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HSC exams to be delayed for five days, with results before Christmas
By Jordan Baker
The Higher School Certificate exams will begin five days later than originally scheduled this year to give students extra time with their teachers, while the International Baccalaureate will go ahead as planned in November.
The written HSC exams had been due to commence on October 15 but will now begin on October 20, while oral language exams have been delayed by a week to August 15, the NSW Education Standards Authority said.
HSC examinations will be delayed by five days in 2020.Credit: Marina Neil
The examination period will be held over the same timeframe as previous years and HSC results will be sent to students at 6am on December 18. The Australian Tertiary Admission Rank will be released at 9am on the same day.
NESA chief executive Paul Martin said the release of the timetable on Friday would give HSC students certainty.
"Delaying the start of the exams balances giving students some extra time at school after the October holiday period with keeping to the original timeframe for releasing results so students can move on to the next stage in their lives," he said.
"Students can use this time with their teachers to revise, ask questions and seek support directly before the exams start.
"I want to reassure parents and students that the exams will be conducted in line with the expert health advice at the time of the exams, which are still five months away."
Some schools have given year 12 more face-to-face teaching days than other schools since students began to return to classrooms this term, leaving students worried the disparity could put them at a disadvantage in the HSC.
The International Baccalaureate's May examination session - the test sat by students in the northern hemisphere - was cancelled but the November session involving Australian students is going ahead.
However some subjects are only tested in May, so the cancellation will affect Australian students sitting those subjects. Their results will now be based on their class assessment marks, Antony Mayrhofer, from IB Schools Australasia, said.
At the start of the COVID-19 crisis in Australia, there were fears the HSC and IB written exams would have to be called off, as they have been in many countries such as Britain, where final results will be based on assessments.
Some HSC performance examinations have been cancelled, such as the group performance in Drama and the ensemble performance in music.
Meanwhile, the University Admissions Centre has announced that students whose parents receive the JobKeeper or JobSeeker allowance during their HSC year will be considered disadvantaged and will get extra help with university entry.
They will get a higher Australian Tertiary Admission Rank or be given a place reserved for Educational Access Scheme students.