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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.

Course eligibility

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Updated 12 Jun 2024

NESA has published a new rule – Rule 3.2.2 ‘Eligibility requirements for entry into HSC courses’. This rule outlines eligibility requirements for entry into HSC courses.

The title of Rule 3.2.3 (previously Rule 3.2.2) has been updated to ‘Eligibility requirements for entry into the Stage 6 English EAL/D course’ to better reflect the content within this rule.

View all changes

NESA is authorised under sections 20A(2), 94 and 95 of the Education Act 1990 (NSW) to exercise functions in connection with the RoSA and the HSC, including:

  • entering students into courses of study
  • making decisions in relation to student eligibility to undertake courses of study approved by the Minister.

Categories

HSC (curriculum)Life SkillsPreliminaryRoSASchools OnlineVET

Students who have completed Year 10 and RoSA requirements

  1. Students may enter Preliminary courses if they have satisfactorily:
    1. completed Year 10, and
    2. completed the required courses of study needed for the award of the RoSA.
  2. Eligibility for the completion of Year 10 for the purpose of entering Preliminary courses is considered at the time of entry, and is separate from achieving the RoSA.

Students who have not completed Year 10

  1. Principals may allow a student who has not completed Year 10 to enter Preliminary courses:
    1. if they deem the student has completed the equivalent of Year 101; or
    2. provisionally, if they believe that the student has a reasonable chance of satisfactorily completing HSC studies.
  2. If a student is ineligible to enter Preliminary courses and the principal will not allow provisional entry to Preliminary courses, the student may:
    1. repeat some or all Stage 5 courses, and
    2. accumulate new Stage 5 courses.

Students re-entering a NSW school after a period of absence

  1. Principals may allow a student who is re-entering a NSW school and has not completed Year 10 to enter Preliminary courses.
  2. In making this decision, principals may consider:
    1. a student’s prior learning and experience, including study in other jurisdictions, and/or
    2. participation in Board Endorsed Alternative Education Programs, and/or
    3. life/work experience.

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, in another jurisdiction or by home schooling.

Categories

HSC credentialHSC (curriculum)Preliminary

Eligibility requirements for entry into HSC courses

  1. Students may enter an HSC course if they have satisfactorily completed the requisite preceding Preliminary course.

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 credentialHSC (curriculum)Preliminary

Requirements for entry into the Stage 6 English as an Additional Language or Dialect (English EAL/D) course

  1. Students educated overseas or in an Australian educational institution1 may study the English EAL/D course if they have been educated with English as the language of instruction for 5 years or less prior to commencing the Preliminary course. NESA has delegated to principals the authority to determine a student’s eligibility for Stage 6 English EAL/D.
  2. Students must:
    1. provide evidence of their previous schooling and language(s) of instruction for each school year, and
    2. together with their school, complete the English as an additional language or dialect (EAL/D) Eligibility Declaration form.
  3. Principals must:
    1. determine the main language of instruction at previous schools attended by the student, using the available evidence, and
    2. keep all completed English EAL/D Eligibility Declaration forms for 24 months.

Seeking approval to extend the period of instruction

  1. Principals may seek approval from NESA to extend the period of instruction in English EAL/D to 6 years for a student who has had a substantially interrupted education by making a submission to NESA by emailing studentsupport@nesa.nsw.edu.au. The submission must include:
    1. evidence of the student’s individual circumstances, and
    2. the completed English as an additional language or dialect (EAL/D) Eligibility Declaration form.
  2. NESA will:
    1. assess the application
    2. make a formal determination, and
    3. advise the principal of the outcome in writing.

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. This includes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students from remote Indigenous communities where Standard Australian English is not the language of instruction.

Categories

HSC credentialHSC (curriculum)Preliminary

Stage 6 Languages courses with eligibility criteria

  1. Schools with students intending to study one or more Stage 6 Languages courses must take responsibility for knowing and adhering to eligibility criteria which apply to some Stage 6 Languages courses, including:
    1. [Language] Beginners
    2. [Language] Continuers, where a [Language] in Context and/or a [Language] and Literature course exists, and
    3. [Language] in Context, where a [Language] and Literature course exists.
  2. The eligibility criteria for Stage 6 Languages courses are published on NESA’s website.

Applying for an eligibility determination

  1. NESA has delegated to principals the authority to determine a student’s eligibility to enter a Stage 6 Languages course where eligibility criteria apply.
  2. Students are required to meet all of the course eligibility criteria at the time of entry to the course.
  3. For the purpose of determining course eligibility, NESA defines:
    1. speakers of dialects and variants of a language to be speakers of the standard language
    2. speakers of Indonesian and speakers of Malay to be speakers of both languages, and
    3. formal education for entry into Stage 6 Languages courses as ‘education that is institutionalised, intentional and planned through public organisations and recognised private bodies, and – in their totality – constitute the formal education system of a country.'1
  4. Students intending to study a Stage 6 Languages course with eligibility criteria must:
    1. apply to the principal of the school delivering the course for an eligibility determination by submitting the relevant Application for Eligibility Determination form published on the NESA website, including the statutory declaration
    2. provide relevant supporting documentation that is requested by the principal, and
    3. meet all eligibility criteria at the time of entry to that course.
  5. Principals must:
    1. make eligibility decisions before the student enrols in the relevant Stage 6 Languages course
    2. provide the eligibility determination to the student in writing before the student enrols in the relevant Stage 6 Languages course, and
    3. retain the eligibility determination form, and copies of all supporting documentation for 24 months following the student’s completion of the HSC Languages course.

Seeking a review of a Stage 6 Languages eligibility determination

  1. A student may:
    1. seek a review of their principal’s eligibility determination, if they believe that the determination has not been made in accordance with the course eligibility criteria, and
    2. appeal to NESA, if the student remains ineligible following an initial review by their principal.
  2. Students seeking a review of their principal’s eligibility determination must:
    1. complete an Application for Review of Eligibility Determination form2
    2. if applicable, include relevant documentation not included in the original application, and
    3. submit their review request to their principal within one week of receiving the principal’s original decision.
  3. Principals must:
    1. advise students of the review and appeal procedures
    2. provide students with the relevant forms
    3. re-examine the initial eligibility determination, and
    4. advise the student of the review outcome in writing.

Appealing to NESA

  1. Students may appeal to NESA if the principal’s review concludes that the student remains ineligible to enter a Stage 6 Languages course with eligibility criteria.
  2. Students appealing eligibility determination decisions must:
    1. complete an Appeal to NESA against Principal’s Eligibility Determination form, and
    2. submit their form to their principal within one week of receiving the review decision.
  3. Principals must:
    1. send appeals to studentsupport@nesa.nsw.edu.au within one week of the student’s appeal request, and
    2. include in the appeal:    
      1. a completed Application for Eligibility Determination form (including the statutory declaration)
      2. a completed Application for Review of Eligibility Determination form
      3. a completed Appeal to NESA against Principal’s Eligibility Determination form, and
      4. documentation submitted to the principal as part of the student's application for eligibility determination or review.

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. UNESCO Institute of Statistics, International Standard Classification of Education, 2011, para 36

  2. The Application for Review of Eligibility Determination form can be found at the end of the Application for Eligibility Determination form.

Categories

HSC (assessment)HSC credentialHSC (curriculum)Preliminary

Concurrent course requirements for extension courses

  1. Students studying any of the following extension courses must concurrently study, or have satisfactorily completed the following course(s), to maintain their eligibility in the extension courses.

Languages

  1. Students must study, or have satisfactorily completed, the related HSC [Language] Continuers course to enter into the HSC [Language] Extension course. A list of Stage 6 Extension Languages courses can be found on the NESA website.

HSIE

  1. HSC History Extension:
    1. satisfactory completion of Preliminary Ancient History and/or Preliminary Modern History, and
    2. concurrent with, or after satisfactorily completing HSC Ancient History and/or HSC Modern History within the five-year accumulation period.

Science

  1. Science Extension:
    1. satisfactory completion of at least one Preliminary Science course (Biology, Chemistry, Earth and Environmental Science, Investigating Science, Physics), and
    2. concurrent with, or after satisfactorily completing at least one HSC Science course within the five-year accumulation period.

English

  1. Preliminary English Extension:
    1. concurrent with, or after satisfactorily completing Preliminary English Advanced.
  2. HSC English Extension 1:
    1. satisfactory completion of Preliminary English Advanced and Preliminary English Extension, and
    2. concurrent with, or after satisfactorily completing HSC English Advanced within the five-year accumulation period.
  3. HSC English Extension 2:
    1. satisfactory completion of Preliminary English Advanced and Preliminary English Extension, and
    2. concurrent with, or after satisfactorily completing HSC English Advanced and HSC English Extension 1 within the five-year accumulation period.

Mathematics

  1. Preliminary Mathematics Extension 1:
    1. concurrent with, or after satisfactorily completing Preliminary Mathematics Advanced.
  2. HSC Mathematics Extension 1:
    1. concurrent with, or after satisfactorily completing Preliminary Mathematics Advanced, Preliminary Mathematics Extension 1 and HSC Mathematics Advanced within the five-year accumulation period.
  3. HSC Mathematics Extension 2:
    1. satisfactory completion of Preliminary Mathematics Advanced and Preliminary Mathematics Extension 1, and
    2. concurrent with, or after satisfactorily completing HSC Mathematics Extension 11 within the five-year accumulation period.

Creative Arts

  1. Music Extension:
    1. satisfactory completion of the Preliminary Music 2 course, and
    2. concurrent with, or after satisfactorily completing the HSC Music 2 course within the five-year accumulation period.

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. Note: schools can be flexible when programming the Mathematics Extension 1 course in order to meet the needs of their students. Topics from the HSC Mathematics Extension 1 course may be taught before all the topics of the Preliminary Mathematics Extension 1 course have been taught.