HSC Requirements

Year 10 Subject Selection Evening

Question:What are the HSC requirements for the

‘Class of 2020’?

Year 11• Minimum 12 units

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

Year 12• Minimum of 10 units

HSC Course Structure• All courses in the HSC have a unit value• Most are 2 units (=120 hrs, /100)• Some are 1 unit (=60 hrs, /50)

• Many 1 unit courses are extension courses, ∴ 3 or 4 units of a course can be studied

Types of HSC Courses

Board Developed Courses and the ATAR

E.g. Mathematics, Geography

E.g. Hospitality

• Course listings - UAC Website: http://www.uac.edu.au/atar/courses.shtml

Both the Year 11 and Year 12 pattern of study must include:

• 2 units of compulsory English

• at least 6 units of Board Developed Courses

• at least 3 courses of 2 units value or greater

• at least 4 subjects (including English)

• A maximum of 6 units of Science may be included in the Year 11 pattern of study

• From 2019, a maximum of 7 units of Science may be included in the Year 12 pattern of study.

Satisfactory completion of a courseStudents must:• follow the course developed or endorsed by

NESA

• apply themselves with diligence and sustained effort to the set tasks and experiences provided in the course by the school, and

• achieve some or all of the course outcomes

VET Board Developed Courses require students to complete mandatory work placement

http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/rosa/credentials.html

Additional completion requirements for HSC coursesStudents must:

• complete HSC assessment tasks that contribute in excess of 50 per cent of available marks in courses where internal assessment marks are submitted, and

• sit for and make a serious attempt at any requisite Higher School Certificate examinations for a course

Question:

Are there any prerequisites for studying in the senior school?

YES!• Satisfactory completion of Stage 5

courses

• HSC: All My Own Work is a mandatory program designed to help HSC students to follow the principles and practices of good scholarship.

http://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/11-12/hsc/hsc-all-my-own-work

• ATAR eligibility – 10 units of Board Developed Courses v 6 units BDC for HSC

Requirements for the HSC – meeting the minimum standard in literacy and numeracy

• From 2020, students need to demonstrate they have met a minimum standard in literacy and numeracy to be eligible for a HSC. Students will show they meet the HSC minimum standard by passing online tests of basic literacy and numeracy skills, which are available for them to sit when they are ready in Year 10, 11 and 12 and after the HSC.

• Refer to the NESA website for more information and resources for parents, students and schools

Question:

Do I get a RoSA?

The RoSA is a cumulativecredential• Eligible students

who leave school before receiving their Higher School Certificate (HSC) will receive the NSW Record of School Achievement (RoSA).

Question:

How is my HSC mark determined?

HSC – raw marks are converted to aligned marks

The examination marks that appear on the HSC are not raw

Marks are aligned to the standards from the raw marks. This is determined by head examiners e.g. Standard “cut offs” for all bands are determined using band indicators and all marks are re-allocated for students in each band.

These raw coffee beans are aligned to grades of coffee based on standards set by coffee makers and health regulators. Vittoria is a higher grade, according to the standards, compared to International Roast.

HSC Marks: rewarding achievement

100

0

PERFORMANCE SCALEEXAM MARKS

BAND 6 DESCRIPTION

BAND 5 DESCRIPTION

BAND 4 DESCRIPTION

BAND 3 DESCRIPTION

BAND 2 DESCRIPTION

100

0

90

80

70

60

50

JudgingMarking

How is the HSC assessment mark determined?

School based assessment:• Number of tasks capped

− 3 tasks in Year 11− 4 tasks in Year 12− task types suited to the

course− one formal written

examination style task option

Accounts for half of the final HSC mark.

Moderation of assessment marks• All raw HSC assessment marks submitted by

schools are moderated by NESA in a process called alignment

• Alignment adjusts the raw assessments submitted by schools so that the mean (average) of the group’s assessments is set to equal the mean of the aligned HSC exam mark obtained by the group

• The top assessment mark isset to equal the top exam mark

• The rank order as submitted bythe school of students remainsunchanged in their group

Results for 2unit Lawn Mowing

ATAR -general aspects and scaling

General aspects of the ATAR• The HSC serves many purposes but the ATAR serves only

one – to assist universities in RANKING (top to bottom) applicants for universities

• Approx 70,000 will sit for the HSC and about 60,000 will be eligible for a ATAR

• The best 10 units (2 of which could be a category B) of BDCs are used to determine the ATAR. 2 units of English will be included

• The ATAR is calculated by universities in NSWand ACT and is released by UAC

• The ATAR is a rank. It is not a mark.

• Schools do not receive ATARs

General ATAR continued• ATAR is reported as a number between 0 and

99.95 with increments of 0.05

• A student’s ATAR indicates the POSITION of that student relative to their Year 7 cohort

• 2017 – ATAR of 80.00 placed in top 30% of their Yr 7 cohort if all the 2012 Yr 7 students completed Yr 12

• ATAR based on a total of the SCALED marks in the best 10 units (must include the best 2 Units of English)

Understanding the difference between HSC marks and ATAR

HIGHER SCHOOL CERTIFICATE

The HSC presents a profile showing the STANDARDS a student achieves in courses they studied

AUSTRALIAN TERTIARY

ADMISSION RANK

A student's ATAR is a RANK indicating their achievement not against a standard but against other students

HSC and ATAR differencesHSC

• Raw HSC marks are not scaled – they are aligned to standards ie moderated to meet the standards within bands

ATAR• Each course is

scaled not against a standard but against the quality of the entire HSC candidature

• A new mark value is assigned for each course

• An aggregate is given to form a RANK ORDER

NESA

How does the scaling work?

• Good rankings are more difficult to obtain when students are competing against students of high quality.So………

ATAR scaling philosophy

• The scaling model looks for the “strength of the competition” or the “company you’re in” or the “quality of the candidature”

The most common question:

Why is my ATAR low compared to my Year 12 marks?

http://www.uac.edu.au/documents/atar/ATAR-FAQs.pdf

Marks and ATAR have different meanings, like different currencies – ATAR is a rank.

Riley Jordan

http://www.uac.edu.au/documents/publications/year11-12-booklet.pdf

Marks in different courses can’t be compared, so marks of individual students are scaled

Final questions:

But what about the ATAR? and

Shouldn’t we select the courses that will scale better?

• The underlying principle is that you should neither be advantaged nor disadvantaged by choosing one course over another.

• The scaling process is designed to encourage you to study courses you enjoy, are good at, and that best prepare you for future study – just about any combination of courses can lead to a good ATAR – but make sure you understand eligibility rules.

When choosing ask the following:

• What am I good at?

• What do I like?

• What skills are my strengths?

Some Advice to Students• Read everything you have been given

• Ask those who know

• Identify strengths and weaknesses

• Identify some goals

• If in doubt aim high • Some advice from UAC: http://www.uac.edu.au/schoolink/year-10.shtml

Online Subject selection processStep 1. Go to the following URL using google chrome

Step 2. You will receive an email via your @education.nsw.gov.au email address.The email will contain your unique access code. This code is unique to youand will be used for your online subject selection process

Online Subject selection processStep 3. Select Year 11 Subject choices

Step 4. You should see the following screen

Please note the rules tab on the left hand side of the screen.The criteria must be met for the form to be successfully submitted.

Online Subject selection process

Step 5. Enter your first 7 choices in order of priority including 3 reserves. Your first priority must include English. Total units must add up to 12.Choose your reserves carefully as they could become your elective choices if your first priorities are not available. Enter Submit after you have completed the form.

Online Subject selection process

Step 7. You can change your choices until the 14th August, after this date the form will be closed.Print a hard copy of the form and have your parent/guardian sign the form. This copy is to be given to Mr Niccol.

PHHS Timeline• Subject selection Information evening

25th July 2018• Student Interviews

6th - 10th August 2018• Subject Selection Forms completed

online and a paper copy submitted to Mr Niccol’s office

Friday 14th August 2018• Notification of subjects for 2018

Tm IV Week 6 2018

Acknowledgements:• http://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/

portal/nesa/11-12/hsc/subject-selection

• ‘ATAR Information’ – www.uac.edu.au

• http://ace.bostes.nsw.edu.au/ace-8064

• www.presentationmagazine.com