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ACE Rules

Clarified ACE Rules came into effect on 14 October 2024. These rules apply to students commencing HSC courses from Term 4 2024, for students sitting for HSC exams in 2025, and for students receiving the RoSA from October 2024.

For students sitting for HSC exams in 2024, the previous ACE Online rules continue to apply.

To learn more about how NESA has clarified the ACE Rules, refer to the information sheets.

All My Own Work

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NESA is authorised under sections 20A(2) and 95(1)(f) of the Education Act 1990 (NSW) to grant the HSC to students who have complied with any requirements imposed by the Minister or Authority.

Categories

HSC (assessment)HSC credentialHSC (curriculum)MalpracticePreliminary

About All My Own Work

  1. To be eligible for entry into a Preliminary and/or HSC course, and for the award of the HSC, all students must complete All My Own Work (AMOW) or its equivalent, and all other eligibility requirements.1
  2. AMOW is an educational program designed to instruct students about scholarship principles and ethical practices, and comprises content across 4 topics related to locating and acknowledging sources of information, plagiarism, copyright, and working with others.
  3. AMOW:
    1. must be completed by every student before they are entered into any Preliminary or HSC course, as it has a specific focus on preparing students for HSC assessment, and
    2. is designed to be flexible for different school contexts, delivery methods and modes.
  4. Students undertaking a pattern of study that comprises only Stage 6 Life Skills courses, are not required to complete AMOW. 

Responsibilities of principals and schools

  1. Principals must:
    1. rely on their professional judgement, and of their teachers, to make decisions about a student’s satisfactory completion of AMOW, and
    2. certify students’ completion of AMOW in Loading... and record their details in All My Own Work Completion, before the submission of entries for Preliminary and HSC courses, and
    3. recognise the relationship between AMOW and the integrity of HSC school-based assessment and exams, and explain this to their students, and
    4. ensure AMOW is supported by a school policy on malpractice.
  2. Principals and schools may:
    1. design their own program to suit their individual needs or contexts, and
    2. determine when students start AMOW, noting that it must be completed before the submission of entries for Preliminary and HSC courses.

All My Own Work enables students to understand their HSC assessment obligations

  1. AMOW (or its equivalent) is designed to make a student aware of their HSC assessment obligations.
  2. Students must develop and submit their HSC assessments (including school-based assessments, submitted works and performances) in accordance with the principles of:
    1. All My Own Work, and
    2. integrity of HSC school-based assessment and exams, and
    3. Loading....
  3. If malpractice is suspected, a student must demonstrate that all unacknowledged work is entirely their own.
  4. Schools must follow their own school assessment policies and record all instances of malpractice on the Malpractice Register.
  5. NESA refers suspected cases of HSC exam malpractice to the Examination Rules Committee (ERC). Penalties include a reduction in exam marks, zero marks for the exam or cancellation of the course(s).
  6. NESA will make all necessary reports to the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) where malpractice is serious, deliberate, and amounts to corrupt conduct.

There are specific All My Own Work requirements for a range of Stage 6 study options

  1. To be eligible for entry into a Preliminary and/or HSC course, and for the award of the HSC, all students must complete AMOW and all other eligibility requirements.

Accelerated students

  1. Students accelerating into a Stage 6 course(s) must complete AMOW (or its equivalent) prior to being entered into the course(s).

Early commencement of Stage 6 VET courses

  1. Students in Years 9 and 10 undertaking early commencement of a Stage 6 VET course must complete AMOW prior to being entered into the course.

Self-tuition applicants

  1. Self-tuition applicants must complete AMOW prior to being entered into Stage 6 courses. These applicants make an explicit declaration on the self-tuition application form that they have completed AMOW, and must submit these forms to NESA by 30 June.

Online resources

Related ACE Rules

For further information

For enquiries about AMOW or malpractice, email studentsupport@nesa.nsw.edu.au.

Footnotes

  1. An AMOW equivalent may be appropriate for accessibility and inclusion reasons. An AMOW equivalent must contain comparable content to the AMOW topics.