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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.

Requirements for SDBECs and UDBECs

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NESA is authorised under section 14(1) of the Education Act 1990 (NSW) to endorse syllabuses developed by schools or other educational bodies.

About SDBECs and UDBECs

  1. School Developed Board Endorsed courses (SDBECs) are designed by school(s) when the curriculum needs of their students cannot be accommodated by:
    1. Board Developed courses, or
    2. Content Endorsed courses (CECs), or
    3. VET Board Endorsed courses (VET BECs).
  2. University Developed Board Endorsed courses (UDBECs) supplement and extend the HSC curriculum in areas not covered by:
    1. Board Developed courses, or
    2. other types of Board Endorsed courses.

Categories

HSC (curriculum)K–10Life SkillsPreliminaryRoSA

SDBEC applications

  1. NESA has specific criteria for accepting and endorsing School Developed Board Endorsed course (SDBEC) applications for Stage 5 and Loading....
  2. SDBECs:
    1. must not duplicate or overlap with existing NESA courses, and
    2. must be rigorous and of high quality, and provide strong foundations for future learning and life beyond school, and
    3. are endorsed for a specified period of time.
  3. School(s) must:
    1. submit SDBEC proposals by the due date published on NESA’s website
    2. ensure that proposals satisfy NESA’s Loading... (course rationale and student need), and include supporting evidence, and
    3. take responsibility for knowing that renewal of endorsement is not automatic, and reapply before the end of the endorsement period.
  4. NESA will:
    1. form a Board Endorsement Panel to review the SDBEC applications, and
    2. endorse SDBECs for a maximum period of 2 years, with a possibility of an extension for another 2 years.

Stage 5 requirements

  1. NESA will consider Stage 5 SDBEC applications for courses in braille, which will be subject to NESA’s endorsement process.
  2. Schools may develop their own Stage 5 courses, but these courses will not be endorsed by NESA nor reported on the RoSA or HSC.

Stage 6 requirements

  1. School(s) may propose a Loading... for NESA endorsement if the curriculum needs of their students cannot be accommodated by:
    1. Board Developed course(s), or
    2. Content Endorsed course(s) (CECs), or
    3. VET Board Endorsed course(s) (VET BECs).
  2. Schools must submit applications for Stage 6 SDBECs in Loading....
  3. All applications must satisfy one of the following Loading...:
    1. evidence of student demand of at least 100 students per year over the approval period, or
    2. meet the needs of students with disability, or
    3. meet the need for a community language not available as a Board Developed course.

Student demand

  1. Schools must provide evidence of predicted or actual enrolments of at least 100 students per year over the approval period, either from one school or several schools (group proposal), except in circumstances approved by the NESA Board.

Students with disability

  1. SDBEC applications must:
    1. be specifically designed to only meet the needs of students with disability, and
    2. have a clear rationale on the basis that there are no existing NESA courses that their students with disability can access.

Community language

  1. SDBEC applications must be for a community language not available as a Board Developed course.

Credentialling SDBECs

  1. SDBECs are reported on the RoSA and HSC under a separate heading.
  2. Stage 6 SDBECs delivered in the HSC year are reported with an unmoderated school assessment mark, with the exception of Life Skills which are reported without a mark and with the notation ‘completed’.

Online resources

Related ACE Rules

For further information

Please contact Board Endorsed Courses and Programs by email at curriculum@nesa.nsw.edu.au.

Categories

HSC credentialHSC (curriculum)PreliminarySchools Online

UDBEC applications

  1. NESA has specific criteria for accepting and endorsing Loading... (UDBEC) applications for Stage 6.
  2. UDBECs are intended for high achieving students for study in Year 11 and/or Year 12, in curriculum areas not accommodated by Board Developed course(s) and other Board Endorsed course(s) (CECs and VET BECs).
  3. UDBECs are endorsed for a specified period of time.
  4. Universities must:
    1. take responsibility for knowing and adhering to NESA’s criteria that proposals must supplement and extend HSC curriculum, and
    2. submit UDBECs proposals by the due date published on Loading..., and
    3. ensure that proposals satisfy NESA’s Loading..., and
    4. take responsibility for knowing that renewal of endorsement is not automatic, and reapply before the end of the endorsement period.
  5. NESA will:
    1. form a Board Endorsement Panel to review the UDBEC applications, and
    2. endorse UDBECs for a maximum period of 2 years, with a possibility of an extension for another 2 years.

Credentialling UDBECs

  1. UDBECs are reported on the HSC Record of Achievement without a mark, and with the notation ‘Refer to university documentation’.
  2. Universities must:
    1. inform the school principal in writing if at any time it appears that a student is at risk of receiving an ‘N’ determination, and
    2. report final assessment of the student’s performance directly to the student, and
    3. advise the school principal in writing when a student has satisfactorily completed the course.
  3. Schools must:
    1. enter students into the UDBEC in Loading... by the due date published in the Loading... once a student has been accepted into the course, and
    2. follow the appropriate warning procedures for an ‘N’ determination if a student is demonstrating they are not satisfactorily completing the course, and
    3. withdraw the student from the UDBEC in Schools Online if a student chooses to discontinue the course. This should be done no later than the date for the submission of school assessment marks.

Online resources

Related ACE Rules

For further information

Please contact Board Endorsed Courses and Programs by email at curriculum@nesa.nsw.edu.au.