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Breaches and malpractice

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Updated 22 Sep 2025

NESA has made a number of changes across Breaches and malpractice.

Changes to Rules 10.1.1, 10.1.2, 10.1.3, 10.1.4 and 10.1.5:

  • include a revised definition for malpractice for HSC exams and HSC minimum standard tests (see paragraphs 2 and 3)
  • reflect malpractice as a subset of breaches of exam/test rules
  • include necessary updates to the phrasing and sequencing of content in the rules to support clearer understanding.

Rule 10.1.1 Types of malpractice in HSC submitted works and practical components, HSC exams, and HSC minimum standard tests

Changes:

  • include updates to the definitions and exemplars for different types of malpractice (misrepresentation, plagiarism, and collusion)
  • clarify that schools and sectors are responsible for school-based assessment policies about the use of artificial intelligence technologies in schools (see paragraph 13.b, footnote 3).

The following sentence has been deleted as it describes NESA’s reporting responsibilities which do not require enforcement via an ACE Rule:

“Serious and deliberate acts of malpractice amount to corrupt conduct and, where appropriate, NESA will report matters to the Independent Commission Against Corruption.”

Rule 10.1.2 Developing a school malpractice policy

Changes:

  • clarify what information about malpractice must be provided to students (see paragraph 18.a)
  • outline the requirement for schools to develop their own procedures for managing malpractice in school-based assessment (see paragraph 17)
  • specify additional information to be outlined in schools’ malpractice policies including a definition and description of malpractice, decision makers for malpractice in school-based assessment, and information about the Malpractice Register (See paragraph 19).

Rule 10.1.3 Recording malpractice in HSC school-based assessment

The following sentence has been deleted from Rule 10.1.3 as schools need only comply with their own malpractice policy and procedures when making decisions about malpractice in school-based assessment:

“Schools may use the malpractice data to support their decision making in malpractice cases.”

Rule 10.1.4 Breaches and malpractice in HSC submitted works and practical components, HSC exams, and HSC minimum standard tests

Changes:

  • introduce a new minimum penalty for students determined to have breached test rules and/or engaged in malpractice in an HSC minimum standard test (see paragraph 33.b)
  • remove reference to penalties being extended to other HSC exam results, as this is in contradiction to NESA’s principle of students retaining assessment marks earned fairly.

Rule 10.1.5 Other breaches of HSC exam/HSC minimum standard test rules

Rule 10.1.5 is a new rule created by NESA to address all forms of HSC exam/HSC minimum standard test rule breaches not expressly identified in the different types and exemplars of malpractice.

In doing so, NESA is making it clear that any breach of exam/test rules and procedures may be penalised irrespective of whether an unfair advantage has been gained.

View all changes

NESA is authorised under sections 20A and 95 of the Education Act 1990 (NSW) to:

  • prepare and distribute to schools information relating to the conduct of exams and other forms of assessment for HSC candidates
  • determine rules and procedures for the conduct of the HSC exams
  • consider all alleged breaches of exam rules found to have a case to answer and determine penalties
  • consider all alleged malpractice cases found to have a case to answer and determine penalties.

About malpractice

  1. The academic honesty of students completing HSC assessment tasks, exams, and tests is critical to the integrity of the credential. Dishonest behaviour and/or any attempt carried out for the purpose of gaining unfair advantage in the assessment process undermines the standard of scholarship represented by the award of the HSC or RoSA and constitutes malpractice. All forms of academic dishonesty are unacceptable. 
  2. Malpractice is: 
    1. any dishonest behaviour and/or attempt to gain an unfair advantage over other students, and/or
    2. knowingly assisting other students to engage in malpractice.
  3. NESA applies this definition of malpractice in determining cases of suspected malpractice in HSC minimum standard tests and HSC exams including practical components and submitted works.
  4. Breaches of exam/test rules, and malpractice in any form including plagiarism, collusion, and misrepresentation, is unacceptable. NESA treats allegations of malpractice very seriously and detected malpractice may jeopardise a student’s award and achievement of the RoSA or the HSC. All suspected breaches of exam/test rules and/or malpractice will be investigated and may be penalised. 
  5. Student conduct amounting to breaches of exam/test rules and/or malpractice may range from unintentional failures to comply with NESA’s rules and procedures to deliberate attempts to gain an unfair advantage involving intentional wrongdoing.
  6. Students are responsible for knowing and complying with NESA’s ACE Rules and policies regarding malpractice, including:
    1. All My Own Work (or its equivalent), and
    2. Loading , and
    3. HSC minimum standard: Malpractice and breaches of test rules, and
    4. HSC practical exams.
  7. NESA’s rules regarding malpractice must be read in conjunction with any course specific requirements outlined in Loading  packages including Assessment and Reporting information.

Categories

HSC (assessment)HSC credentialMalpracticeVET

Types of malpractice in HSC submitted works and practical components, HSC exams, and HSC minimum standard tests

  1. NESA uses the following explanations in determining cases of suspected malpractice for HSC exams and HSC minimum standard tests.

Misrepresentation

  1. Misrepresentation is when a student misleads or deceives others by presenting untrue information through the fabrication, alteration, or omission of information.
  2. Misrepresentation can include but is not limited to:
    1. making up journal entries for a project, and/or
    2. submitting falsified or altered documents1, and/or
    3. impersonating another student, and/or
    4. referencing non-existent sources, and/or
    5. contriving false explanations to explain work not handed in by the due date.

Plagiarism

  1. Plagiarism is when a student pretends to have written, created or developed work that has originated from another source.
  2. When using work that has originated from another source, students must acknowledge the source material in accordance with course specific requirements.
  3. Plagiarism includes but is not limited to:
    1. copying someone else’s work in part or in whole, and presenting it as their own2, and/or
    2. using material directly from books, journals, the internet, generative artificial intelligence3 or any other offline/online resources, without appropriate acknowledgement of the authors and/or source.

Collusion

  1. Collusion is when a student inappropriately collaborates with another student, group of students, person, organisation, or entity to produce work that was meant for individual assessment.
  2. Collusion includes but is not limited to:
    1. sharing answers to an assessment with other students through any medium4, and/or
    2. submitting work that has been substantially contributed to by another person, such as a student, parent, coach or subject expert, and/or
    3. contract cheating by outsourcing work to a third party, and/or
    4. unauthorised use of artificial intelligence technologies.

Online resources

Related ACE Rules

For further information

Please contact Student Support on (02) 9367 8117 or by email at studentsupport@nesa.nsw.edu.au.

Footnotes

  1. For example: medical certificates.

  2. Using the ideas or words of another person, or their own previous work, without appropriate acknowledgement, may be considered plagiarism.

  3. Schools and school sectors remain responsible for policies concerning the use of AI in schools, including whether generative AI is permissible for a school-based assessment task or course.

  4. For example: written, verbal and digital.

Categories

HSC (assessment)HSC credentialMalpracticeVET

Developing a school malpractice policy

  1. Schools must provide students with written advice about their policies and procedures for Stage 6 school-based assessment including the school’s malpractice policy.
  2. NESA provides advice on managing malpractice in school-based assessment on its website. Schools are responsible for developing their own malpractice policy and procedures.
  3. Schools must:
    1. ensure students have been provided with a definition and description of malpractice in school-based assessment
    2. provide students with the school’s malpractice policy at the commencement of their Preliminary studies
    3. comply with the school’s malpractice policy for all Stage 6 school-based assessment.
  4. A school’s malpractice policy must outline:
    1. procedures for investigating suspected malpractice including the decision maker(s) for determining malpractice offences, and
    2. range of possible penalties for malpractice, and
    3. a student appeals process including the decision maker(s) for appeals, and
    4. that incidents of HSC school-based assessment malpractice will be recorded in the Loading .
  5. Students are responsible for knowing and complying with their school’s malpractice policy for all school-based assessment.
  6. Student appeals concerning malpractice in school-based assessment tasks must be resolved at the school level.

Online resources

Related ACE Rules

For further information

Please contact Student Support on (02) 9367 8117 or by email at studentsupport@nesa.nsw.edu.au.

Categories

HSC (assessment)HSC credentialMalpracticeSchools OnlineVET

Malpractice Register

  1. The Malpractice Register is a state-wide register for malpractice in HSC school-based assessment tasks.
  2. The Malpractice Register is a record of the number and type of malpractice offences that occur in HSC school-based assessment tasks. NESA publishes aggregated malpractice data annually on its website. The Register does not identify individual schools or students.

Recording malpractice offences

  1. Schools must record malpractice offences in all HSC school-based assessment tasks in the Malpractice Register in Loading .
  2. For each malpractice offence, schools must record the:
    1. student identifier1, and
    2. course name, and
    3. offence date, and
    4. type of assessment task, and
    5. type of malpractice offence, and
    6. penalty applied.
  3. Principals must approve and finalise their school’s Malpractice Register at the time of entering grades and/or marks by the due date outlined in the Loading .

Online resources

Related ACE Rules

For further information

Please contact Student Support on (02) 9367 8117 or by email at studentsupport@nesa.nsw.edu.au.

Footnotes

  1. Schools must ensure each malpractice offence is represented uniquely. For example, if a group of students has engaged in malpractice, each student should be represented as a separate offence. For a student that has multiple malpractice offences, schools must use the same student identifier for the entry of each malpractice offence. Schools may use any unique identifying information as the student identifier eg a student’s school ID number.

Categories

HSC (assessment)HSC credentialMalpracticeVET

Suspected breaches of exam/test rules and malpractice

  1. The Examination Rules Committee (ERC) deals with all cases of suspected breaches of exam/test rules and malpractice in HSC exams and HSC minimum standard tests.
  2. Should a breach of exam/test rules and/or malpractice be suspected in an HSC exam or HSC minimum standard test, NESA will:
    1. notify the student of the suspected breach of exam/test rules and/or malpractice, and
    2. provide the student with an opportunity to formally respond to the suspected breach of exam/test rules and/or malpractice and may invite the student to attend a meeting with the ERC.
  3. The ERC will consider all available evidence to determine if malpractice and/or a breach of exam/test rules has occurred1, the appropriate penalty to be applied, and any other actions to be taken.
  4. Should a breach of exam/test rules and/or malpractice be suspected or established after the release of results, the ERC may conduct a retrospective review. 

Penalties for breaches of exam/test rules and malpractice

HSC exams

  1. Where the ERC determines a student has engaged in breaches of exam rules and/or malpractice for an HSC exam, the ERC may impose penalties including:
    1. reduced marks for the exam, and/or
    2. zero marks for the exam, and/or
    3. course cancellation.
  2. Penalties imposed by the ERC may render the student ineligible for the HSC and RoSA.

HSC minimum standard test

  1. Where the ERC determines a student has engaged in breaches of test rules and/or malpractice for an HSC minimum standard test:
    1. the result of the test attempt will not be used to demonstrate achievement of the HSC minimum standard, and
    2. the student is prohibited from re-attempting the test in the same domain for a minimum of 30 calendar days.

Online resources

Related ACE Rules

For further information

Please contact Student Support on (02) 9367 8117 or by email at studentsupport@nesa.nsw.edu.au.

Footnotes

  1. Where the ERC determines that a breach of exam/test rules has occurred, without resulting in the student gaining an unfair advantage over other students, the ERC may impose penalties.

Categories

HSC (assessment)HSC credentialSchools OnlinePreliminaryMalpractice

Other breaches of HSC exam/HSC minimum standard test rules

  1. All students undertaking an HSC exam or HSC minimum standard test must comply with the
    assessment conditions set by NESA.
  2. When assembling for, undertaking, and leaving the exam or test session, students are subject
    to the direction and supervision of the invigilator. At all other times, students must adhere to
    the rules prescribed by their school or alternate venue conducting the assessment.
  3. A breach of assessment conditions includes any breach of:
    1. Loading , and
    2. HSC minimum standard test rules and procedures.

For further information

Please contact Student Support on (02) 9367 8117 or by email at studentsupport@nesa.nsw.edu.au.

All My Own Work (AMOW)

An educational program designed to support students to follow the principles and practices of good scholarship before they are entered into Preliminary and/or HSC courses.

breach of assessment conditions

When a student breaches the HSC exam rules and procedures or the HSC minimum standard test rules and procedures.

collusion

When a student inappropriately collaborates with another student, group of students, person, organisation, or entity to produce work that was meant for individual assessment.

Examination Rules Committee (ERC)

A NESA subcommittee made up of independent sector representatives with delegated authority to make decisions on cases of suspected breaches of exam/test rules and malpractice in HSC exams and the HSC minimum standard tests.

HSC minimum standard

The foundational literacy (reading and writing) and numeracy skills, set at Australian Core Skills Framework (ACSF) Level 3, which a student must demonstrate to be eligible for the HSC.

malpractice

Any dishonest behaviour and/or attempt to gain an unfair advantage over other students, and/or knowingly assisting other students to engage in malpractice.

Malpractice Register

A state-wide register of malpractice offences in HSC school-based assessment tasks.

minimum standard test

A test in reading, writing or numeracy needed to meet the HSC minimum standard.

misrepresentation

When a student misleads or deceives others by presenting untrue information through the fabrication, alteration, or omission of information.

plagiarism

When a student pretends to have written, created or developed work that has originated from another source.

practical component

Some HSC courses include an external practical or performance exam (or component) along with the written exam. This component makes up some or all of the final HSC exam mark.