Archive – HSC 2012 – The numbers
This page last updated 17 September 2013
- 73 397 students are enrolled in at least one Higher School Certificate course.
- 537 candidates are enrolled in HSC courses outside of NSW, including in international schools in Hong Kong, Indonesia and Malaysia.
- HSC written exams will be held over 19 days between Monday 15 October and Thursday 8 November. There are 117 different exam papers. The first exams are English Standard and Advanced, and the last are Design and Technology, Latin Extension and Visual Arts.
- There are more than 760 HSC exam centres in Australia and around the world. More than 740 of these are in New South Wales.
- Of the 73 397 students enrolled in this year’s HSC, 35 950 or 49% are male and 37 447 or 51% are female.
- Most HSC candidates in NSW come from metropolitan areas: 42 366 against 29 488 in the Board's non-metropolitan regions.
Enrolments by NSW region, Board of Studies regions - English: 68 611 students are enrolled in at least one HSC English course.
These courses include: English Standard, English Advanced, English as a Second Language, English Extension 1, English Extension 2, English Life Skills and English Studies.
English is the only compulsory HSC subject. - Maths: 53 942 students are enrolled in at least one HSC maths course.
These courses include: General Mathematics, Mathematics, Mathematics Extension 1, Mathematics Extension 2 and Mathematics Life Skills. - Languages: 6444 students are enrolled in at least one HSC language course.
- Life Skills: 1599 students are enrolled in at least one HSC Life Skills course.
- Science: 32 717 students are enrolled in at least one HSC science course.
These courses include: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Earth and Environmental Science, Senior Science and Science Life Skills. - VET: 23 340 students are enrolled in at least one HSC Vocational Educational and Training or VET course. Of these, 20 950 are enrolled in one or more of the VET curriculum frameworks.
Note: The numbers above may differ from total course enrolment numbers as a student, for example, can be enrolled in more than one course from a particular subject area.
15 subjects with the largest number of students enrolled
| 1. | English | 68 611 |
|---|---|---|
| 2. | Mathematics | 53 942 |
| 3. | Biology | 16 756 |
| 4. | Business Studies | 15 458 |
| 5. | Studies of Religion | 14 623 |
| 6. | PDHPE* | 14 327 |
| 7. | Ancient History | 12 304 |
| 8. | Chemistry | 10 982 |
| 9. | Modern History | 10 620 |
| 10. | Visual Arts | 9 846 |
| 11. | Legal Studies | 9 653 |
| 12. | Physics | 9 594 |
| 13. | Hospitality | 8 475 |
| 14. | Community & Family Studies | 6 734 |
| 15. | Music | 5 986 |
*Personal Development, Health and Physical Education
10 individual language courses with the largest number of students enrolled
| 1. | French Continuers | 893 |
|---|---|---|
| 2. | Chinese Background Speakers | 756 |
| 3. | French Beginners | 701 |
| 4. | Japanese Continuers | 692 |
| 5. | Japanese Beginners | 625 |
| 6. | Italian Beginners | 369 |
| 7. | Italian Continuers | 301 |
| 8. | German Continuers | 291 |
| 9. | Arabic Continuers | 215 |
| 10. | French Extension | 205 |
Five languages with the largest number of students enrolled
| 1. | French | 1 609 |
|---|---|---|
| 2. | Japanese | 1 358 |
| 3. | Chinese | 950 |
| 4. | Italian | 673 |
| 5. | German | 427 |
Five individual VET curriculum frameworks with the largest number of students enrolled
| 1. | Hospitality | 8 475 |
|---|---|---|
| 2. | Construction | 3 281 |
| 3. | Business Services | 2 512 |
| 4. | Retail Services | 1 935 |
| 5. | Information Technology | 1 829 |
VET courses focus on workplace skills. Enrolment by VET curriculum frameworks
Note: These statistics are based on a Board of Studies NSW audit, 1 September 2012
NSW Government