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NSW Education Standards Authority
ACE Rules

NESA has published clarified ACE Rules on the NSW Curriculum website. Stay up to date with the clarified ACE Rules by visiting this website. 

The clarified rules come into effect from 14 October 2024. Schools must not implement the clarified rules before this date. Schools must use the current ACE Rules on Loading... until 14 October 2024.

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

Preliminary and HSC course commencement

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NESA is authorised under section 95 of the Education Act 1990 (NSW) to prepare and distribute to schools information relating to HSC eligibility and courses of study for candidates for the HSC.

Categories

HSC (curriculum)PreliminaryVET

Starting Preliminary courses

  1. The delivery of Preliminary courses must not commence before Day 1, Term 1 of Year 11, except for students studying under a compressed curriculum model. While Stage 6 VET courses do not distinguish between Preliminary and HSC courses the course commencement rules still apply.
  2. Schools delivering compressed curriculum must not begin teaching Preliminary courses before Week 6, Term 4.

Online resources

Related ACE Rules

For further information

For general curriculum enquiries contact curriculum@nesa.nsw.edu.au.

For advice about starting Preliminary or HSC courses please contact Manager, Liaison Unit on (02) 9367 8387 or by email at liaisonteam@nesa.nsw.edu.au.

Categories

HSC (curriculum)PreliminaryVET

Starting HSC courses

  1. Schools must not commence the delivery of HSC courses before Day 1, Term 41, except for students undertaking a compressed curriculum delivery model. While Stage 6 VET courses do not distinguish between Preliminary and HSC courses the course commencement rules still apply.
  2. Schools must be satisfied that students, including those undertaking a compressed curriculum delivery model, have satisfactorily completed the Preliminary course before commencing the HSC course.

Prescriptions

  1. In Stage 6, schools must not teach any HSC course prescriptions for any course in or across any learning area until the commencement of the HSC course(s).

Related ACE Rules

For further information

For general curriculum enquiries contact curriculum@nesa.nsw.edu.au.

For advice about starting Preliminary or HSC courses please contact Manager, Liaison Unit on (02) 9367 8387 or by email at liaisonteam@nesa.nsw.edu.au.

Footnotes

  1. Topics from the Mathematics Extension 1 HSC course may be taught before all the topics of the Mathematics Extension 1 Preliminary course have been taught.

compressed curriculum

This will be defined and published at a later date.

prescriptions

This will be defined and published at a later date.