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Life Skills in Stage 6

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Previous rule
Updated 02 Apr 2025

NESA has made a number of changes across Life Skills in Stage 6.

Rule 11.2.1 Eligibility to study Stage 6 Life Skills courses

Changes clarify eligibility requirements for students studying Stage 6 Life Skills courses, including for:

  • students seeking to continue their study of a particular Stage 6 course after having studied the related course based on Life Skills outcomes and content in Stage 5. (see paragraph 4)
  • students seeking to study a combination of Board Developed, Content Endorsed and Board Endorsed courses. (see paragraph 6)
  • students commencing the study of HSC Life Skills courses. (see paragraph 8)

Changes to Rule 11.2.1 also include:

  • a new exceptional circumstances footnote which outlines NESA contact information for principals who are concerned that a previous decision to place a student into Life Skills was not appropriate. (see paragraph 7)
  • new section on adjustments for students with disability studying Stage 6 Life Skills courses. (see paragraphs 9 and 10)

Rule 11.2.2 Entering students in Stage 6 Life Skills courses

Changes clarify the process and timeframe for:

  • submitting courses entries for students studying Life Skills in Stage 6. (see paragraph 11)
  • entering Life Skills outcomes achieved for individual students. (see paragraph 15)

Rule 11.2.4 HSC requirements for students entered in Stage 6 Life Skills

Changes include a new paragraph reminding schools to check HSC minimum standard exemptions for students entered in Stage 6 Life Skills courses to determine if students are exempt from demonstrating the HSC minimum standard in any domain. (see paragraph 23)

View all changes

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

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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  on a course by course basis, 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 any Stage 6 Life Skills course(s) will usually have undertaken one or more courses based on Life Skills outcomes and content in Years 7–10. A student who has studied Life Skills outcomes and content in a Stage 5 course and who wishes to continue the study of a corresponding course in Stage 6 can do so only through the study of a Life Skills course1.
  5. 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 study 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 outcomes2, and/or
    2. transfers from interstate or overseas, and/or
    3. has a deteriorating condition.
  6. Students may study a combination of:
    1. Board Developed courses, including Life Skills courses, and/or
    2. Content Endorsed courses (CECs), and/or
    3. Board Endorsed courses (BECs).
  7. A student studying a Stage 6 Life Skills course cannot return to studying the related general education course once a decision to study the Life Skills course has been made.3
  8. Students may enter an HSC Life Skills course if they have satisfactorily completed the requisite preceding Preliminary Life Skills course or equivalent.4

Adjustments for students with disability studying Stage 6 Life Skills courses

  1. It is a requirement under the Loading  for schools to ensure that teaching, learning and assessment tasks are accessible to students with disability 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

Related ACE Rules

For further information

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

Footnotes

  1. For example, a student who has studied History Life Skills outcomes and content in Year 10 and who wishes to continue the study of History in Stage 6 can only do so through the Ancient History Life Skills or Modern History Life Skills courses.

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

  3. In exceptional circumstances where the Principal considers that it may be in the best interest of the student to not continue to study a Life Skills course, the school must contact Curriculum by emailing curriculum@nesa.nsw.edu.au. 

  4. The related Preliminary general education course is considered an equivalent prerequisite course for HSC Life Skills courses.

Categories

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Entering students in Stage 6 Life Skills courses

  1. Schools must, in Loading , by the due date published in the Loading :
    1. indicate1 that a student is entered into one or more Stage 6 Life Skills courses, and 
    2. submit 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.
  5. Schools must enter the Life Skills outcomes achieved for each student entered in a Life Skills course in Loading  by the due date published in the Loading .

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 HSC pattern of study of requirements.

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

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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 studying 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 studying 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

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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. There are some Life Skills exemptions for the HSC minimum standard. Schools must check Life Skills exemptions for students entered in Stage 6 Life Skills courses to determine if students are exempt from demonstrating the HSC minimum standard in any domain.
  3. 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).
  4. Stage 6 Life Skills courses have no HSC exams and results cannot be used in the calculation of a student’s ATAR.
  5. 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 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 annotation ‘Refer to Profile of Student Achievement’.
    2. receive the HSC Profile of Student Achievement together with the HSC credential.
  2. Students who leave school ineligible for 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). 
  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 entered 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.

For enquiries about Schools Online and student entries, please contact Student Records on (02) 9367 8001 or by email at records@nesa.nsw.edu.au.

adjustments

Actions taken to enable a student with disability to access and participate in education on the same basis as other students, in accordance with the Disability Standards for Education 2005.

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.

Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR)

HSC results are used by the Universities Admissions Centre (UAC) to calculate a rank order of students known as the ATAR. It is a ranking system used to allocate university placements.

Board Developed course (BDC)

A course developed by NESA, that includes general education courses, Life Skills courses and VET Industry Curriculum Framework courses.

Board Endorsed course (BEC)

A course that caters to the learning needs of students in specific areas of need not served by Board Developed courses. Before they can be taught in NSW schools, they must be endorsed by NESA. These courses count towards the HSC but do not have an HSC exam and do not contribute towards the calculation of the ATAR. There are four types: Content Endorsed courses (CECs), School Developed Board Endorsed courses (SDBECs), University Developed Board Endorsed courses (UDBECs), and VET Board Endorsed courses (VET BECs).

collaborative curriculum planning

The process to determine the most appropriate curriculum options and adjustments for a student with disability. It should take place within the broader context of personalised planning that includes interventions and other supports to address identified student learning and support needs.

Common Grade Scale

Generic, holistic descriptions of typical performance at each of 5 grade levels that can be used to identify and report student achievement in both primary and junior secondary years in NSW schools.

Content Endorsed course (CEC)

A course developed by NESA, that caters to the learning needs of students in specific areas of need not served by Board Developed courses.

HSC credential

Awarded to students who meet HSC eligibility and course requirements. Includes an HSC testamur and HSC Record of Achievement.

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.

Profile of Student Achievement

A cumulative record of the student’s achievement of Life Skills outcomes for any course satisfactorily completed in Stage 5, Year 11 or Year 12. It provides the details of the specific Life Skills syllabus outcomes achieved by students undertaking courses.

School Developed Board Endorsed course (SDBEC)

A course designed by school(s) and endorsed by NESA to meet curriculum needs of students that cannot be accommodated by Board Developed courses, or Content Endorsed courses (CECs), or Vocational Education and Training Board Endorsed courses (VET BECs). Once the course proposal is endorsed by NESA, SDBECs count as Board Endorsed unit credit for the HSC but do not contribute towards an ATAR.

Transcript of Study

A list of courses and, where applicable, results for students who completed at least one Stage 5 course, but are not eligible for a RoSA. It lists all mandatory and additional Stage 5 courses and, where applicable, Stage 6 courses completed by the student, along with the grade/mark awarded. It also lists any courses commenced but not completed, and the date of leaving school.