As outlined in Official Notice BOS 08/12, the Mathematics General Stage 6 Syllabus was released in May 2012 for implementation with Year 11 from 2013 and with Year 12 from 2014. The following support materials are available to assist teachers:

• A Guide to the New Mathematics General Stage 6 Syllabus (May 2012)
• Introduction to the Mathematics General Syllabus PowerPoint presentation (with Notes) (October 2012).

The new syllabus incorporates the Preliminary Mathematics General course, HSC Mathematics General 2 course and HSC Mathematics General 1 course. The Preliminary Mathematics General course allows students to access either of the HSC courses in their HSC year.

The Preliminary Mathematics General and HSC Mathematics General 2 courses are Board Developed Courses (BDCs), examinable at the HSC, while the HSC Mathematics General 1 course is a (non-examinable) Content Endorsed Course (CEC).

The implementation of the new courses for most students in summary is:

• in 2013 and beyond, Year 11 students will study the Preliminary Mathematics General course
• in 2014 and beyond, Year 12 students who have satisfactorily completed the Preliminary Mathematics General course will study either the HSC Mathematics General 2 course (BDC) or the HSC Mathematics General 1 course (CEC).

In addition please note that:

• the study of a Preliminary School Developed Board Endorsed Course similar to courses previously titled ‘Mathematics Applied’ is not available to Year 11 students in 2013 or beyond, and therefore not available to Year 12 students in 2014 or beyond
• where schools have approval to offer study in compressed form (ie Preliminary and HSC courses in the same year) in 2013, students will study the Preliminary and HSC courses of the General Mathematics Stage 6 Syllabus (1999), as the 2013 HSC examination will be based (for the last time) on that syllabus.

Other support materials are progressively being released on the Board’s website, including:

• pathway descriptions: Preliminary Mathematics General (BDC)/HSC Mathematics General 2 (BDC) Pathway; Preliminary Mathematics General (BDC)/HSC Mathematics General 1 (CEC) Pathway (May 2012)
• Assessment and Reporting in the HSC Mathematics General 2 Course (May 2012)
• Programming Advice (including blank scope and sequence templates) (October 2012)
• support materials for the teaching of new syllabus content (February 2013)
• HSC specimen examination paper, sample marking guidelines and performance band descriptions for the HSC Mathematics General 2 course (February 2013)
• support for reporting achievement in the HSC Mathematics General 1 course (February 2013).

FAQs are also being developed and will be promoted in a future Board Bulletin.

For more information, contact:
Peter Osland
Inspector, Mathematics
(02) 9367 8103
peter.osland@bos.nsw.edu.au