GENERAL INFORMATION

English is a compulsory subject in Years 11 and 12. Mathematics is not compulsory, and students may choose to study an alternate subject if one is available.

Preliminary Courses are scheduled to commence in Term 1 of Year 11. When Preliminary course work is finished, HSC Courses begin – usually HSC Courses commence at the start or early in Term 4.

Please note that some courses have Extension Units available. This means extra lessons each fortnight in this subject. The Extension work is of a challenging nature, requiring greater skill on the part of the student.

Students must demonstrate a capacity, interest and ability in a subject to join the Extension Course in the subject. Extensions in English and Maths can be studied in Year 11 and continued into Year 12. If the Extension in Maths or English is continued in Year 12, a further Extension in each of these subjects can also be studied. Extensions in History and Music are possible in Year 12. Note that only one Extension course is available in History, whether the student is studying Ancient History or Modern History or both. The Music extension is only available to students who have studied the Music 2 Course. Teachers can provide advice for students wondering about an Extension course.

Hospitality is an example of a Industry Curriculum Framework VET course, which means that students gain credit not only for the HSC, but also in the associated industry, for example, students can gain a Certificate II (and in some instances, Certificate III) in these industries. These courses involve a mandatory work placement. Where a Curriculum Framework course counts for the ATAR, it will count as a Category B course. Note that only one HSC Category B course can be included in the calculation of your ATAR.

Some courses, such as Biology, have compulsory excursions that form part of the course. These excursions do not involve any additional cost to the student’s parents.

Note: We do not recommend a student undertakes more than two subjects in the HSC that require the completion of a major work. If the subject requiring a major work is being undertaken by correspondence, we recommend only one practical subject is undertaken. If a student wishes to undertake more than theserecommendations the permission of the Head of Secondary School must be obtained.