The NSW Board of Studies will this week send all NSW schools a short statement on the academic honesty expected of their senior students.

NSW Minister for Education and Training, John Della Bosca, said principals in government, Catholic and independent schools were being asked to circulate the new 'standard' in the lead up to the 2008 Higher School Certificate assessment.

“This is a clear one page summary of the Board's position about original work and acknowledging the assistance of others,” Mr Della Bosca said.

“Principals will be asked to distribute copies to all Year 11 and Year 12 students and their teachers.

“This is not a new rule, but it is an important statement to capture the spirit of all previous rulings on honesty and malpractice,” he said.

The statement is now on the Board's website.

“The data demonstrates that cheating is not a widespread problem in the NSW Higher School Certificate, but the Board is vigilant in detecting it and responding to it,” Mr Della Bosca said.

The development of the standard was recommended by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) following its investigation of allegations of corruption by HSC tutors. The standard includes the message of another recommendation of the ICAC, that:

Serious and deliberate acts of malpractice amount to corrupt conduct and, where appropriate, the NSW Board of Studies will report matters to the Independent Commission Against Corruption.

Mr Della Bosca said the standard was the latest of a number of strategies to combat cheating in HSC assessments and examinations, including the online anti-cheating course, All My Own Work.

“The Class of 2008 is the first Year 12 to be required to complete a course in ethical scholarship in order to qualify for the Higher School Certificate this year

“The mandatory All My Own Work course details how to avoid plagiarism, how to prepare a bibliography and acknowledge sources, intellectual property, copyright and moral rights, as well as appropriate assistance, teamwork and collaboration with peers,” he said.

“The online course has been well received in schools since it was released by the Board in 2006. Most students complete the course late in Year 10 or early in Year 11,” Mr Della Bosca said.

Other anti-cheating strategies adopted by the Board include:

• pamphlets to students, parents and teachers which address the issue of cheating in practical examinations and take home assessment tasks
• translating these pamphlets into a range of community languages on the Board's website
• 'contract' style enrolment forms that students must sign when starting the HSC program, declaring that they are aware of the consequences of cheating, including the potential loss of their HSC
• similar detailed declarations for all HSC major projects, requiring the student, their teacher and principal to declare that the works submitted are the student's own work and acknowledging any outside sources.

Mr Della Bosca said the statistics showed cheating was not a widespread problem but that any allegations were treated very seriously.

“In 2007, the Board was particularly vigilant in detecting plagiarised responses reproduced in HSC exams, and found 54 such cases out of more than 66,000 HSC candidates,” Mr Della Bosca said

“The students were awarded reduced or zero marks for the response in question because the marking guidelines are applied to reward the work of the student.

“The bottom line is that there are serious consequences for cheating and the chances of getting caught are higher than ever.

“My advice to the 2008 HSC students is: put in a consistent effort throughout the year and make sure any work submitted is based on your own words and ideas.”