Meeting HSC eligibility requirements

To be eligible for the HSC, you must:

• satisfactorily complete Years 9 and 10 or gain other qualifications that satisfy NESA

• complete HSC: All My Own Work (or its equivalent) before you submit any work for Preliminary or HSC courses, unless you are only entered for Year 11 and Year 12 Life Skills courses

• satisfactorily complete courses in the patterns of study detailed below

• sit for and make a serious attempt at the required HSC exams

• meet the HSC minimum standard of literacy and numeracy within five years of starting your HSC course​

 

HSC Course structures

• All courses in the HSC have a unit value

• Most courses are 2 units which equates to 120 hours of study and a HSC result out of 100

• Some courses are 1 unit. This is equivalent to 60 hours of study and a HSC result out of 50

• Many 1 unit courses are extension courses, enabling 3 or 4 units of a course to be studied.

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Requirements for the HSC

Year 11

• minimum of 12 units (2 units of compulsory English)

• students must satisfactorily complete the Year 11 course before commencing the corresponding Year 12 course

Year 12

• minimum of 10 units (2 units of compulsory English)

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In 2022, the Minister for Education announced a raft of HSC reforms as part of the Curriculum Reform program, which included removing classifications for ATAR courses. Previously, only 2 units of a Category B courses could contribute to the ATAR. From 2026 HSC year, all courses which have a HSC exam can contribute to a final ATAR score. 

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Satisfactorily completing a course

Students will be considered to have satisfactorily completed a course if they have:

• followed the course developed or endorsed by NESA

• applied diligence and sustained effort to the set tasks and experiences provided in the course by the school

• achieved some or all of the course outcomes

• made a genuine attempt at assessment tasks 

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Students will also need to make a serious attempt at the HSC examination for the course.