Attaining the Higher School Certificate
To gain an HSC, students must have completed a minimum of 12 units of Preliminary Courses and 10 units of HSC courses.
All courses in the HSC have a unit value. Most courses are 2 units.
Students must satisfactorily complete the Year 11 Preliminary Course before they are eligible to commence the corresponding Year 12 HSC Course.
English is the only compulsory subject for the HSC—all students must complete an English course.
To be eligible for the award of the Higher School Certificate you must have:
Satisfactorily completed Stage 5 requirements or gained other qualifications that NESA considers satisfactory
Attended a government school, an accredited non-government school, a school outside NSW recognised by NESA, or a TAFE college
Satisfactorily completed courses that comprise the pattern of study required by NESA for the award of the Higher School Certificate
Sat for and made a serious attempt at the required HSC examinations.
Pattern of Study
To qualify for the Higher School Certificate, you must satisfactorily complete a Preliminary pattern of study comprising at least 12 units and an HSC pattern of study comprising at least 10 units. Both patterns must include:
at least 6 units of Board Developed Courses
at least 2 units of a Board Developed Course in English*
at least three courses of 2-unit value or greater (either Board Developed or Content Endorsed Courses)
at least four subjects.
Satisfactory completion of English Studies fulfils English requirements and counts towards the six units of Board Developed Courses required for the award of the Higher School Certificate. English Studies does not meet the UAC requirement of two units of English for the calculation of an ATAR.