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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 6

Last updated:
Previous rule
Updated 03 Jul 2024

NESA has not changed its requirements for course completion for students undertaking Stage 6 Life Skills courses.

Schools should continue to follow their existing processes for course completion for students undertaking Stage 6 Life Skills courses until NESA publishes clarified requirements.

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Sections 12, 95 and 95A of the Education Act 1990 (NSW) set out the curriculum requirements and eligibility requirements for the award of the HSC.

Categories

HSC credentialHSC (curriculum)Life SkillsPreliminaryRoSA

Eligibility to study Stage 6 Life Skills courses

  1. Stage 6 Life Skills courses provide course options for students with intellectual disability or imputed intellectual disability in Years 11–12 who cannot access related general education courses.
  2. Principals must make decisions about accessing Stage 6 Life Skills courses:
    1. based on the needs of the individual student, for each course, and
    2. via Loading..., and
    3. involving the individual student (where appropriate), their parents/carers, and their teachers.
  3. Stage 6 Life Skills courses 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.
  4. A student studying a Stage 6 Life Skills course cannot return to studying general education courses once a decision to access Life Skills courses has been made. Students accessing Stage 6 Life Skills courses must continue studying Stage 6 Life Skills courses in the current stage of schooling.
  5. A student studying any Stage 6 Life Skills course(s) will usually have completed one or more courses based on Life Skills outcomes and content in Years 7–10.
  6. In exceptional circumstances a student who has not undertaken one or more courses based on Life Skills outcomes and content in Years 7–10 may wish to enter Stage 6 Life Skills courses. These exceptional circumstances might include situations where a student with intellectual or imputed intellectual disability:
    1. has attempted outcomes and content in Years 7–10 but has experienced significant difficulty in achieving the outcomes1, and/or
    2. transfers from interstate or overseas, and/or
    3. has a deteriorating condition.

Online resources

Related ACE Rules

For further information

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

Footnotes

  1. This may be prior, selected or stage outcomes.

Categories

HSC credentialHSC (curriculum)Life SkillsPreliminaryRoSASchools Online

Entering students in Stage 6 Life Skills courses

  1. Schools must indicate1 in Loading... that a student is entered into one or more Stage 6 Life Skills courses when submitting Preliminary and HSC course entries.
  2. Principals must certify that a student is eligible and the decision is the result of Loading... when entering students into a Stage 6 Life Skills course.
  3. Schools must not enter students into Stage 6 Life Skills courses after the school year has commenced unless exceptional circumstances2 apply, and have been considered in the context of a collaborative planning process.
  4. Exclusions apply to the study of Stage 6 Life Skills courses.3 Schools must refer to Loading... documentation and Assessment and Reporting information for each course.

Supplementing courses from additional syllabuses

  1. Schools may supplement or replace outcomes and content in a Life Skills course with Life Skills outcomes and content from other syllabuses. Schools must enter students into the course from which the outcomes and content are predominantly drawn.
  2. By completing courses based on Life Skills outcomes and content, students are able to satisfy the mandatory curriculum requirements for the HSC.

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. Exceptional circumstances may include a new diagnosis of intellectual disability, such as acquired brain injury.

  3. For example, a student cannot include both English Standard and English Life Skills in the pattern of study for the award of the HSC.

Categories

HSC (assessment)HSC credentialHSC (curriculum)Life SkillsPreliminaryRoSA

Assessing Stage 6 Life Skills courses

  1. 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 in Life Skills courses. Assessment can occur in a range of situations or environments such as the school and wider community.
  2. Teachers must:
    1. assess students accessing Life Skills courses 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.
  3. Students accessing Life Skills courses may achieve the designated outcomes independently or with support.1
  4. An outcome should be 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

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

HSC (assessment)HSC credentialHSC (curriculum)Life SkillsMalpracticePreliminaryRoSA

HSC requirements for students entered in Stage 6 Life Skills courses

  1. To qualify for the award of the HSC all students must fulfil the HSC requirements.
  2. Students with intellectual disability or imputed intellectual disability can satisfy the requirements for the HSC pattern of study by completing a combination of:
    1. Board Developed course(s) (including Stage 6 Life Skills courses), or
    2. Vocational Education and Training (VET) course(s), or
    3. Board Endorsed course(s) (including Content Endorsed courses).
  3. Stage 6 Life Skills courses have no HSC exams and results cannot be used in the calculation of a student’s ATAR.
  4. Students with disability may access VET courses by:
    1. undertaking the course under regular course arrangements, or
    2. selected units of competency within the course, identified through Loading....1

Time allocation for courses

  1. When programming Stage 6 Life Skills courses, all indicative hour requirements must be met. This will ensure the courses are credentialled on the HSC.
  2. Each Stage 6 Life Skills course has an indicative hour requirement of 120 hours in Year 11 and 120 hours in Year 12 with the exception of one-unit courses.
  3. In some cases, it may be necessary to vary the time allocated by increasing the number of hours of study for a course. When considering whether an increase in time is necessary, schools must ensure that indicative hour requirements for each enrolled course are met.

Satisfactory completion of Stage 6 Life Skills courses

  1. Life Skills courses have the same course completion criteria as all Board Developed and Board Endorsed courses.
  2. 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.
    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.
  3. 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 general curriculum enquiries, please email curriculum@nesa.nsw.edu.au.

Footnotes

  1. For more information, see the Stage 6 VET Industry Curriculum Frameworks Support Document for Students with Special Education Needs.

Categories

HSC credentialHSC (curriculum)PreliminaryLife SkillsRoSA

Satisfactory completion of Stage 6 Life Skills courses

  1. Life Skills courses have the same course completion criteria as all Board Developed and Board Endorsed courses.
  2. 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.
    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.
  3. 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 Life Skills courses, 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

HSC credentialHSC (curriculum)Life SkillsPreliminaryRoSASchools Online

Credentialling of Stage 6 Life Skills courses

  1. Students who satisfactorily complete a Stage 6 Life Skills course will:
    1. have the course reported on their HSC credential, or, if students leave before completing their HSC, on the RoSA.
      1. Stage 6 Life Skills courses are reported with the notation ‘Refer to Profile of Student Achievement’.
    2. receive the HSC Profile of Student Achievement together with the HSC credential.
  2. 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 syllabuses with Life Skills outcomes and content in Years 7–10, a Profile of Student Achievement can be accessed listing the outcomes achieved in the course(s). Students not eligible to be awarded the RoSA can access a Transcript of Study in Students Online.
  3. Outcomes achieved in School Developed Board Endorsed Stage 6 Life Skills courses will not be reported on the Profile of Student Achievement.
  4. Schools submit information in Loading... regarding outcomes that have been achieved, either independently or with support, for all students enrolled in Stage 6 Life Skills courses at the time of collection of Preliminary grades or HSC assessment marks.
  5. Students undertaking a pattern of study that comprises only Stage 6 Life Skills courses, are not required to demonstrate the HSC minimum standard and complete All My Own Work.

Online resources

Related ACE Rules

For further information

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