HSC and ATAR (2 of 10) - HSC Courses and ATAR Courses

The High School Certificate (HSC) is a certificate awarded to High School leavers and issued by the NSW Board of Studies (BOS). It marks the completion of 13 years of schooling (K-12), presents a profile of the student's academic achievements and is the gateway to further tertiary education and employment.

To be eligible for an HSC, a student must:
. complete satisfactorily at least 12 units of HSC courses in the Preliminary year (Year 11) and at least 10 units of HSC courses in the HSC year (Year 12)
. complete satisfactorily assessment tasks mandated by the individual school for each course
. sit for the HSC examinations with the rest of the state in the HSC year.

The HSC courses to be selected must include:
. 2 units of English
. at least 6 units of Board Developed courses
. 3 courses of 2 units or greater
. 4 subjects (A subject is an area of study which may have several different courses. e.g. within the subject English, courses include English Standard, English Advanced, English Extension 1 and English Extension 2).

HSC courses are mostly worth 2 units (100 marks) while some, including Extension courses are worth 1 unit (50 marks), indicating relatively the amount of effort and time needed to be spent in the course. As a general guideline, a 1-unit value represents class time of approximately 2 hours per week (60 hours per year).  Examples of non-extension 1-unit and 2-unit courses include.
Course                      Subject                       Unit
Studies of Religion I   Studies of Religion          1
Studies of Religion II  Studies of Religion          2

Extension Courses
In general, extension courses are of 1-unit value (except Mathematics Extension 1 and Mathematics Extension 2). They must be taken in conjunction with the corresponding 2-unit courses. In addition, some other rules also apply:
1. there are 3 2-unit English courses: English (ESL), English (Standard) and English (Advanced). However, English Extension 1 (1-unit) has to be taken in conjunction with English (Advanced) only. English Extension 2 (1-unit) has to be taken in conjunction with English (Advanced) and English Extension 1.
2. there are 2 2-unit Mathematics courses: General Mathematics and Mathematics. However, Mathematics Extension 1 has to be taken in conjunction with Mathematics only. Mathematics Extension 2 (which is the only extension course with 2 units) has to be taken in conjunction with Mathematics Extension 1.
Mathematics Extension 1, when taken with Mathematics (2-unit) is regarded as 1 unit. When taken with Mathematics Extension 2 (2-unit), it is regarded as 2 units.
3. there are 2 2-unit Music courses: Music 1 and Music 2. However, Music Extension (1-unit) has to be taken in conjunction with Music 2 only.
4. History Extension (1-unit) can be taken in conjunction with either Ancient History (2-unit) or Modern History (2-unit).
5. The Language Extension courses (1-unit) e.g. French Extension etc. have to be taken in conjunction with the corresponding Language Continuers courses (2-unit) e.g. French Continuers etc.

HSC courses are either Board Developed courses or Board Endorsed courses.
Board Developed courses are set and examined by the BOS, which also contribute to the calculation of the ATAR (hence also known as ATAR courses). They are classified as either Category A or Category B courses. Category A courses are academically intensive which require in-depth knowledge to provide sufficient background for tertairy studies. Category B courses do not provide an adequate background for tertiary studies, but they can contribute to the ATAR when combined with Category A courses. Examples of Board Developed courses (ATAR courses) in 2013 include:
Category A courses
Course                     Subject                        Unit
Agriculture              Agriculture                       2
English Standard      English                            2
English Advanced     English                            2
English Extension 1   English                            1
English Extension 2   English                            1
Legal Studies            Legal Studies                  2
Category B courses
Hospitality                Hospitality                       2
Human Services       Human Services               2

Board Endorsed courses are courses developed by schools, TAFE or universities and endorsed by the BOS to cater for areas of special interests not covered in Board Developed courses. They count towards the HSC, but do not count towards the calculation of ATAR. Examples of Board Endorsed courses in 2013 include:
Course                        Subject                      Unit
Advertising Media      Advertising Media            2
Desktop Publishing     Desktop Publishing          2

To be eligible for an ATAR, a student must complete satisfactorily at least 10 units of ATAR courses including at least:
. 2 units of English
. 8 units of Category A courses
. 3 ATAR courses (Category A or B) of 2 units or greater
. 4 subjects.

In order to continue the study for tertiary education, a student has to select the required numbers of units of ATAR courses of his interest for study in Year 11 and Year 12, complete satifactorily assessment tasks for each course and sit for the open HSC examinations in Year 12 with the rest of the state.

HSC and ATAR (1 of 10) - University Entry and ATAR

This series of blogs on HSC and ATAR tries to give an easy-to-understand explanation on the various processes of determining the HSC result and calculation of ATAR based on the understandings from various documentations from the NSW Board of Studies (BOS) and Universities Admission Centre (UAC).

Every year, over 50,000 Year 12 students in NSW finish their high school studies, sit for an open High School Certificate (HSC) examination and apply through the UAC for admissions to universities to begin their tertiary education. As spaces for university entrance are usually limited, entries to some particular courses in particular universities are very competitive. As such, UAC has to rank the applicants using their Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) to allow selections to take place.

ATAR is a number between 0.00 and 99.95 with increments of 0.05. It is a rank (not a mark) that indicates the position of a student in the HSC in relation to all other students of his same year group. e.g. A student with an ATAR of 80.25 indicates that his performance in the HSC is better than 80.25% of all students in his same year group.

Admission to particular courses in a particular university is subject to selection on the basis of ATAR. In general, student has to achieve a minimum ATAR (called the ATAR cut-off) in order to be considered for admission. To give some idea, the ATAR cut-offs of some courses in the University of New South Wales in 2013 are as follows:
               Course                            ATAR cut-off
               Arts                                        78.00
               Actuarial Studies                      97.00
               Commerce                               96.30
               Economics                               93.00
               Combined Law                         99.65
               Science                                    83.05
As shown above, a student has to achieve an ATAR of at least 99.65 before he can be considered for admission to study for Combined Law degrees in the University of New South Sales, i.e. his performance in the HSC has to be better than 99.65% of all other students.
  
The ATAR is calculated by UAC from the HSC result provided by BOS, and is based on the student's academic achievement in the HSC (consisting of 50% from HSC examinations and 50% from school assessments) in relation to that of all other students.

                HSC Result
             HSC examinations   ----------->   ATAR
             School assessments            
                                   
                    BOS                                     UAC

Vincent (Starry Starry Night)

               Vincent Van Gogh - Starry Night

               

      Beauty + Beauty = Beauty

Released in the 1971 album 'American Pie', 'Vincent' is a song written by Don McLean as a tribute to Vincent Van Gogh. The song is also known by its opening phrase, 'Starry Starry Night', as reference to Van Gogh's famous painting 'Starry Night'.

Vincent Van Gogh (1853 - 1890) was a Dutch painter. Van Gogh produced some 900 paintings in his life, notable for their beauty, emotions and colours. Despite his talent, Van Gogh remained poor and virtually unknown throughout his entire life. Rumour had it that he sold only one painting during his life as his work was largely unrecognised at that time. Perhaps it was this that caused him to fall into an abyse of depression in the later part of his life which eventually led to his gunshot suicide. Van Gogh died at the age of 37.

'Starry Night' was the painting produced by Van Gogh a year before his death when he was suffering heavily from his mental illness.

Don Mclean (born 1945) is an American singer and songwriter. Don wrote the song and lyrics of 'Vincent' in 1971 after reading the biography about the life of Vincent Van Gogh. Next year in 1972, the song became the No. 1 hit single in the U.K. 'Vincent' not only demonstrates Don's admiration for the work of Van Gogh, but also lingers on the facts that the painter's work was not appreciated and the artist killed himself to free from the suffering of his deteriorating mental health.

Don reached the climax of his career with the album 'American Pie' in 1971, and 'Vincent' is one of the hits in the album.

For several years, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam played the song daily. A copy of the sheet music is in a safe beneath the museum, along with a set of Van Gogh's paint brushes, the hat he wore while painting Starry Night and various other items.

Now please relax and enjoy Don Mclean's music and Vincent Van Gogh's paintings.