extension), BS (background speakers), H (heritage) indicate which courses are available for study.
[34] The following courses have a Life Skills choice:[35] A major HSC Syllabus reform was executed in 2019.
[citation needed] Changes introduced to compulsory English discontinued the field of study "Discovery" as NESA discovered students would simply hire and pay off third party tutoring companies and/or private tutors in order to completely memorise and regurgitate essay information, in turn causing an imbalance in advantage towards the state of NSW.
For the new syllabus, English questions have now become more specific, prompting on-the-spot answers in turn rigorously testing students natural English writing ability and ability to analyse and interpret unseen questions, texts and information.
[40] The construct of a vocational equivalent to completing a senior school certificate (denoted by the completion of Year 12) has been an attribute of government policy since the late 1990s, with a declaration stating: "All students have access to the high quality education necessary to enable the completion of school education to Year 12 or its vocational equivalent and that provides clear and recognised pathways to employment and further education and training.
"[39][41]A NSW Health report found that 1 in 11 adolescents who committed suicide had experienced significant levels of HSC-related stress.
It has been suggested that the ATAR system associated with the completion of the HSC is a major cause of mental health issues amongst young people.