1. Subject Selection and the Higher School Certificate
Duval High School
bHSC - highest educational qualification that can be gained in NSW schools.
Administered by the Office of the Board of Studies

2. RoSA?

3. What is RoSA?
Record of School Achievement, awarded to all eligible students when they leave school.
An exit credential ie issued when students leave school
A cumulative credential – recognising all academic achievements. Instead of just showing what student’s results were at the end of Year 10, the RoSA includes further courses they may enrol in and complete.

4. The RoSA will show Year 10 grades, as well as any grades for Year 11 (Preliminary) courses completed after that. If a course is started but the student leaves school before completing it, their RoSA will show evidence of their enrolment.
The RoSA will also show results of any VET or Life Skills courses completed in Year 10 and/or Year 11.

5. Students will have the option of sitting an online literacy and numeracy test if you leave before completing the HSC.
The concepts of literacy and numeracy to be tested have an emphasis on work readiness and have been drawn from the Australian Core Skills Framework (ACSF), developed by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR).

8. CHOICES
English is the only compulsory subject

9. The Basics

10. UNITS
UNITS

11. Units All courses in Preliminary and HSC have a unit value
Most courses are 2 Units
2 Units = 120 hours per year
2 Units = 100 marks
All 2 unit HSC courses have equal status
1 Unit = 60 hours; 50 marks in HSC exam
I unit courses are extension courses and Studies of Religion 1

12. Requirements for the HSC
Preliminary Course
minimum of 12 units
HSC Course
minimum of 10 units
students must satisfactorily complete the Preliminary course before they are eligible to commence the corresponding HSC course
Students may accumulate the HSC for a period of up to 5 years.
Students may choose to accumulate the HSC for a variety of reasons including:
commitments outside school - part time work, elite sportsperson etc.
acceleration
repeating

13. Levels in Courses
In English and Mathematics there are two levels of two unit courses and a Board Endorsed Course
Music and Languages courses depend on your level of skill
Teachers will help choose the most appropriate

14. Extension Courses
1 unit courses which build on the content of a corresponding 2 unit course
Designed for students with a particular aptitude and talent

15. Extension Courses Preliminary Extension Courses:
English
Mathematics
HSC Extension Courses:
English 1 and 2
Mathematics 1 and 2
History
Music
Languages
Vocational Education courses

16. TYPES OF COURSES

17. Types of Courses Board Developed Courses Board Endorsed Courses
Content Endorsed Courses
School Developed Courses
TAFE Developed Courses
Life Skills Courses
Life Skills - are designed for students with Special Education needs
The Board expects that the majority of students who enrol in Life Skills will be students with an intellectual disability

18. Board Developed (BDC) Board Endorsed Courses (BEC)
Board Developed course
HSC exam
assessment mark submitted to the Board
count toward HSC
count towards ATAR
VET & TVET Frameworks
Board Endorsed Course
no external HSC exam
assessment mark not submitted to the Board
count toward HSC
does not count towards an ATAR
TVET courses
Subjects included are examples from a wider list of courses available

19. VET Curriculum Frameworks Board Developed Courses
Automotive
Business Services
Construction
Financial Services
Electrotechnology
Entertainment Industry
Hospitality
Human Services
Information Technology
Metal and Engineering
Primary Industries
Retail Services
Tourism and Events
These are considered by UAC as Category B courses and students can include only 2 units towards the calculation of their ATAR
Students must complete 35 hours of mandatory work placement per 120 hours of coursework
One of these may be used in ATAR Calculation

20. Vocational Education and Training Courses
Industry Curriculum Frameworks
Vocational Context
Requirements from the
Industry Training Package
Competency based assessment
Workplace credential
Qualifications are recognised by
industry and employers Australia-wide
HSC Context
Requirements from the
Board of Studies
Assessment mark not required
Students must complete mandatory work placement
Optional HSC Examination

21. Board Endorsed Courses
English Studies
Mathematics General 1(HSC)
Exploring Early Childhood
Sport Lifestyle and Recreation
Visual design
Photography, Video and Digital Imaging
TVET courses also fall into this category
Children’s Services
Sports Coaching
Screen etc

22. Course Delivery School TAFE (TVET) Distance Outside provider On Line
Video Conferencing

23. Putting It All Together

24. Requirements for the HSC
Both the Preliminary and HSC Courses must include:
At least 6 units from Board Developed Courses including at least 2 units of a Board Developed Course in English
At least three courses of 2 units value or greater
At least four subjects (including English)
At most 6 units of courses in Science can count towards Higher School Certificate eligibility

25. HSC: All My Own Work

26. HSC: All My Own Work
is a program designed to help HSC students follow the principles and practices of good scholarship
is a short guide to help you complete your assessment tasks honestly and with confidence.
includes understanding and valuing of ethical practices when locating and using information as part of HSC studies.
All students must complete HSC: All My Own Work or its equivalent before they can be entered for any
Preliminary or HSC course.
See:
How is HSC: All My Own Work related to HSC eligibility?
From 2009, all students entered for one or more Preliminary or HSC courses will be required to have satisfactorily completed HSC: All My Own Work or its equivalent. From 2010, students entered only for Stage 6 Life Skills courses will be exempt from this requirement. 26

27. Pathways Most students follow a two year program of study
Want to combine studies with employment or other commitments?
Accumulation: HSC up to five years, no time limit on the accumulation of Preliminary courses
Repeating courses
Program for students with special needs: Life Skills
School-based traineeships and apprenticeships

28. Assessment Vs Exams

29. Assessment All subjects have an assessment program
Students will be given grades at the end of Preliminary subjects.
And final HSC Mark?
50% derived from internal assessment
50% derived from external HSC exam
100% HSC mark

30. Preliminary and HSC Course completion criteria
Regardless of the subject a student must have:
Followed the course developed or endorsed by the Board
applied himself/herself with diligence and sustained effort to set tasks and experiences provided in the course by the school
achieved some or all of the course outcomes
If students are not meeting requirements TWO written warnings will be sent home which gives students the opportunity to correct any problems. Failure to correct the problems may lead to an “N” Determination in the subject

31. HSC VS ATAR

32. The HSC and the ATAR HSC ATAR is for all students
the Board's HSC mark in a course indicates a standard reached in that course ie your performance
presents a profile of student achievement across a broad range of subjects
ATAR
is for students wishing to gain a place at a university
the ATAR is an index used to rank school leavers for university places ie your place
It does not summarise 13 years of schooling
(approximately 30% achieve a place in their first year after leaving school)
Although the public prominence given to a single summary index that indicates only how students have performed in relation to each other may be somewhat disappointing from the point of view of efforts to build a standards-referenced system that provides rich and detailed information about what students know, understand and can do, it is important to bear in mind that:
◆ a major use of HSC results is for tertiary entry, with the final years of secondary school playing an important role in preparing a large proportion of students for post-secondary study;
◆ there was a clear preference arising from the McGaw Review for the continued use of the HSC as the basis for university selection (in preference to university-designed alternatives that may have an even greater influence on senior secondary schools);
◆ the ATAR is based entirely on, and is a particular way of summarising, HSC results; and ◆ the method used to construct the ATAR provides a level of flexibility in HSC subject choice, encouraging students to take the courses best matched to their interests and abilities.

33. “The ATAR is all about position, whereas the HSC mark indicate standards achieved in individual courses.” All About Your ATAR

34. ATAR Eligibility Requirements
Satisfactory completion of at least 10 units of Board Developed Courses including the best 2 units of English
Satisfactory completion of at least 8 units of Category A courses
No more than two units of Category B courses
The Board Developed Courses must include at least three courses of 2 units or greater and at least four subjects

35. Category B Courses
All VET Frameworks
Automotive
Business Services
Construction
Electrotechnology
Entertainment Industry
Financial Services (new 2012)
Information Technology
Metal and Engineering
Primary Industries
Retail Services
Tourism and Events
Hospitality
Human Services
Only 2 units of Category B courses can be included in the calculation of the ATAR

36. Calculating the ATAR Board of Studies UAC Raw Moderated
Exam Assessment Marks
UAC
Based on the quality of the candidates in that course in that year
Rescaled
Note: UAC scaling is not predetermined. It is based on the quality of the
candidates that sat for each course in each year
This point has also been made by the Chair of the universities’ Technical Committee on Scaling:
In previous years there was some correspondence between average HSC marks and the ATAR, since students who received HSC marks in the 60s (around the course average) were also in the middle of the HSC cohort (a ATAR around 63). In 2001 this did not apply.
To be in the middle of their HSC cohort (and obtain a ATAR in the 60s) students still needed to have HSC marks around the average of their courses, but in 2001 these marks were higher, in the 70s rather than the 60s17.
It should be possible to address concerns over the unanticipated relationship between HSC marks and ATAR ranks by providing better explanations of this relationship in the future. The major problem in 2001 appears to have been that teachers, students and parents attempted to attach the same meaning to new HSC marks that they had attached to old HSC marks, and so expected them to have the same relationship with ATAR results. This clearly was inappropriate and was the source of the disappointment.
It is desirable that the Board of Studies works with tertiary authorities to ensure that the relationship between new HSC marks and ATAR results is better understood.
2 units of English + next best eligible 8 units
ATAR

37. All About Your ATAR

38. The scaling process is carried out afresh each year.
There is no set mean, standard deviation or top mark. These will be determined by the candidature EACH year.
The ATAR depends upon position in the courses and the ability of the other students in the courses.
It does not assume that one course is intrinsically more difficult than another or that the quality of the course candidature is always the same. If the quality of the candidature changes the scaled mean will also change.
The same marks in the same course in two different years will not necessarily produce the same ATARs

39. Myth or Fact?
MYTH
I can study certain subjects (such as Extension Maths and Physics) to maximise my ATAR.
The only way you can maximise your ATAR is by achieving the highest possible assessment ranks and exam marks in all the courses you study You can achieve high HSC marks and a high ATAR regardless of the courses you study or the school you attend.
FACT

40. Myth or Fact?
If I am studying 11 units, the single-unit course won’t be counted in my ATAR calculation.
MYTH
All your courses are converted to single units, and the best 8 units (after your best 2 units of English) are used to calculate your ATAR.
FACT

41. Myth or Fact?
MYTH
I can work out my ATAR from my trial or HSC marks.
The ATAR is about position, and even high HSC marks don’t necessarily mean a high position and therefore a high ATAR.
Fred and Laura’s results show the large difference in ATARs arising from much smaller differences in HSC marks.
FACT

42. Performed better than…%of other students in that course
Fred and Laura
Performed better than…%of other students in that course
Course
HSC mark
Percentile
Biology 70 38 80
Business Studies 35 66
English Advanced 9 47
Mathematics 27 55
Modern History 25 62
Visual Arts 15 54
ATAR
80.15

43. 2011 VET Courses Number Maximum ATAR Course Of Students Accounting 444
99.90
Automotive Exam
356
83.15
Business Services Exam
1444
95.85
Construction Exam
1687
94.35
Electrotechnology Exam
227
95.00
Entertainment Exam
883
96.80
Hospitality Exam
5897
99.10
Information Technology Exam
1527
98.40
Metal & Engineering Exam
758
88.75
Primary Industries Exam
680
98.70
Retail Services Exam
933
97.20
Tourism & Events Exam
355
97.40
2011 VET Courses

44. For more information on ATAR
go to

45. Let’s have a closer look at how students can choose their options

46. Key considerations for Course Selection
Abilities
Interests/Motivation
Career aspirations and needs
Consider university subject recommendations
Courses should be selected carefully as most courses extend over 2 years
Your strengths and weaknesses?

47. Practical considerations
Syllabus requirements
Practical/Major work components
Subject combinations

48. Consider: What do I want for my future? Listen To The Right People
What ‘pathway’ best suits me?
Listen To The Right People

49. Forgotten all this already?

52. w
Password = anteater

54. The rest is in your hands now.

56. Contacting your Careers Advisor
Lana Hardman