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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.

Life Skills in Stage 5

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Updated 03 Jul 2024

NESA has not changed its requirements for course completion for students undertaking Stage 5 courses based on Life Skills outcomes and content.

Schools should continue to follow their existing processes for course completion for students undertaking Stage 5 courses based on Life Skills outcomes and content until NESA publishes clarified requirements.

View all changes

Sections 11 and 94 of the Education Act 1990 (NSW) set out the curriculum requirements and eligibility requirements for the award of the RoSA.

Categories

K–10Life SkillsRoSA

Eligibility to study Stage 5 courses based on Life Skills outcomes and content

  1. Life Skills outcomes and content provide options for students with an intellectual disability or an imputed intellectual disability in Years 7–10 who cannot access stage outcomes1 or for whom prior stage outcomes are not appropriate. 
  2. Life Skills outcomes and content can be accessed in all Years 7–10 Loading....
  3. Principals must make decisions about accessing Life Skills outcomes and content:
    1. based on the needs of the individual student, for each Years 7–10 course based on Life Skills outcomes and content, and
    2. via Loading..., and
    3. involving the individual student (where appropriate), their parents/carers, and their teachers.
  4. Life Skills outcomes and content in Years 7–10 syllabuses are not appropriate options for students:
    1. who do not have an intellectual disability or an imputed intellectual disability
    2. experiencing significant unexpected and/or chronic health issues
    3. performing below their cohort
    4. who could access outcomes and content with appropriate adjustments and support
    5. with emotional and/or behavioural needs.
  5. A student accessing Life Skills outcomes and content cannot return to studying stage2 or prior stage outcomes and content in that particular course once a decision to access Life Skills has been made. Students accessing Life Skills outcomes and content must continue studying Life Skills outcomes and content in current and subsequent stages of schooling.

Adjustments for students with disability enrolled in Years 7–10 courses based on Life Skills outcomes and content

  1. It is a requirement under the Loading... for schools to ensure that teaching, learning and assessment tasks are accessible to Loading... by providing reasonable Loading....
  2. Adjustments are actions taken that enable a student with disability to access syllabus outcomes and content on the same basis as their peers. Decisions regarding Loading..., must be made in the context of Loading.... The type of Loading... and support will vary according to the particular needs of the student and the requirements of the activity.

Online resources

For further information

For general curriculum enquiries, please email curriculum@nesa.nsw.edu.au.

Footnotes

  1. This could be selected stage outcomes and content.

  2. This could be selected stage outcomes and content.

Categories

K–10Life SkillsRoSASchools Online

Entering students in Stage 5 courses based on Life Skills outcomes and content

  1. Schools must indicate1 that a student is entered into one or more Stage 5 courses based on Life Skills outcomes and content in Loading... by the due date published in the Loading....
  2. Students may enter one or more Stage 5 courses based on Life Skills outcomes and content.
  3. Principals must, when entering students who are entered in courses based on Life Skills outcomes and content:
    1. certify that the student is eligible
    2. make sure the decision is the result of Loading..., and
    3. ensure the student is not accessing both stage2 or prior stage outcomes and content alongside Life Skills outcomes and content from the same syllabus.3
  4. Schools must ensure that students entered into a Stage 5 course based on Life Skills outcomes and content continue to meet mandatory curriculum requirements in each key learning area (KLA).
  5. By completing courses based on Life Skills outcomes and content, students are able to satisfy the mandatory curriculum requirements for the RoSA in individual KLAs.
  6. Schools must enter the Life Skills outcomes achieved for any student in Schools Online. Any mandatory ungraded courses that have been satisfactorily completed will need to be added to the Year 10 entry in Schools Online.

Supplementing courses from additional syllabuses

  1. Schools may supplement courses to include selected Life Skills outcomes and content from other syllabuses. Schools must enter students into the course from which the Life Skills outcomes and content are predominantly drawn.

Online resources

Related ACE Rules

For further information

For general curriculum enquiries, please email curriculum@nesa.nsw.edu.au.

Footnotes

  1. This is done by editing the student’s details.

  2. This could be selected stage outcomes and content.

  3. For example, a student may not study both Science Stage 5 outcomes and content and Science Life Skills outcomes and content.

Categories

K–10Life SkillsRoSA

Assessing Life Skills outcomes and content

  1. It is a requirement under the Loading... for schools to ensure that assessment tasks are accessible to students with disability.
  2. Some Loading... will require Loading... to assessment practices to demonstrate what they know and can do in relation to syllabus outcomes and content.
  3. NESA does not require schools to formally assess Life Skills outcomes. Schools are not required to use the Common Grade Scale (A to E) or equivalent to report achievement for students entered into courses based on Life Skills outcomes and content. Loading... can occur in a range of situations or environments such as the school and wider community.
  4. Teachers must:
    1. assess students accessing courses based on Life Skills outcomes and content on their achievement of the outcomes selected through Loading..., and
    2. provide learning opportunities for students to demonstrate achievement in relation to the selected outcomes.
  5. Students accessing courses based on Life Skills outcomes and content may achieve the designated outcomes independently or with support.1
  6. An outcome is considered as ‘achieved independently’ if there is evidence that a student can demonstrate the achievement of an outcome, either:
    1. without adjustments; or
    2. with Loading... that enable the student to access course work and/or demonstrate achievement during assessment opportunities. These adjustments must have been determined through Loading....

Online resources

Related ACE Rules

For further information

For general curriculum enquiries, please email curriculum@nesa.nsw.edu.au.

Footnotes

  1. Examples of additional support include verbal prompts; visual prompts; physical assistance; provision of partial responses.

Categories

K–10Life SkillsMalpracticeRoSA

Requirements for students enrolled in Years 7–10 courses based on Life Skills outcomes and content

  1. Students accessing Life Skills outcomes and content can satisfy the mandatory curriculum requirements by satisfactorily completing courses based on Life Skills outcomes and content.
  2. The appropriate timing of students accessing Life Skills outcomes and content is guided by the needs of the student and Loading....

Time allocation for courses

  1. Teachers must ensure all indicative hour requirements are met when programming courses based on Life Skills outcomes and content, so that courses can be credentialled on the Record of School Achievement (RoSA). The indicative hour requirements for courses based on Life Skills outcomes and content in Years 7–10 are the same as the mandatory curriculum requirements.
  2. Schools must ensure that indicative hour requirements across the KLAs are met when considering whether an increase in time is necessary.

Satisfactory completion of Life Skills outcomes and content

  1. Courses of study that include Life Skills outcomes and content have the same course completion criteria as all Board Developed and Board Endorsed courses.
  2. The number of outcomes addressed and/or achieved will vary for individual students. To satisfactorily complete a course, it is not necessary for students to address or achieve all the Life Skills outcomes in a course.
  3. Principals:
    1. determine that a student is considered to have satisfactorily completed a course if there is sufficient evidence that the student has:
      1. followed the course developed or endorsed by NESA, and
      2. applied themselves with diligence and sustained effort to the set tasks and experiences provided in the course by the school, and
      3. achieved at least one of the course outcomes; and
    2. may determine that, as a result of absence, the above course completion criteria might not be met. NESA does not set a minimum attendance for the satisfactory completion of a course, and
    3. must give students early written warning of the consequences of non-completion of course requirements. The warning must relate the student’s absence to the non-completion of the course requirements.
  4. The number of outcomes addressed and/or achieved will vary for individual students. This decision must be made during Loading.... To satisfactorily complete a course, it is not necessary for students to address or achieve all the Life Skills outcomes in a course. 

Related ACE Rules

For further information

For general curriculum enquiries, please email curriculum@nesa.nsw.edu.au.

Categories

K–10RoSALife Skills

Satisfactory completion of Life Skills outcomes and content

  1. Courses of study that include Life Skills outcomes and content have the same course completion criteria as all Board Developed and Board Endorsed courses.
  2. The number of outcomes addressed and/or achieved will vary for individual students. To satisfactorily complete a course, it is not necessary for students to address or achieve all the Life Skills outcomes in a course.
  3. Principals:
    1. determine that a student is considered to have satisfactorily completed a course if there is sufficient evidence that the student has:
      1. followed the course developed or endorsed by NESA, and
      2. applied themselves with diligence and sustained effort to the set tasks and experiences provided in the course by the school, and
      3. achieved at least one of the course outcomes; and
    2. may determine that, as a result of absence, the above course completion criteria might not be met. NESA does not set a minimum attendance for the satisfactory completion of a course, and
    3. must give students early written warning of the consequences of non-completion of course requirements. The warning must relate the student’s absence to the non-completion of the course requirements.
  4. The number of outcomes addressed and/or achieved will vary for individual students. This decision must be made during Loading.... To satisfactorily complete a course, it is not necessary for students to address or achieve all the Life Skills outcomes in a course. 

Online resources

Related ACE Rules

For further information

For enquiries about course completion for courses based on Life Skills outcomes and content, please contact Student Support on (02) 9367 8117 or by email at studentsupport@nesa.nsw.edu.au.

For further information, please contact your region’s NESA Liaison Officer on (02) 9367 8387 or by email liaisonteam@nesa.nsw.edu.au.

Categories

K–10Life SkillsRoSASchools Online

Credentialling Life Skills outcomes and content

  1. Schools submit information in Loading... regarding outcomes that have been achieved, either independently or with support, for all students enrolled in courses based on Life Skills outcomes and content.
  2. Students who satisfactorily complete a Stage 5 course based on Life Skills outcomes and content and leave school before completing their HSC will have the course reported on the RoSA with the notation Refer to Profile of Student Achievement.
  3. Students who leave school prior to gaining the RoSA can access a Transcript of Study in Students Online. If the student has satisfactorily completed one or more Stage 5 courses based on Life Skills outcomes and content, a Profile of Student Achievement can be accessed.
  4. Outcomes achieved in School Developed Board Endorsed courses (SDBECs) will not be reported on the Profile of Student Achievement.

Related ACE Rules

For further information

For general curriculum enquiries, please email curriculum@nesa.nsw.edu.au.