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Higher School Certificate (HSC) and School Certificate (SC) Media Guide 1999

Guidelines for Media Access During Higher School Certificate Examinations

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1999 Higher School Certificate

1999 School Certificate
- Key Reforms to the School Certificate

The Board of Studies NSW
Board of Studies response to Y2K

Board of Studies NSW MEDIA GUIDE - Higher School Certificate and School Certificate 1999
Published by
Board of Studies NSW
GPO Box 5300
Sydney NSW 2001
September 1999
ISBN: 0 7313 4332 8

Guidelines for Media Access During Higher School Certificate Examinations

Schools have asked that there be no media on school premises prior to the commencement of an examination.

All media should notify the principal of their arrival on school premises.

If you wish to have access to a government school for footage, photos or student interviews during the Higher School Certificate examination period you will need to contact a Department of Education and Training media liaison officer on 9561 8501 at least 24 hours in advance.

If you wish to have access to a non-government school you should approach the school direct.

All HSC media enquiries to:
Media and Public Relations Branch
Office of the Board of Studies
117 Clarence Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Phone (02) 9367 8250
Mobile 0418 418 053
Fax (02) 9367 8479

1999 Higher School Certificate

Summary

Important dates

11 October	HSC Advice Line opens Visual Arts marking commences
20 October	Higher School Certificate written examinations commence
30 October	Shakespeare marking -- Bathurst
6 November	Contemporary English (Listening) marking -- Armidale 2 Unit General English - Reading marking -- Coffs Harbour 2/3 Unit English - Reading -- Wagga Wagga
20 November	Agriculture marking -- Bathurst
6 December	DesignTech opens -- Powerhouse Museum
16 December	HSC results available to students over Internet / telephone HSC Inquiry Centre commences
21 December	HSC results available by mail
28 January 2000	ARTEXPRESS commences -- Art Gallery of NSW
7-12 February	OnSTAGE -- Seymour Theatre Centre
17 February	Premier's Awards for Excellence in the Higher School Certificate
24 February	Encore -- Sydney Opera House

The Higher School Certificate: breaking records

This year a record 66,768[1] students around the world will sit for the New South Wales Higher School Certificate examinations -- an increase of 1,101 on last year's figure of 65,667. The first HSC examination took place in 1967 and since then more than one million people have been awarded this internationally recognised credential.

In 1999, the HSC offers 73[2] subjects organised into 153 courses.

The change in the student demographic has also led to a large increase in the number of students choosing vocational education and training courses. Altogether, 9,570 Year 12 students have chosen to study such courses in 1999, with 2,884 studying the Industry Studies course, 6,273 studying Content Endorsed Courses (see page 31), and 413 studying local school developed courses.

The introduction of the Pathways program in 1994 enabled students to take a more flexible approach to their HSC studies, giving Year 12 students up to five years to complete their HSC courses. This year 5,380 Year 12 students chose to use the Pathways model (see page 20) in pursuing the Higher School Certificate.

The class of '99

66,768 students are enrolled as HSC candidates this year.
The subjects with the largest candidatures are English, Mathematics, Biology, Business Studies, General Studies and Computing Studies (in descending order), while the subjects with the smallest candidatures are Maltese, Slovenian, Comparative Literature, Czech, and Filipino (in ascending order).
Numbers of students doing the Science subjects of Biology, Chemistry, Geology and Physics have been increasing consistently since 1997.
The number of girls doing 2 Unit Design and Technology has more than doubled since 1995 (617 in 1995; 1335 in 1999). There has also been a marked increase in girls doing 3 Unit Design and Technology.
Other trends in student numbers this year show continuing rises in numbers doing Industrial Technology, Industry Studies, Studies of Religion (1 and 2 Unit) and Visual Arts (2 and 3 Unit).

HSC postcards from across the world

There are 190 overseas students sitting the HSC in 1999. Most are nationals from other countries where there are Board-recognised independent schools offering the NSW HSC, while some are Australian exchange students studying overseas.
There are 14 HSC students in Tonga; 42 in Singapore; 118 in Malaysia and 16 at the Ukarumpa International School in Papua New Guinea.
Three students from Norfolk Island are completing their HSC.
There are four NSW students sitting their examinations at the Victorian Board of Studies: one male student is a rating in the Royal Australian Navy; two female students are currently studying at the Victorian Dance School and one actress is currently filming a children's show in Melbourne.
The current Australian Youth Sailboarding Champion will be doing his HSC while competing in the World Sailboarding title in Noumea. This event is also being used as a trial for the Sydney Olympics in 2000.
Other students sitting the HSC overseas include: a country high school student sitting the HSC in the USA while on a basketball tour with the Australian Basketball Association; one of our nation's figure skaters will be in Russia and Croatia competing at the time of her examinations; three students in Turkey and Saudi Arabia; and another student in Africa on a Police Legacy Tour will be flying from Douala, Cameroon to Harare, Zimbabwe at the time of her examination.
There are also students sitting for the HSC in Sri Lanka, Norway, Germany, the United Kingdom, Papua New Guinea, France, Switzerland, Qatar, Fiji, Chile, New Zealand and the Solomon Islands.

The HSC for young and old

There is a 13-year-old student from Sydney doing the HSC in Physics 2 Unit.
A 14-year-old student from the Central Coast is doing English 2 Unit, English 3 Unit and Modern History 2 Unit.
There are seven other 14-year-olds throughout the state studying HSC subjects: a boy from Padstow is doing Mathematics 3 Unit and 4 Unit; a boy from Caringbah is doing Computing Studies 2 Unit and 3 Unit; a boy from Goulburn is doing Computing Studies 2 Unit; a girl from Bonnyrigg is doing General Studies; a boy from Raby is doing English (General) 2 Unit; a girl from Sandy Point is doing Biology; and a boy from Epping is doing Chemistry.
The oldest HSC candidate this year is an 84-year-old student from Sydney's North Shore who is studying Business Studies 2 Unit.
There is a 75-year-old student from the Hunter region studying Aboriginal Studies 2 Unit, and a 71-year-old student from Sydney's west who is studying English (General) 2 Unit.

Please contact the Media and Public Relations Branch on (02) 9367 8250 if you would like more information regarding these students.

Examination papers for everyone

Six students sitting the HSC this year will have specially produced braille examination papers. The papers are an equivalent transcription of the standard examination papers but use a variety of techniques, including tactile diagrams.
Thirty-four students sitting this year's HSC will have examination papers that are specially designed to enable them to read the examination questions easily. As some students find it difficult to read text printed on paper of a certain colour, these papers have been printed in colours different from the standard papers.
There will be approximately 552 large-print examination papers produced for students with visual impairment. The papers' type size ranges from 18pt to 48pt and most of them are printed on A3-sized paper.
Approximately 28 hearing-impaired or deaf students sitting the listening paper examination in Contemporary English -- which is aimed at testing student comprehension -- will watch an Auslan, Signed English or subtitled video instead of listening to the usual audio tape.

The HSC in languages

There are 36 languages on offer in the 1999 HSC. Languages are studied in both government and non-government schools, TAFE NSW, and through approved outside tutors.

Many languages are studied through the Saturday School of Community Languages, which had 2,219 students enrolled this year, or the Open High School and other Distance Education Centres run by the Department of Education and Training.
Japanese is still the most popular language, with 1,624 students -- in 1979 there were only 56 students studying Japanese in NSW. Languages that have been popular in the past, such as French, German and Italian, continue to have appeal.

This is the first year that HSC candidates have undertaken Khmer. Filipino (Tagalog) was examined for the first time last year. Other recent languages in the HSC include Hindi, Persian and Portuguese.

Twenty-six languages are supported under the National Assessment Framework for Languages at Senior Secondary Level (NAFLaSSL). All are developed according to a common structure emphasising the ability to communicate in varied contexts, flexibility to accommodate all students in all areas of Australia, and emphasis on cultural awareness.

Release of HSC results information to the media

The Board of Studies will provide the media with the HSC Course Merit List -- a list that details the students who have achieved a mark of 90% or more for each course. This mark is a composite of both the examination mark and the moderated school assessment mark.

The Board of Studies does not have access to students' UAI information from the Universities Admissions Centre. Individual results are confidential and will not be provided to parties other than the student, the Universities Admissions Centre and the universities to which the student has applied.

Helping students to help themselves

The HSC Advice Line

The HSC Advice Line first opened in October 1995 to offer HSC students advice and information from highly qualified teachers, prior to the examinations.

In its first year of operation, 23,849 students called the HSC Advice Line. Last year 35,048 students called. The average call is approximately ten minutes in duration. The Advice Line has received very positive feedback from students, parents and teachers since its inception.

The Advice Line is designed to give support and advice to students at times when students cannot access their own teachers -- on weekends and after school hours throughout the examination period. It opens on Monday 11 October 1999, nine days before the examinations begin, and concludes on Tuesday 16 November.

No matter where a student is calling from in New South Wales, the cost is that of a local call. The phone-in service is staffed by more than 700 teachers who are chosen on the basis of their experience and expertise in their subject areas. The service will offer advice for the following large candidature subjects:

Ancient History (all courses)	Geology
Biology	Legal Studies (2/3 & 3 Unit)
Business Studies (2/3 & 3 Unit)	Mathematics (all courses)
Chemistry	Modern History (all courses)
Computing Studies (all courses)	PDHPE
Economics (2/3 & 3 Unit)	Physics
English (all courses)	Science (all courses)
General Studies	Studies of Religion (1 & 2 Unit)
Geography (2/3 & 3 Unit)	Visual Arts (2/3 & 3 Unit)

The Advice Line will operate up until, and including, the night prior to the final examination in each of the above subjects.
The hours of operation will be Monday to Friday 4 pm-10 pm, Saturday 10 am-6 pm and
Sunday 10 am-10 pm.
The Advice Line telephone number is 13 11 12.

Students with hearing difficulties

Students with hearing difficulties have access to the HSC Advice Line through a teletypewriter facility. A letter is sent to all students with a hearing impairment advising students of a direct number to call if they need to access the teletypewriter.

The World Wide Web

The website address is http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au
Since the Board of Studies launched its website on the World Wide Web in September 1995, the site has opened direct communication channels for 100,000 teachers and one million students.

The website receives an average of 60,000 `hits' a day throughout the year. This is an extraordinarily high rate for an Australian non-entertainment site. The Australian web-statistics site (www.top100.com.au) records that the BOS NSW website is among the top 20 websites in the Education and Government categories of all sites accessed by Australians.

With more and more schools accessing the Internet, students and teachers can link up to the Board's site to find out important information relating to syllabuses, the School Certificate, the Higher School Certificate and Board publications. Many teachers and students regard the BOS website as their `filing cabinet online', as it contains so many important documents that they can refer to frequently.

Students doing the Higher School Certificate are able to access a calendar of important dates leading up to the examinations, as well as the Higher School Certificate examination timetable. They can download or view copies of all the past HSC examination papers from 1995-98 (over 800 multi-page document files); they can download HSC examiners' reports on those past HSC papers as well as their own copies of their subject syllabuses.

Students and teachers are also able to access Board of Studies publications such as Board Bulletin, which offers important news and updates about Board requirements and On Board, a magazine for students in Years 10, 11 and 12 that is written and designed by students in Years 10, 11 and 12.

The average visitor to the Board website views seven pages. In the weeks following the launch of the final new HSC syllabuses, more than 5,000 copies of syllabuses a day were being downloaded by parents, teachers and the interested public. Many of these documents are over a hundred pages in size.

The site offers a sample of Board products, including access to extracts from some of the educational CD-ROMs produced by the Board of Studies. About 70 e-mails a day are received on the Board website with orders for Board products, inquiries about the availability of particular documents and requests for general information. These are directed to the appropriate Board officer for attention. The Board of Studies updates its site frequently (daily at busy times), adding new announcements, syllabuses and support documents and other useful information. The process for the web publication of documents has been refined so that now the document may appear on the website within an hour of the final version being authorised for publication.

A list of links to school websites throughout Australia is maintained (now over 1,100). Schools are listed at their request only.

Accessing the Board of Studies website

Users of the Board's website gain access in the following ways:
80% from their own bookmarking of the Board's website
10% from key-word searches in a search engine
5% through the Board's linking with the Department of Education and Training and Charles Sturt University HSC On-line website (http://hsc.csu.edu.au)
5% through the hundreds of other link pages where the Board site is listed (such as the Macquarie University Library Link Pages).

HSC On-line

HSC On-line: http://hsc.csu.edu.au
The HSC On-line website gives students sitting for the HSC access to a wealth of HSC resources and support, no matter where they live.

HSC On-line's materials have been developed by highly experienced HSC teachers and examiners. Each subject site is broken into Tutorials, Exams and Resources, and provides detailed information on core and elective topics. The HSC On-line site also includes Study and Exam techniques, information for teachers on on-line teaching techniques and research, links to schools, and a segment called `Broadening Horizons', where students can find information on post-HSC options and careers.

It makes help available to students in most major HSC subjects, including Aboriginal Studies, Agriculture, Ancient History (all courses), Biology, Business Studies, Chemistry, Computing Studies, Cosmology, Design and Technology, Drama, English (all courses), French, Geography, Japanese, Mathematics (all courses), Modern History (all courses), Music, PDHPE, Society and Culture, Studies of Religion, and Visual Arts. The site is constantly being updated and expanded, with Dance, Economics, Food Technology, German, Indonesian and Physics all being added in the last 12 months.

The HSC On-line project is a joint venture between the Department of Education and Training and Charles Sturt University. It is supported by the Board of Studies NSW and the Professional Teachers' Council.

HSC Examination CD-ROM

The CD-ROM contains Higher School Certificate examination papers and selected examination reports from 1995-1998. Schools are provided with all the HSC examination papers on CD-ROM in Adobe Acrobat Reader format (except those languages with non-Romanic scripts, subjects with small candidatures, and music or language tapes). Acrobat allows access across Macintosh and Windows computers and is provided to schools at no charge.

This allows ease of access to the HSC papers and reports when it is difficult to download them from the Board of Studies NSW website. This initiative was developed in 1996 in response to schools' requests to provide past papers early in the new year.

The Statistics

Candidates by geographical location

*Category of candidates*	*Candidate number*	*Proportion of total*
Metropolitan	42,113	63.07%
Country	24,462	36.64%
Interstate and overseas	193	.29%
School students	63,867	95.65%
TAFE students	2870	4.30%
Self-tuition students	31	.05%
Total	66768	100%

Geographical Location[3]

	*Female*	*Male*	*Total*	*% of total students*
Metropolitan Categories
Metropolitan East	5576	4912	10,488	15.71%
Metropolitan North	3694	3767	7,461	11.18%
Metropolitan South West	5172	4729	9,901	14.83%
Metropolitan North West	5759	5362	11,121	16.66%
Total	20,201	18,770	38,971	58.37%

Country Categories
Hunter	3604	3190	6,794	10.18%
North Coast	2682	2308	4,990	7.47%
North West	1266	992	2,258	3.38%
Riverina	1874	1584	3,458	5.18%
South Coast	3390	3051	6,441	9.65%
Western	1952	1679	3,631	5.44%
Total	14,768	12,804	27,572	41.29%

Overseas Categories
All overseas	98	95	193
Total	98	95	193	.29%

Other Categories
All other	16	16	32
Total	16	16	32	.05%

Total of all categories	35,083	31,685	66,768	100%

Subjects with the largest candidatures

*Subject*	*Candidates*
English	60,496
Mathematics	59,676
Biology	15,754
Business Studies	15,656
General Studies	15,110
Computing Studies	15,024
Chemistry	10,734
Modern History	10,704
Visual Arts	10,211
PDHPE	9,470
Physics	9,400
Studies of Religion	9,025
Geography	8,998
Legal Studies	7,701

Subjects with the smallest candidatures

Subject	Candidates
Maltese	2
Slovenian	2
Comparative Literature	3
Czech	3
Filipino	3
Latvian	3
Dutch	6
Hindi	8
Ukrainian	8
Hungarian	10

Entries in Board Developed Courses by subject, course and gender for the 1999 HSC at 1 September 1999

Entries by Course and Subjects

*Course Name*	*Units*	*Male*	*Female*	*Total*
Aboriginal Studies	2	129	355	484
Accounting	2	199	218	417
Agriculture	2	1069	706	1775
Agriculture	3	128	101	229
Ancient History	2	1345	2078	3423
Ancient History	3	474	870	1344
Ancient History (Personalities & Times)	2	1162	1738	2900
Applied Studies	1	477	541	1018
Arabic	2	13	11	24
Arabic	3	58	58	116
Arabic (General)	2	91	169	260
Arabic Z	2	0	0	0
Armenian	2	9	8	17
Biology	2	5550	10204	15754
Business Studies	2	6604	5903	12507
Business Studies	3	1617	1532	3149
Chemistry	2	5726	5008	10734
Chinese	2	26	24	50
Chinese	3	13	17	30
Chinese (BS)	2	103	75	178
Chinese (BS)	3	175	201	376
Chinese Z	2	3	5	8
Classical Ballet	2	0	21	21
Classical Ballet	3	1	21	22
Classical Greek	2	2	2	4
Classical Greek	3	6	0	6
Comparative Literature- Distinction Course	2	0	3	3
Computing Studies	2	4759	2477	7236
Computing Studies	3	1518	264	1782
Computing Studies (General)	2	3092	2914	6006
Contemporary English	2	12435	8408	21843
Cosmology -- Distinction Course	2	15	12	27
Croatian	2	23	18	41
Czech	2	0	3	3
Dance	2	12	281	293
Design and Technology	2	2872	1335	4207
Design and Technology	3	305	274	579
Drama	2	979	2736	3715
Dutch	2	4	2	6
Economics	2	2712	1887	4599
Economics	3	843	575	1418
Electronics Technology	2	163	3	166
Engineering Science	2	1195	75	1270
Engineering Science	3	159	7	166
English	2	2430	4423	6853
English	3	437	1106	1543
English (General)	2	13284	16973	30257
Estonian	2	0	0	0
Filipino (Tagalog)	2	1	2	3
Food Technology	2	660	2568	3228
Food Technology	3	45	363	408
French	2	55	153	208
French	3	49	93	142
French (General)	2	111	444	555
French Z	2	87	358	445
General Science	2	1232	856	2088
General Studies	1	7111	7999	15110
Geography	2	3798	3130	6928
Geography	3	1016	1054	2070
Geology	2	133	145	278
German	2	53	102	155
German	3	61	74	135
German (General)	2	120	224	344
German Z	2	38	104	142
Hebrew	2	4	5	9
Hebrew	3	12	6	18
Hebrew (General)	2	20	19	39
Hindi	2	1	7	8
Hungarian	2	5	5	10
Indonesian	2	34	103	137
Indonesian	3	11	38	49
Indonesian (BS)	2	31	29	60
Indonesian (BS)	3	3	12	15
Indonesian Z	2	16	97	113
Industrial Technology	2	2281	107	2388
Industry Studies -- Hospitality	2	509	1396	1905
Industry Studies -- Metal and Engineering	2	415	3	418
Industry Studies -- Retail	2	229	331	560
Italian	2	88	220	308
Italian	3	32	39	71
Italian Z	2	51	144	195
Japanese	2	216	564	780
Japanese	3	115	224	339
Japanese (BS)	2	40	46	86
Japanese Z	2	134	285	419
Khmer	2	10	13	23
Korean	2	2	4	6
Korean	3	0	1	1
Korean (BS)	2	19	15	34
Korean (BS)	3	101	87	188
Korean Z	2	0	4	4
Latin	2	55	37	92
Latin	3	42	32	74
Latvian	2	2	1	3
Legal Studies	2	2376	4048	6424
Legal Studies	3	374	903	1277
Life Management Studies	2	503	2520	3023
Life Management Studies	3	30	668	698
Lithuanian	2	0	0	0
Macedonian	2	24	42	66
Malay (BS)	2	10	11	21
Malay (BS)	3	3	7	10
Maltese	2	1	1	2
Mathematics	2	7899	8103	16002
Mathematics	3	4357	3276	7633
Mathematics	4	1483	779	2262
Mathematics in Practice	2	2612	3613	6225
Mathematics in Society	2	12231	15323	27554
Modern Greek	2	54	88	142
Modern Greek	3	48	81	129
Modern Greek Z	2	9	9	18
Modern History	2	2599	3560	6159
Modern History	3	691	956	1647
Modern History (People and Events)	2	1405	1493	2898
Music	2	97	178	275
Music	3	138	227	365
Music Course 1	2	1751	1763	3514
Persian	2	35	44	79
PDHPE (Personal Development Health and Physical Education)	2	4474	4996	9470
Philosophy - Distinction Course	2	21	28	49
Physics	2	6865	2535	9400
Polish	2	14	12	26
Portuguese	2	11	16	27
Rural Technology	2	24	1	25
Russian	2	8	7	15
Russian	3	12	17	29
Russian Z	2	2	7	9
Science	3	80	74	154
Science	4	170	173	343
Science for Life	2	1962	1442	3404
Serbian	2	25	46	71
Sheep Husbandry and Wool Technology	2	19	5	24
Slovenian	2	0	2	2
Society and Culture	2	426	1894	2320
Society and Culture	3	54	427	481
Spanish	2	79	112	191
Spanish	3	36	82	118
Spanish Z	2	18	69	87
Studies of Religion	1	3696	4421	8117
Studies of Religion	2	251	657	908
Swedish	2	4	7	11
Textiles and Design	2	3	492	495
Textiles and Design	3	0	192	192
Tourism Sector Services	2	112	632	744
Turkish	2	18	20	38
Turkish	3	32	35	67
Ukrainian	2	3	5	8
Vietnamese	2	73	113	186
Visual Arts	2	2397	4019	6416
Visual Arts	3	1158	2637	3795

Release of results

Early release of HSC results to students

This year students will for the first time receive their HSC results before Christmas. Results will be available by Internet and by phone on December 16, and by post on December 21.

The earlier release of the results will maximise opportunities for students to use counselling, career and other support services as they make their plans for the future.

HSC results available on the Internet

Students will have early access to their HSC results over the Internet again this year. Taking advantage of the latest technology, the Board of Studies will again establish a special HSC results web page on its Internet site. By using their student number and their personal identification number (PIN), students can read their HSC results information on screen. The PIN, which is the same for both the HSC results web page and the HSC results phone line, ensures the security of the information.

Students will be able to access their results on the Internet from 6 am Thursday 16 December 1999, coinciding with the start of the HSC results phone line.

There will be no additional cost to those students who use this service, beyond the charges applied by their Internet Service Provider and/or the cost of the call.
Giving students their results earlier gives them more time to consider their future options. The service was first used last year, with great success. About one third of the candidature used the Internet themselves, or asked their family and friends to access their results.

HSC results web page: www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au

Release of results by telephone

New South Wales students will have access to their 1999 HSC results five days before they arrive by post, by using an automated telephone service.

From 6 am on Thursday 16 December 1999 until mid-January 2000, students can ring 1902 220 100, key in their student number and Personal Identification Number (PIN) and get their results by recorded message. The students' PINs will be sent to them in mid-November.

The service will run 24 hours a day and it is estimated that each call will take approximately two minutes, although students will have the option of having their results repeated.

The Board of Studies established the phone service in 1997. Last year over 40,000 calls were made in the four days between the Results Line opening and students receiving their notification by mail.

The Board will also run an HSC Inquiry Centre to support the phone service. The centre will run from 9am on Thursday 16 December 1999.
HSC Results Line number: 1902 220 100

HSC Inquiry Centre: 13 11 12

Release of results by post

New South Wales students will officially receive their results with a summary posted to them to arrive by 21 December. Their full results and certificates will arrive early in January 2000.

HSC Examination Inquiry Centre

The Board of Studies runs an Inquiry Centre to support the release of the HSC Examination Results.

This year students will be able to get their results by phone or on the Internet from Thursday 16 December 1999, as well as by post on Tuesday, 21 December 1999 (see page 18). The HSC Examination Inquiry Centre will open from 9 am on Thursday 16 December 1999. It will be staffed by Board of Studies Liaison Officers, Board of Studies officers and personnel from government and non-government schools.

The HSC Examination Inquiry Centre provides an opportunity for students to discuss any queries regarding their Higher School Certificate results.

Personnel at the HSC Examination Inquiry Centre are able to answer questions by telephone about results only. Inquiries relating to university admissions and post-secondary education should be directed to the Universities Admissions Centre or the Advisory Centres for Students and School Leavers.

Inquiry Centre Phone: 13 11 12

Marking

The majority of HSC papers are marked by groups of markers, marking together in centres established by the Board of Studies. Both teachers and students benefit from having a wide range of markers.

Country marking centres and day marking will operate again this year to give teachers valuable professional development opportunities, and allow marking to reflect the expertise of teachers throughout the state.

Teachers who mark the HSC exams have received a 3% pay increase this year. In addition, markers receive daily allowances for travel and meals. Markers are selected on the basis of their teaching experience and subject knowledge.

Country marking centres

Armidale, Bathurst, Wagga Wagga, Newcastle, Wollongong, and Coffs Harbour will have marking centres again this year. Contemporary English 2 Unit (Listening) will be marked in Armidale. The Reading question from English 2/3 Unit will be marked at Wagga Wagga. The Newcastle centre markers will mark General English 2 Unit (Topic Areas), Biology, Engineering Science, Mathematics and Business Studies, and the Wollongong centre will mark Reading and Writing from Contemporary English 2 Unit as well as General Science.The Coffs Harbour centre will mark General English 2 Unit (Reading) and the Bathurst centre will mark English 2/3 Unit (Shakespeare) and Agriculture 2 Unit.

Day marking

The introduction of day marking has given teachers who would not normally have ready access to evening marking the opportunity to gain significant professional development in their subject. School are provided with relief when teachers participate in day marking.

The day marking initiative will continue in 1999 with day marking centres in the following metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas:

Metropolitan Sydney Area

Venue -- Sydney Showground, Homebush Bay
Subject

Aboriginal Studies
Ancient History
Biology
Business Studies
Life Management

Regional Areas

*Subject*	*Venue*
Agriculture 2/3 Unit Sections 1 & 3	Bathurst
Rural Technology	Newcastle
English 2 Unit Contemporary -- Listening	Armidale
English 2 Unit General -- Reading	Coffs Harbour
English 2/3 Unit -- Reading	Wagga Wagga
English 2/3 Unit -- Shakespeare	Bathurst

Pathways

Today's Higher School Certificate offers students more flexibility than ever before in the way they can approach their study program through the provisions offered by Pathways.

Prior to the introduction of Pathways, senior students could only take one year to do Year 11 studies (Preliminary courses), and one year to do Year 12 studies (HSC courses). Furthermore, if a student was not satisfied with their HSC results there was no provision to repeat an individual course or courses. To improve their Universities Admission Index (UAI) the student had to repeat their entire Year 12 program of study.

All this changed when Pathways was introduced for students in 1993. There are now 5,380 students using the Pathways model.
Under Pathways provisions, students are able to take extra time to complete their Higher School Certificate, move through their program more quickly, or repeat one or more courses.
Students may `accumulate' their studies over a longer period of time by taking up to five years to complete the HSC study pattern, and unlimited time to complete their Preliminary pattern.

Another option is to `accelerate' HSC courses. Students who are gifted or talented in a particular area can undertake HSC courses ahead of their peers.

After completing their Higher School Certificate, students can also use the Pathways provisions to repeat one or more courses in an attempt to improve their Universities Admission Index (UAI).

Because they may take up to five years to complete their Higher School Certificate, students now have the option to combine part-time work or TAFE study with school work.

The HSC and Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)

The Board of Studies uses the term `Recognition of Prior Learning' (RPL) as a generic term for the two mechanisms (Credit Transfer and Advanced Standing) by which the Board may recognise formal or informal study and/or relevant life experience as contributing to the award of the Higher School Certificate.

RPL arrangements are provided for individual students and are granted as follows:

Credit Transfer for study successfully completed at a TAFE or another recognised post-secondary institution;
Advanced Standing, whereby students may be exempt from certain study requirements of a particular Board course if they are able to demonstrate that they have already achieved the relevant outcomes.

The Showcase

The HSC students of 1999 will participate in a range of exhibitions and performances of outstanding works.

ARTEXPRESS

ARTEXPRESS is a touring exhibition of outstanding works of art from the 1999 HSC
examination in Visual Arts. New venues this year include Bathurst, Armidale and Murwillumbah.

The art works in this exhibition will be in a range of media including photography, video and computer-generated works, painting, drawing, sculpture, wearables and jewellery, textiles and fibre, ceramics, collection of works, design, graphics, and integrated visual/verbal studies.

The program for ARTEXPRESS in 2000 is as follows:

Sydney
Art Gallery of New South Wales	28 January - 20 March 2000
College of Fine Arts	28 January - 19 March
State Library of New South Wales	28 January - 19 March
David Jones city store	17 January - 30 January
National Art School	3 February - 19 March
Newcastle
Newcastle Region Art Gallery	24 March - 30 April 2000
Wollongong
Wollongong City Gallery	12 May - 11 June 2000
Bathurst
Bathurst Regional Art Gallery	23 June - 30 July 2000
Wagga Wagga
Wagga Wagga City Art Gallery	7 August - 3 September 2000
Armidale
New England Regional Art Museum	15 September - 29 October 2000
Murwillumbah
Tweed River Regional Art Gallery	8 November - 3 December 2000
Grafton
Grafton Regional Gallery	12 January - 25 February 2001

For further information, please contact Ms Jan Hackett, Exhibitions Officer/ARTEXPRESS, NSW Department of Education and Training on (02) 9582 5868.

ENCORE

ENCORE is an annual concert of outstanding music performances and compositions from
HSC Music students. The inaugural concert was held in 1989, and since 1993 ENCORE has been presented in the Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House. ENCORE 99 will take place on Thursday, 24 February 2000.

In ENCORE 99, students will present original works and performances in a range of styles and genres that represent their study of the performance and compositions of HSC Music courses (in 2/3 Unit and 2 Unit Course 1).

DesignTech

DesignTech 99 is an exhibition of outstanding Major Design Projects by HSC Design and
Technology students. DesignTech 99 offers an insight into how Major Design Projects are designed and produced.

Projects are selected for DesignTech on the basis of their demonstrated creativity and innovation, production techniques, project design and marketing aspects.
DesignTech 99 will be exhibited in Sydney at the Powerhouse Museum from 4 December 1999 to 14 March 2000.

The exhibition will tour Wollongong, Tamworth and Coffs Harbour with further regional venues to be announced.

OnSTAGE

Exemplary 1999 HSC Drama students will have an opportunity to perform their Group
Presentations and Individual Projects in Performance and present their design, script writing, video and critical analysis projects at the OnSTAGE 99 exhibition.

OnSTAGE comprises a series of group-devised and individual performances as well as an exhibition of script writing, set, costume, lighting and publicity design projects, which reflect the hard work, talent and dedication of students and their teachers.

Writers OnSTAGE is a one-show-only, rehearsed reading of two exemplary scripts from the script writing individual project.

The OnSTAGE season will be from Monday, 7 February 2000 to Saturday 12 February 2000 at the York Theatre, Seymour Theatre Centre, Chippendale NSW.
For further information on DesignTech, ENCORE and OnSTAGE, please contact Ms Teresa Renneberg, Exhibitions Coordinator, Board of Studies on (02) 9367 8309.

How the Higher School Certificate Works

Examination and Assessment

The Board of Studies NSW organised 70 examination committees to set 345 different examination papers for 131 courses between September 1998 and l July 1999. In addition, examination papers for some small candidature languages were set by other States participating in the National Assessment Framework for Languages at Senior Secondary Level (NAFLaSSL).

It took more than 40 staff members nearly seven weeks to pack all the written examination papers for all students in each course, which resulted in over 50,000 parcels.

More than 4,000 people will supervise the HSC examination sessions in 700 examination centres. These centres are mostly in schools and NSW TAFE institutes that have more than 40 candidates.

Other examination centres will be set up in all States and Territories in Australia, as well as on a number of islands off the coast of Australia. Internationally, examination centres will be set up at the place at which a candidate is located at the time of the HSC examinations (see `The class of '99' on page 7). The centre may be located at a school, another institution or the Australian Embassy in the relevant region.

Eligibility for the Higher School Certificate

To be eligible for the Higher School Certificate, students must follow a course of study comprising a minimum of 11 Units at a government or registered and accredited non-government school, an institute of Technical and Further Education (TAFE) or a school outside New South Wales that is recognised by the Board.

Students may enter for courses they have studied at another school or an institute of TAFE in addition to those studied at their own school. For example, 2,192 students have entered for the HSC examination in Languages studied at the Department of Education and Training's Saturday School of Community Languages. A student may also enter for an `outside' subject that has been studied with a private tutor, if this is approved by the school principal.

The Higher School Certificate assessment scheme

Students will have a scaled examination mark and a moderated assessment mark reported separately on the Record of Achievement. The examination mark is based on examination performance and the assessment mark is based on tasks undertaken during the HSC course.

The purpose and scope of assessments

Assessments are designed to measure a wider range of achievements than can be measured by the external examination, and they use a number of measures over the HSC year to provide an accurate measure of each student's achievement for the course. Together, the examination and assessment marks provide a more accurate and complete picture of a student's achievement.

Towards the end of the HSC course, schools provide a mark based on a student's performance in set assessment tasks. To ensure that comparisons of results for the same courses from different schools throughout the state are fair, assessments from each school are adjusted to a common scale of marks using the exam marks in the course from the school.

Assessments are required for most courses set or endorsed by the Board. They are not required for dual-accredited vocational courses with student logs, such as Industry Studies.

Moderated assessments are reported on the Record of Achievement and are available for use in Illness/Misadventure appeals. Assessments provided by tutors are not reported but may be used in Illness/Misadventure appeals.

Components and weightings

To assess students' achievements, courses are divided into components that represent the skills and knowledge objectives of the course. The components are weighted and the school devises individual assessment tasks to measure a student's performance consistent with these components.

For example, the weightings of the components of the English 2/3 Unit (Related) course are:

Component		Weighting (%)
Syllabus Objective 1		40
	Resources and Uses of English
	Study of non-literary material
	Oral English
	Writing
Syllabus Objective 2		60
	Shakespeare
	Poetry
	Novel
	Drama
	Total	100

Moderation of assessments

The assessment marks awarded to students in each course are adjusted to match the average (mean) of those students' scaled examination marks (SEM). A similar spread of assessments to the exam marks is achieved by setting the top assessment to the top SEM and, where possible, the lowest assessment to the lowest SEM. This places the assessment marks on a common scale, allowing them to be compared with assessments from other schools.

Because the raw assessment marks cannot be compared fairly, schools are not allowed to reveal these to students. However, the Board informs students of their ranking within the school for each course after the final examination. Schools are required to provide feedback on performance in each assessment task that contributes to assessment throughout the course.

Unsatisfactory assessments

Students are expected to undertake all assessment tasks set. If a task is missed, the school may require the student to undertake an alternative task. Decisions to allow students to do alternative tasks, as well as decisions to award a zero mark, are based on guidelines issued by the Board of Studies and conveyed to students in each school's assessment policy.

If a student does not attempt assessment tasks that together are worth more than 50% of available marks in any course, the principal certifies that the course has not been satisfactorily completed. Unless a student subsequently appeals successfully to the Board, neither an assessment mark nor an examination mark is granted, whether or not the student attends the examination.

School reviews and appeals to the Board

After all students at a school have finished their examinations, students receive advice from the Board showing their position within their school in the rank order for assessments in each course they studied. If students consider their placement in any course incorrect, they may apply to the school for a review.

There is no provision for a review of the actual marks awarded for assessment tasks. The only matters a school may consider are whether:

the weightings specified by the school in its assessment program conform with the Board's requirements;
the procedures used by the school for determining the final assessment mark conform with its published assessment program;
there are computational or other clerical errors in determining the assessment mark.

The final date for applications for a school review of assessments is 19 November 1999.
The school will advise the student of the outcome of the review by 29 November 1999. If a student is dissatisfied with the outcome of a school review, appeal to the Board is possible.

Producing the examinations

Setting the examinations

HSC examinations are set by examination committees that usually comprise six people, including practising teachers and representatives from tertiary institutions. This year 70 committees prepared 345 different examination papers for 131 courses set in NSW.

In addition, examination papers for some small candidature languages are set by other States participating in the National Assessment Framework for Languages at Senior Secondary Level (NAFLaSSL) scheme.

Special versions of examinations are prepared for students with special needs.

Assessors

After examinations are set, each paper is assessed by practising teachers not teaching the subject that year and a representative of the syllabus advisory committee. The assessor checks whether the paper is a fair and valid examination of the relevant course and attempts the actual paper to ensure its fairness to students. It is also assessed by a specialist to ensure that students with special needs are not disadvantaged.

Oral/aural and practical examinations

For examinations in most modern languages, cassette tapes are produced in a high-quality form to test a student's listening skills. Sample tapes are prepared by examination committees and checked by assessors.

Each aural examination is then produced using two readers who are native speakers of the language.

Compact discs are prepared for the Music aural exams.

Cassette tapes are produced for the Contemporary English Listening Paper. Special video tapes in sign language are prepared for hearing-impaired students studying Contemporary English.

Examinations in Industry Studies include a practical and written examination paper in Retail, Hospitality, and Metal and Engineering. A video is produced for the Retail Practical examination.

Preparing `the pack'

Once examination cassettes, disks and video tapes are produced and examination papers printed, compilation of `the pack' begins. This involves packing and labelling enough cassette tapes, CDs, videos and sets of papers in each course for all students at each examination centre.

Conducting the examinations

Supervision of the examinations

The task of running each examination centre is the responsibility of a Presiding Officer (PO). The Presiding Officer is responsible for supervision throughout the examination period and is assisted by a number of supervisors.

Examination provisions for students with special needs

Special examination provisions are made for Higher School Certificate students who experience difficulty receiving examination questions or communicating acquired knowledge in an examination at a level that allows those students to complete the examination on an equal basis with all Higher School Certificate students.

Arrangements include provision of large print, coloured, and braille papers; the assistance of a writer; provision of an appropriate reader or oral interpreter; rest breaks; use of a typewriter or keyboard; provision for special furniture and lighting; and establishment of a special examination centre or separate supervision.

Applications for special examination provisions for students with disabilities were submitted to the Board of Studies from September 1998. Arrangements needed as a result of accidents or other emergencies may be applied for up to and including the examination period.

Illness/Misadventure appeals

Students who are prevented from attending an examination, or whose performance has been affected by illness or misadventure immediately before or during the examination, may apply to the Board of Studies for consideration and a possible variation to their results.

Students must notify the Presiding Officer at every examination session in which they consider their performance may have been affected. The student is responsible for lodging an appeal with the Board of Studies by 18 November 1999 except in the case of oral/aural or practical examinations, where the appeal must be lodged within one week of the date of examination. Appeals must be supported by appropriate documentary evidence.

If an appeal is upheld, in most cases a student's achievement may be measured by the use of the moderated school assessment mark for that subject. In general, appeals are not
considered for courses for which no assessment is available.

Courses with practical examinations and submitted works

Some HSC subjects involve forms of examination other than written examination papers. For example, all modern languages have an oral/aural component.

Submitted artworks

Candidates in Visual Arts submit an artwork, or series of artworks, for examination. This contributes 50% of the final mark for the 2 Unit course, the other 50% being derived from a written examination. Artworks are produced in a wide variety of media including painting, film and video, sculpture, drawing, photography, jewellery, design and graphics. Students taking a 3 Unit course may choose to submit an additional submitted artwork or an integrated visual/verbal study or undertake another written examination.

Music performance

All students of Music courses are examined in music performance. Depending on the student's choice of electives, this may contribute between 10% and 70% to the 2 Unit Course 1 total examination mark. In Music 2/3 Unit, performance is worth between 20% and 50% and in Music 3 Unit, students may specialise totally in performance. Candidates may present solo and/or ensemble performances using instruments or voice.

Classical Ballet, Dance, and Drama

Practical examinations for Classical Ballet 2/3 Unit and Dance 2 Unit were held at central metropolitan venues in August/September 1999. Performance in Classical Ballet 2 Unit contributes between 15% and 55% of the total examination mark, depending on the student's choice of electives. Performance in Dance 2 Unit contributes between 20% and 60% of the total examination mark, depending on the student's choice of electives.

Group performances and group presentations of an original devised piece of theatre in Drama 2 Unit were examined in schools throughout the metropolitan and country areas in September 1999. The group presentation is worth 35% of the total examination mark.

Design and Technology

A subject that particularly reflects the contemporary flavour of the 1999 Higher School Certificate is Design and Technology. Introduced for Year 12 students as an HSC course in 1994, Design and Technology has broadened the school approach to technology education. It can include study of areas such as computer graphics, aquaculture, textiles, desktop publishing, building and construction, manufacturing and entertainment.

Design and Technology is one of the major subjects that offers students the chance to provide a submitted work as part of their Higher School Certificate.

Industry Studies

Candidates in Industry Studies present in one of three strands -- Hospitality, Metal and Engineering, or Retail. Retail students present for a practical exam based on responses to a video. Metal and Engineering and Hospitality students undertake, and are examined on, a practical task in the presence of two independent HSC markers.

Industrial Technology

Students entered for the course have completed practical components in either Automotive, Building and Construction, Electronics, Furniture and Timber Products, Graphics and Multimedia, Metals and Engineering or Plastics. The practical projects were marked by itinerant markers visiting schools across the state in September.

Projects and reports

Twelve courses require candidates to submit a project or report for examination. Students select and pursue an area of interest closely related to the basic concepts of the course. For example, Design and Technology 2 Unit candidates carry out a Major Design Project, which will result in a product, a system or an environment, and a folio documenting all aspects of the project. Music (Board) students may submit scores and tapes of their original compositions and arrangements and/or an extended essay on topic(s) from the syllabus, while the Society and Culture candidates complete a Personal Interest Project based on a topic related to the fundamental concepts of the course.

Languages

In 26 language subjects, New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, Western Australia and Victoria cooperate to provide one common examination for students of these languages living anywhere in Australia. This means, for example, that a student of Hindi living in Broome will do the same examination as a student living in Sydney. Each student will receive recognition for their results from their own State or Territory certification authority. This is known as the NAFLaSSL (National Assessment Framework for Languages at Senior Secondary Level) Project.

Marking of the Higher School Certificate examinations

Security

A high level of security is maintained throughout the whole of the Higher School Certificate operation.
Security procedures include allowing entry to marking centres for authorised personnel only. Security guards are employed to guard each marking centre at all times, day and night.

Employment of markers

More than 7,000 markers will mark the exams at 20 venues. They will be assisted by 700 clerical staff. The largest centre is the new Sydney Showground and Exhibition Centre at Homebush Bay. Other centres in the Sydney metropolitan area will accommodate smaller numbers of markers. All together, the Sydney-based marking operation covers approximately 73 subjects. As well as those in Sydney, marking centres will be set up in Newcastle, Wollongong, Wagga Wagga, Bathurst, Coffs Harbour and Armidale.

Marking

A Supervisor of Marking is appointed to coordinate the marking of each subject. Supervisors of Marking ensure that markers are fully briefed at the beginning of the marking session.

The majority of HSC papers are marked by groups of markers, marking together in centres established by the Board of Studies. See pages 19-20 for information about Country Marking Centres and Day Marking.

Reliability control measures

Generally, questions that require free-response answers (eg essays) will be double marked. For example, all questions in subjects such as English and General Studies will be marked by two examiners. In the case of significant discrepancy between the marks awarded by these two examiners, additional independent marking is undertaken. Since different examiners are assigned to mark the various questions in the papers, in some subjects up to 10 different examiners are likely to mark a student's paper.

Questions or parts of papers where students are given detailed guidance as to the structure and nature of the answer required, and where the range of responses can be specified, will be marked by one examiner supported by a range of additional checks.

Where single marking is used, additional checking procedures are employed throughout the marking process. Where appropriate, these will include daily statistical checks.

Results

Students will be able to access their 1999 Higher School Certificate results on Thursday 16 December 1999 via the Internet and an automated phone service (see page 18). Students will each receive a results summary sheet by mail, through Australia Post, on Tuesday, 21 December 1999. Higher School Certificates and Records of Achievement will be delivered in January.

All students who satisfactorily complete at least one HSC course will receive a Record of Achievement listing courses and results.

Those who have not followed the required HSC study program will receive a Higher School Certificate Record of Achievement but not a Higher School Certificate. Self-tuition students will receive only a Result Notice, which lists their results in each examination.

On the back of the HSC Record of Achievement is an explanation of the way in which the Board determines the marks and percentile bands for each course.
All students will receive an application for a clerical processing recheck with their results summary sheet. There is no provision for re-marking of papers, but a clerical recheck ensures that all answers have been marked, and that marks have been correctly allocated and computed.

The Universities Admissions Centre will send students separate advice of their Universities Admission Index (UAI) at the same time as the Board sends out students' HSC results. The UAI is confidential and will be known only by the student, UAC and the universities to which the student has applied (see page 30).

Reporting of results in Board Developed Courses

Students' results in the various Board courses are reported by a scaled examination mark, a moderated school assessment mark and a percentile band that shows each student's relative position in that course.

Students who are absent from an examination for which they are entered, and who do not have an Illness/Misadventure appeal upheld, will receive neither an examination mark nor a moderated assessment mark for the paper concerned.

Scaled examination marks for Board Developed Courses

In all 2 Unit courses the scaled examination mark is out of 100, with the median mark for all students set at 60. The pattern of marks in large candidature 2 Unit courses (except English 2 Unit Related) will be such that:

1-2% of candidates will be awarded marks of 90 or more;
approximately 25% of candidates will be awarded marks of 70 or more;
no less than 50% of candidates will be awarded marks of 60 or more;
no less than 75% of candidates will be awarded marks of 50 or more;
no more than 5% of candidates will be awarded marks of less than 30.

Variations of this pattern of marks will occur for students doing 1 Unit, 3 Unit and 4 Unit courses. These variations will be explained in detail in the literature accompanying the Certificate or Result Notice.

In this context there is no `pass mark'. The HSC is not designed to indicate the concept of passing or failing.

Reporting of results in Board Endorsed Courses

These courses are not examined by the Board and results are reported in terms of assessment marks submitted by schools and colleges. These marks are not moderated and cannot be compared with marks awarded in similar courses at other schools or for Board Developed Courses. Board Endorsed Courses have the symbol *** in the space designated for the examination mark.

Dual-accredited vocational HSC courses

In Industry Studies 2 Unit and vocational Content Endorsed Courses, a student log provides specific information on modules successfully completed for the course.

Students who successfully complete the Industry Studies 2 Unit course or a 240-hour vocational Content Endorsed Course will receive a Certificate issued by the Board of Studies under authorisation from the Vocational Education and Training Accreditation Board (VETAB). Students who successfully complete modules that total less than 240 hours will receive Statement(s) of Attainment issued by the Board of Studies under authorisation from VETAB.

TAFE delivered VET courses that are Content Endorsed Courses or Board Endorsed Courses will be reported as being either satisfactorily or unsatisfactorily completed. Students will also receive VET Certificate or Statement from TAFE.

Result Notice

Result Notices are issued to students who are not enrolled at an accredited school or a school recognised by the Board. Such students cannot receive either a Record of Achievement or a Higher School Certificate testamur. The Result Notice is a cumulative record, which will list the courses satisfactorily completed and the results achieved.

The Universities Admission Index (UAI)

The Universities Admission Index (UAI) is calculated by the universities and released by the Universities Admissions Centre (UAC).
The UAI is calculated from the scaled aggregate of the marks in the best ten Units of Board Developed HSC Courses, subject to the following restrictions:

English must be included;
at least one course from each Key Learning Area Group (KLA Group 1 - Science/ Mathematics/ Technological and Applied Studies; KLA Group 2 - Languages/Human Society and Its Environment/ Creative Arts/ Personal Development, Health and Physical Education) must be included;
no more than two Units of Category B courses may be included in the calculation of the UAI (contact the Board of Studies for a full list of current Category B courses).

The UAI may include Units accumulated by a candidate over a period of up to five years.

Board Endorsed Courses do not count towards the UAI.

The scaling process used to calculate the UAI enables marks obtained in different courses to be added together for tertiary entrance purposes. It is not valid to add the marks from the Board's Record of Achievement in an attempt to approximate a UAI, as doing so takes no account of the comparative difference between candidates in different courses.

It should also be stressed that the UAI is a rank or position, not a mark. The UAI shows where a student stands in relation to his/her cohort in the state. Students on the top rank will receive a UAI of 100.

Students will only receive a UAI if they have requested it on their HSC entry form. Their HSC results are forwarded to the Universities Admissions Centre, which will then send students their UAI results, in a separate envelope, at around the same time as the Board of Studies sends out HSC results.

A student's UAI is confidential and will only be known by the student, UAC and the universities to which the student applies.

The Curriculum

The Higher School Certificate study program

To qualify for the 1999 Higher School Certificate, students must study a pattern of Preliminary and HSC courses. Both patterns must comprise at least 11 Units of study including:

at least two Units of English
at least one Unit from Key Learning Area Group 1 (Science/ Mathematics/ Technological and Applied Studies [TAS])
at least one Unit from Key Learning Area Group 2 (Languages /Human Society and Its Environment [HSIE]/ Personal Development, Health and Physical Education [PDHPE]/ Creative Arts)
at least 6 Units of Board Developed Courses.

Students may undertake a combination of Board Developed and Board Endorsed Courses to make up the 11 required Units for both the Preliminary and Higher School Certificate patterns. However, at least six of these Units must be Board Developed Courses for the students to be eligible for the award of the Higher School Certificate.

Types of courses

The Preliminary and HSC courses fall into a number of categories.

Board Developed Courses

These are courses that are set and externally examined by the Board of Studies, eg English, Mathematics, Biology, Computing Studies and Visual Arts. These courses may contribute to the calculation of a Universities Admission Index (UAI).

Board Endorsed Courses

These include courses that may be developed by schools or colleges of TAFE NSW. Board Endorsed Courses contribute to the HSC program of study but do not contribute to the calculation of the UAI.
Board Endorsed Courses fall into two categories:

Content Endorsed Courses

Content Endorsed Courses (CECs) were introduced in 1985. They are developed by the Board of Studies from exemplary school-designed courses for statewide implementation.
Currently there are 17 non-vocational CECs:

Drama and Theatre	Religion Studies
Practical Writing Skills	Skills for Living
Ceramics	Horticulture
Computing Applications	History for Leisure
Environmental Studies	Studies in Dance
Exploring Early Childhood	Mass Media Studies
Marine Studies	Sport, Lifestyle and Recreation Studies
Photography	Work Studies
Visual Design

School-designed Board Endorsed Courses

Board Endorsed Courses are designed by schools to meet the particular needs of their students and to extend the range of courses offered. These courses must be endorsed by the Board of Studies for inclusion in an HSC program of study. This flexibility means that schools can use local resources and personnel most effectively to the advantage of students.

A variety of school-designed Board Endorsed Courses is available for HSC candidates in 1999.
Popular areas of study include:

Studies of Religion
Human Movement
Sports Science
Special Education

Generally, there are two broad requirements for the endorsement of a school-designed BEC:

the course must offer subject matter for study that does not duplicate an existing Board Developed or Content Endorsed Course; and
the course must meet the Board's requirements for the course aim and objectives, content and assessment of student achievement. These courses must be as challenging as Board Developed Courses of equivalent Unit value and duration. Schools must complete a course evaluation as a condition of endorsement. Non-vocational BECs are endorsed for a maximum of four years.

There are also additional requirements for school-designed vocational BECs.

Dual-accredited vocational HSC courses

These courses may be Board Developed, Content Endorsed or school-designed Board Endorsed Courses. They contribute to the Higher School Certificate and can be either 1 or 2 Units. The courses have the following features:

they are dual-accredited; that is, accredited by the Board of Studies for HSC purposes and the Vocational Education and Training Accreditation Board (VETAB) for industry purposes;
they are written and assessed in competency-based terms;
they are arranged in a modular structure and are based on national training curriculum where available;
successful completion of modules allows advanced standing into TAFE and a range of traineeships and apprenticeships;
students can be taught in a variety of settings, including schools, TAFE, private training organisations and industry;
in addition to their Higher School Certificate and Records of Achievements, students receive a Vocational Certificate or Statement of Attainment for school-delivered courses and a TAFE transcript of results for TAFE delivered courses.

School-delivered vocational courses

Industry Studies is the only Board Developed, school-delivered vocational course. Students
choose one of three strands; Metal and Engineering, Hospitality or Retail. Industry Studies is externally examined and may contribute to the calculation of the UAI.
The dual-accredited vocational Content Endorsed Courses (CECs) available for delivery by
schools are:

Hospitality
Retail
Office Skills
Rural Industries
Building and Construction
Furnishing
Electronics.

Industry Studies and the vocational Content Endorsed Courses include a mandatory workplace learning component. Vocational Content Endorsed Courses and vocational Board Endorsed Courses contribute to the HSC but not to the UAI.

TAFE delivered (formerly JSSTAFE) dual-accredited vocational courses

There is a wide range of TAFE delivered courses. These courses may be Board Developed,
Content Endorsed or Board Endorsed. There are three Board Developed TAFE delivered courses:

Accounting
Electronics Technology
Tourism Sector Services.

Only one of these courses may count towards the UAI.
There is a wide range of Content Endorsed TAFE delivered Courses. The most popular areas
include Office Studies, Hospitality, Automotive, and Building and Construction.

Distinction Courses

Distinction Courses are high-level HSC courses delivered by universities through distance education. Eligible students need to complete one or more HSC courses at the highest level, one or more years ahead of their cohort. The courses consist of 2 units of study, which are additional to the required 11 units of HSC study but can be counted towards the calculation of the UAI. In 1999 three Distinction Courses were offered -- Cosmology, Comparative Literature and Philosophy.

Units of study

Most subject areas have a number of courses that are divided into units of study. The number of units is based on the amount of indicative school time spent studying the course.

Most Board Developed Courses are 2 unit, two-year courses and most have a 3 unit additional HSC course of study. Mathematics and Science both have a 4 unit additional course. Others, such as General Studies and Applied Studies, can only be studied as 1 unit courses.

Each unit requires approximately 60 hours of classroom study per year. Therefore, a student taking Science 4 Unit for Preliminary and HSC courses could expect to study that course for approximately 240 hours each year.
The higher unit values allow students with special aptitude for, or interest in, a particular course to study the content more deeply and pursue more of the available options.

There are three kinds of 2 unit Board Developed Courses:

2 unit courses that lead to a 3 unit course in the subject
2 unit courses that do not lead to a 3 unit course in the subject
2 unit Z courses in Languages, designed for students who begin study of the language for the Higher School Certificate.

3 unit courses incorporate all of a 2 unit course and, in the required additional timetabled
school study, provide a deeper and more extensive treatment of the subject. Students in 3 unit courses sit for the examination for the 2 unit course (and any other submitted work required) and then will prepare for an additional examination and/or submitted works.

3 and 4 unit courses in Mathematics and Science

Mathematics 3 Unit is a course of study that incorporates all of the 2 unit course and would generally require 180 hours of timetabled school time in each of the Preliminary and Higher School Certificate courses.

Science 3 Unit is interdisciplinary and contains some Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Geology. It requires 180 hours of timetabled school time in each of the Preliminary and Higher School Certificate components.

Mathematics 4 Unit incorporates all of the 3 unit course and would require approximately 180 hours of timetabled school time for the Preliminary component followed by 240 hours for the Higher School Certificate component.
Science 4 Unit requires 240 hours of timetabled school time for each of the Preliminary and Higher School Certificate courses.

NAFLaSSL

The National Assessment Framework for Languages at Senior Secondary Level (NAFLaSSL) is a joint venture by the States to provide a common syllabus and assessment scheme for small candidature languages. Each participating State assumes responsibility for certain languages and writes the syllabuses, and sets and marks the examination papers that are used in all States.

Prescribed texts and works

For many subjects in the 1999 HSC there are prescribed texts, topics, projects and works that students will have studied specifically for the examination. These texts and topics were determined at least two years in advance of their inclusion to ensure that schools were able to plan ahead. 1999 HSC course prescriptions and other important information are set out in detail in the eight Key Learning Area Handbooks.

The New Higher School Certificate for 2000 and Beyond

Background to the changes

In 1995, the NSW Government appointed Professor Barry McGaw to conduct the most extensive review of the HSC in its 30-year history. His report, while recognising the HSC as a world-class credential, confirmed key concerns held by the community, including:

too many students studying courses that were not sufficiently challenging
many schools could only offer a small range of courses
too much focus on maximising the TER at the expense of the educational needs and interests of students
an assessment and reporting system based on scaling marks and ranking students rather than reporting the actual marks earned and the standards of learning achieved.

The New HSC has been developed from the Government's White Paper, Securing Their Future, of August 1997. The 2 Unit structure, which has emerged from three years of research and consultation, enables students to have greater access to more rigorous courses of study. It will also provide HSC candidates with the opportunity to study courses that prepare them for further education and training, employment and full and active participation as citizens.

The main changes to the Higher School Certificate

The New Higher School Certificate will commence with Year 11, 2000. The main changes are:

2 unit subjects as the basic building block of the senior school curriculum
courses redesigned to extend students academically
subject standards are higher, drawing on best practice in Australia and internationally
reporting in each subject of the standards of knowledge, skills and understanding achieved by students
marks will not be scaled to fit a predetermined statistical distribution. Students will receive marks on a scale from 0 to 100, along with descriptions of the standard of performance they have achieved. A student who achieves the minimum standard or better will receive a mark of 50 or more
improved opportunities for the study of vocational education and training courses that meet industry needs and provide students with portable, work-related qualifications as well as their HSC.

The New HSC

Students must study a minimum of 12 Units at Preliminary level and a minimum of 10 Units at HSC level. Both the Preliminary and HSC study patterns must include at least:

six units of Board Developed Courses
two units of a Board Developed Course in English
three courses of two unit value or greater
four subjects.

On completion of the HSC, each student will receive:

the HSC Testamur
a Record of Achievement, and
individual Course Reports summarising examination and school assessment performance for each course.

Syllabuses

Release of the New HSC syllabuses

Extensive consultation was an integral part of the development of the syllabuses and support documents for the New HSC. The syllabuses were released in July of this year, giving teachers time to prepare to teach the new syllabuses to Year 11 students in 2000.

There has been thorough consultation during the development of all the syllabuses with teachers, schools and academics as well as industry and community organisations. Submissions from a total of 7,610 teachers, 1,924 schools, 482 academics and 560 industry and community groups have been considered in their preparation.

The changes to the syllabuses were made in line with the new course arrangements, the findings from the evaluation process and changes to assessment outlined in Securing Their Future.[4] In most cases, this has involved reorganising existing content into the new course structures. For the vast majority of subjects, the content of courses remains familiar and has much in common with existing courses.

The new course arrangements

The evaluation of the HSC affirmed the 2 unit structure as the basic building block of the HSC curriculum, with subjects being offered in 2 unit components. Study in the majority of subjects will involve a 2 unit Preliminary course and a 2 unit HSC course.

Additional components will be offered in selected subjects. All new courses will meet or exceed the standards now being achieved in the current HSC.

Under the new arrangements, students will be able to choose in-depth, specialised study programs or broader patterns of study according to their plans and skills. For each course, students will know whether it leads most directly to university study, to accredited TAFE NSW courses or to particular career opportunities.

Extension courses, which require students to work beyond the standard of the 2 unit course on which they are based, are offered in: English, mathematics, music, history, some languages and vocational education and training courses.

There will be opportunities for students to undertake accelerated study in undergraduate university courses in several subjects.
The New HSC will include specially developed courses for students with special education needs.

English

The HSC English curriculum has been strengthened, with five courses available to suit the needs of all students.

The syllabus includes the study of works in prose fiction, drama and poetry as well as non-fiction, film, media and multimedia texts. The courses will be interesting, relevant and challenging for students and teachers, and encourage a high standard of work.

Students will be encouraged to study traditional literary texts in their historical context and relate them to today's ideas and experiences.

More students will be required to study Shakespeare. In the current syllabuses 13% of students study one Shakespearean drama. In the New HSC, up to 40 percent of students will be required to study at least one of four dramas -- Hamlet, The Tempest, King Lear and Julius Caesar.

Students are able to study either Standard or Advanced English, which will be reported on a single scale. Students taking the Advanced course also have the option of devoting more time to English by selecting Extension courses that enable students to engage in specialised study with increased independence.

For students who need to enhance their performance in English and other Stage 6 subjects, Fundamentals of English is offered as a 2 Unit Preliminary course. This course assists students to reach the level of literacy in English required for the Higher School Certificate year. It may be taken in conjunction with the Standard English course or the English as a Second Language (ESL) English course.

The ESL course has been developed for students who have had the major part of their education in another language. If undertaken in Year 12, it will meet the Higher School Certificate requirements for the study of English.

Science

A General Science 2 Unit course will be offered along with 2 Unit courses in Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Earth and Environmental Science.

Mathematics

The New HSC course arrangements will be consistent with the current Mathematics 2 Unit, 3 Unit and 4 Unit courses.

The Mathematics in Society and Mathematics in Practice courses will be replaced by a new non-calculus-based Mathematics course, called General Mathematics.

Music

Students will have a choice of two Music courses. An extension study course in Music
will provide the extra time required for the achievement of high-level standards in performance, composition and musicology.

History

There will be 2 unit courses in Ancient History and Modern History. An extension study course in History will offer opportunity for further study in both Modern and Ancient History.

Languages

Languages will have a course structure that caters for beginners, background speakers and continuing study students. Motivated students interested in extra study in order to reach higher levels of proficiency will be able to pursue extension study in some languages currently taught in a wide cross-section of government and non-government schools.

Computing Studies

Two courses will be provided to keep pace with recent changes -- Software Design and Development, and Information Processes and Technology. These courses will give students the skills and knowledge necessary for future study or career needs.

Vocational Education and Training

The opportunities for students to study vocational education and training courses as part of the HSC have been enhanced. Seven new industry curriculum frameworks, each incorporating a range of courses, have been developed. They will provide students with the opportunity to gain Australian Qualification Framework (AQF) Certificates and Statements of Attainment.

The courses are industry-accredited nationally and will be accepted by the State's universities. For students choosing to take an optional HSC exam for 240-hour VET courses in the frameworks, 2 Units of the new courses may be included in the calculation of the UAI.

The new courses will all involve mandatory assessed work placement but will allow students to use part-time work in industry towards their workplace requirement. Students may also undertake these courses as part of a traineeship.
The seven curriculum frameworks are:

Information Technology
Tourism and Hospitality
Primary Industries
Retail
Construction
Metal and Engineering
Business Services (Administration).

Students can undertake framework courses at school or through TAFE NSW. TAFE delivered courses in Accounting and Electronics Technology may also count towards the UAI. Existing Content Endorsed Courses in Electronics and Furnishing and a wide range of TAFE delivered VET Content Endorsed Courses will continue to be offered.

Content Endorsed Courses

Content Endorsed Courses for the HSC and school-developed courses endorsed by the Board have been retained to ensure that schools can continue to create flexible programs of study.

Subjects being phased out of the HSC program

As recommended in Securing Their Future, Applied Studies and General Studies will be phased out, due to substantial overlap with other courses.

Most outcomes of the existing Sheep Husbandry and Wool Technology and Rural Technology courses are covered in the new VET Primary Industries framework, with articulation to further training courses.

Classical Ballet is incorporated into the Dance 2 Unit course.

Professional development

$30 million has been allocated for the implementation of the New HSC, with a significant portion provided for professional development and training for teachers. A program of 730 workshops across the state has been operating since July. The workshops provide teachers with information to help them fully understand the new courses and the new basis of assessment and reporting.

Other support includes a new interactive HSC website; additional programs, activities and resources; a calendar of events and the opportunity to participate in professional discussion groups.

These comprehensive support measures will ensure that all schools are able to implement the new arrangements as smoothly as possible.

Assessing and reporting the New HSC

The new examinations will be marked and reported against set standards that describe the various levels of knowledge, skills and understanding students can achieve.
Marks will range from 0-100, where 50 will represent the minimum standard expected in each subject. This is a change from the current norm-referenced approach of scaling marks to a predetermined distribution.

As well as a mark out of 100, students' examination performance will place them into one of six bands. Each band will give a description of the attainments typically demonstrated by students. The Board of Studies and HSC examiners have studied past examination papers and student performance to develop the descriptions of typical student achievement within each band.

The HSC mark received by each student will be a 50:50 combination of external examination and school-based assessment mark. The internal school-based assessment mark summarises the student's performance in assessment tasks set and marked by the school. The external examination mark is gained by the student in the examinations set and marked by the Board of Studies.

1999 School Certificate

Key Reforms to the School Certificate

The new School Certificate, introduced in 1998, is adding greater meaning and purpose to Year 10 study, promoting continuity between Years 10 and 11, ensuring that students are completing meaningful work until the end of the year and raising standards and student expectations.

A total of 81,291 students will sit the tests, with 42,528 coming from metropolitan locations, 38,625 from country areas and 138 sitting the tests overseas.

Statewide tests in English-literacy and Science will be held on Monday 8 November 1999, and in Mathematics on Tuesday 9 November.

A trial test will also be conducted on Tuesday 9 November in Australian History, Geography, Civics and Citizenship with volunteer schools. Schools will receive their students' results in this test, but they will be provided separately from the School Certificate documentation.

Australian History, Geography, Civics and Citizenship was trialled in 1998, and will be again in 1999. Participation in the tests will be optional in 2000 and 2001, and mandatory in 2002. Science was trialled in 1998 and is mandatory from 1999 onwards. Trialling is being conducted to make sure teachers and students are familiar with the changes before they become compulsory.

The new School Certificate reports results more clearly. The School Certificate documents use descriptive reporting and provide students with school-based grades and their own marks in statewide tests. The new reports give students, parents and employers more information on what students know and can do.

In 1999 students must sit for the tests in English-literacy, Mathematics and Science in order to receive a School Certificate.

Where School Certificate Students Are Studying in 1999

[5]

Geographical Location

Location	Candidate numbers	Proportion of total
Metropolitan	42528	52.32%
Country	38625	47.51%
Overseas	138	00.17%
Total	81291	100.00%

Location	Female	Male	Total	Percentage
*Metropolitan*
Metropolitan East	5150	5075	10225	12.58%
Metropolitan North	3379	3407	6786	8.35%
Metropolitan South West	6046	6397	12443	15.31%
Metropolitan North West	6458	6616	13074	16.08%
Total	21033	21495	42528	52.32%
*Country*
Hunter	4982	5059	10041	12.35%
North Coast	3542	3575	7117	8.76%
North West	1574	1623	3197	3.93%
Riverina	2367	2486	4853	5.97%
South Coast	4117	4380	8497	10.45%
Western	2338	2582	4920	6.05%
Total	18920	19705	38625	47.51%
*Overseas*	66	72	138	.17%
Total of all areas	40019	41272	81291	100.00%

In 1999 there are students studying overseas for the School Certificate in Singapore, Hong Kong, Tonga and Bali.

Reporting of Results

Students will receive a School Certificate folio of results comprising:

the School Certificate Testamur
a Record of Achievement Part A
a Record of Achievement Part B
a report for each of the tests in English-literacy, Mathematics and Science.

Record of Achievement Part A

This is a cumulative record of all courses completed in Years 9 and 10 along with grades awarded by the school and the hours of study. Students also receive a statement on this Record of Achievement regarding the satisfactory completion of the mandatory requirements.

Schools will award grades (A-E) to their students in all courses, using performance descriptors developed by the Board of Studies. These descriptors are descriptions of typical student achievement. The descriptors are grouped into five different levels, ranging from 'excellent' to 'elementary'.

Grade A	Excellent achievement. Extensive knowledge and understanding of the course content and high level of competence.

Grade B	High level of achievement. Thorough knowledge, understanding and competence.

Grade C	Substantial achievement. Sound knowledge and competence.

Grade D	Satisfactory achievement. Acceptable knowledge and understanding and basic level of competence in the processes and skills of the course.

Grade E	Elementary achievement. Elementary knowledge and understanding and limited competence in the processes and skills of the course.

Schools will match each student to the descriptor that best fits the student's overall achievement in the course. The grade that corresponds with that descriptor is then awarded to the student. The use of these descriptors in assigning grades to students is designed to ensure comparability in the grades awarded by different schools

Record of Achievement Part B

This shows the results achieved by the student in the School Certificate Tests in English-literacy, Mathematics and Science. For each test, it shows:

the mark awarded (out of a possible 100);
the band achieved (from 1 to 6). Band 1 is the lowest band and Band 6 the highest.

In addition, students receive a report for each test that provides more detail of their performance. A vertical scale from 0 to 100 is divided into the six bands, where;

Band 1 corresponds to the marks from 0 to 49
Band 2 corresponds to the marks from 50 to 59
Band 3 corresponds to the marks from 60 to 69
Band 4 corresponds to the marks from 70 to 79
Band 5 corresponds to the marks from 80 to 89
Band 6 corresponds to the marks from 90 to 100

Each band is accompanied by a paragraph that describes the knowledge and skills typically demonstrated by a student whose results fall within that band.

The student's test mark is represented on this vertical scale. A graph drawn along the scale shows the distribution of marks awarded to all the students who have sat the test. This indicates the position of the student within the total candidature of the test.

The School Certificate Tests Timetable

Monday 8 November
English-literacy
9:20 am--11:30 am

Science Test
12:50 pm--2:30 pm

Tuesday 9 November
Mathematics
9:25 am--11:30 am

Australian History, Geography, Civics and Citizenship Trial Test

(if applicable) 12:50 pm--3:00 pm

The Board of Studies requires that Year 10 students remain at school until after the tests have been completed on Tuesday 9 November.

School Certificate credential documents will arrive in schools in the week commencing 13 December 1999.

Illness/Misadventure Appeals

Students may be given an estimated mark in place of their School Certificate Test mark if they were prevented from attending a test, or if they consider that their performance in a test was adversely affected by illness or misadventure occurring immediately before or during the test. Consistent with past practice at School Certificate level, the Board will delegate to principals the authority to uphold or decline Illness/Misadventure appeals by students. Should the appeal be declined, students may elect to have the principal's determination reviewed by the Board of Studies.

Eligibility for the School Certificate

To be eligible for the School Certificate in 1999 students must:

attend a government school or accredited non-government school in NSW, or a school outside NSW recognised by the Board of Studies;
have satisfactorily completed a Board-approved program of study;
have undertaken the School Certificate Tests in English-literacy, Mathematics and Science; and
have completed Year 10.

Key Learning Areas

To receive the School Certificate, students must study the following five key learning areas (KLAs) each year in Years 7-10:

English
Mathematics
Science
Human Society and Its Environment
Personal Development, Health and Physical Education.

At some point during Years 7-10, students are also required to study courses in the key learning areas of Technological and Applied Studies, Creative Arts and Languages.

The Board of Studies NSW

The Board of Studies NSW, established by the Education Act 1990, is responsible for the conduct of the Higher School Certificate and the School Certificate, curriculum development, and registration and accreditation of non-government schools.

Board Members

The membership of the Board includes a full-time President and three ex-officio members, with the remaining 19 members being appointed by the Minister for Education and Training as nominees of particular organisations or persons with identified knowledge or expertise.

The current President of the Board of Studies, Professor Gordon Stanley, was appointed on 23 March 1998.

Board Members	Representing
Professor Gordon Stanley President
Dr Jim McMorrow Ms Jozefa Sobski Mr Trevor Wootten	Three persons nominated by the Director-General of Education and Training
Professor Robert Castle	Nominee of the New South Wales Vice-Chancellors' Committee
Mr Ian Morris (representing parents of primary school children) and Ms Dianne Butland (representing parents of secondary school children)	Nominees of the Council of the Federation of Parents and Citizens Associations of New South Wales
Dr Brian Croke	Nominee of the Catholic Education Commission of New South Wales
Mrs Jolyn Karaolis	Nominee of the Association of Independent Schools, the Headmasters' Conference and the Association of Heads of Independent Girls Schools
Ms Sandra White	Non-government school teacher being a nominee of the NSW Independent Education Union
Ms Caroline Benedet	Parent of a child attending a non-government school, being a nominee of the Council of Catholic School Parents and the New South Wales Parents Council
Ms Adele Mazoudier (representing primary schools) and Ms Judith King (representing secondary schools)	Principals of government schools, one being a nominee of the New South Wales Council of Primary School Principals and the other being a nominee of the New South Wales Council of Secondary School Principals
Ms Kathy Deacon (primary school teacher) and Ms Mary Fogarty (secondary school teacher)	Nominees of the New South Wales Teachers Federation, one being a government primary school teacher (other than a principal) and the other being a government secondary school teacher (other than a principal)
Dr Sue Dockett	Person with knowledge and expertise in early childhood education
Mr Charles Davison	Aboriginal person with knowledge and expertise in the education of Aboriginal people
Dr Anne Benjamin Ms Dorothy Hoddinott Dr Gregory Hotchkis OAM Mr Stepan Kerkyasharian AM Dame Leonie Kramer AC Ms Dagmar Schmidmaier	Six other persons having, in the Minister's opinion, qualifications or experience that enables them to make a valuable contribution to primary or secondary education in New South Wales

In relation to the Higher School Certificate, the Board is responsible for:

developing and endorsing courses of study;
making arrangements for conducting examinations and student assessments;
regulating the conduct of examinations and assessments, and the recording of students' achievements in them;
granting the Higher School Certificate;
providing the Preliminary and HSC Records of Achievement and/or Result Notices;
providing advice and assistance to students, employers and the public regarding the nature and content of secondary courses, assessment and examination procedures, and the reporting of students' achievements in them.

The Board has a number of standing committees that make recommendations to the Board concerning syllabus and examination requirements.

Staff of the Office of the Board of Studies

The staff of the Office of the Board of Studies involved with the Higher School Certificate provide administrative, technical and professional support in the following areas:

designing Higher School Certificate courses;
preparing Higher School Certificate examination papers;
planning, conducting, marking and processing Higher School Certificate examinations;
processing student assessments;
issuing the certificate, Records of Achievement and/or Result Notices;
conducting statistical analyses;
facilitating and coordinating the HSC Advice Line;
setting up the Higher School Certificate Examination Inquiry Centre;
advising schools of Board policy and procedures directly and through Board Liaison Officers;
communicating information about the Higher School Certificate to school students, parents and the community;
developing high-profile exhibitions to demonstrate students' achievements and excellence at HSC level.

Staff of the Office of the Board of Studies also provide similar support to the committees of the Board that deal with the School Certificate.

Board of Studies Liaison Officers

The Board of Studies has ten Board Liaison Officers (BOSLOs) located across the State.

A Board of Studies Liaison Officer is:

the Board's representative who works closely with government and non-government schools;
the immediate contact person within a region for any enquiries from interested parties on Board-related matters;
a communications link between the Board and schools;
available to assist schools in design, implementation and evaluation of their assessment programs;
the coordinator of Board Endorsed Courses and TAFE NSW programs within the region;
a member of the Higher School Certificate Illness/Misadventure Appeals Review Panel;
involved in the Higher School Certificate Examination Inquiry Centres to assist students with interpretation of their Higher School Certificate results.

The Board of Studies Liaison Officer may assist with:

statistics on course entries for the region;
factual information concerning the Higher School Certificate such as the Higher School Certificate examination timetables, HSC eligibility and course requirements;
school liaison (in consultation with government and non-government school systems).

Board of Studies Liaison Officers are:

Metropolitan North Ms Sandy Langford 9367 8356	Metropolitan East Ms Denise Harris 9568 8218
Metropolitan South West Ms Peta O'Keefe 9683 9637	Metropolitan North West Mr David Cashman 9683 9642
Hunter Mr David Beattie 4924 9967	North Coast Ms Robyn Hawkshaw 6659 3274
North West Ms Beverley Hobson 6755 5043	Western Mr Greg Simpson 6334 8048
Riverina Ms Lindy Walker 6937 3889	South Coast Mr Col Anderson 4226 8607

Board of Studies response to Y2K

The Office of the Board of Studies has undertaken a Year 2000 Compliance Project to identify and address Year 2000 problems. Contingency plans have included development of processes to ensure that the 1999 Higher School Certificate results can be issued without disruption. As part of this plan, the dates of the examinations were brought forward, and the results release program will be completed before Christmas 1999.

The project has been based on the Year 2000 Business Risk Analysis Methodology issued by the Department of Public Works and Services in 1997 and in accordance with NSW Government guidelines and requirements.

The following phases of the project have been completed:

Risk analysis
Rectification plan
Contingency plan
Disaster recovery plan
Legislative review
Insurance policy review
Compliance warranty adoption
Legal exposure review.

The final project phase, Rectification Plan Implementation, was completed in September.

The progress of the Office's Year 2000 Project is reported to the Office of Information Technology of the Premier's Department on a monthly basis, and is subject to annual internal auditing. Both internal auditors and the Audit Office of NSW receive regular updates on the progress of the project.

[1] Please note: All statistics in this guide refer to the enrolled candidature of 1 September 1999.
[2] Each Science course is treated as a separate subject; all three Distinction Courses are treated as one subject.

[3] Location according to BOSLO regions.

[4] Securing Their Future: The NSW Government's reforms for the Higher School Certificate (1997) is the NSW Government's HSC White Paper developed on the basis of the McGaw review into the NSW HSC, Shaping Their Future (March, 1997).

[5] Location according to BOSLO regions.