22 September, 2008

Minister for Education and Training, Verity Firth, with Year 12 students from Sydney Secondary College Blackwattle Bay Campus

The Minister for Education and Training, Verity Firth, today announced a record 67,931 students were enrolled in Higher School Certificate courses in 2008.

“The highest number of Year 12 students ever recorded in NSW will finish classes this week and go into the final stage of their preparation for the HSC written exams which begin on 16 October,” Ms Firth said.

Ms Firth released the Board of Studies 2008 HSC enrolment statistics at Sydney Secondary College Blackwattle Bay Campus today.

“The HSC is a recognised world class education credential. It is terrific to see so many NSW students sitting for these exams,” Ms Firth said.

Among the key trends in HSC enrolments this year are:

• Around one in three students are studying a vocational education and training (VET) course
• Almost half the students are taking a science course
• Almost a third enrolled in a history course
• 516 sets of twins and 11 sets of triplets - a total of 1065 students will sit the exams.

Ms Firth said Year 12 students were attending their final classes this week, and HSC written exams were less than a month away.

“Exams begin on 16 October 2008 with Business Studies and languages while exams in English courses start on 17 October,” she said.

Ms Firth congratulated all the students for getting this far, and reminded them to try keep the exams in perspective over the next few weeks.

“There's no doubt this is a really challenging time for students and they should try to eat well and get plenty of rest.

“There are many pathways to further education and chosen careers and we wish all the students well for the exams and the future.”

Ms Firth also extended thanks to the state's Year 12 teachers for the long hours and hard work they put in to help their students prepare for their exams.

2008 HSC enrolment highlights include:

• A total of 67, 931 students are enrolled in HSC courses.
• Of the total number of students eligible for an HSC in 2008, almost 56,000 students, or 87 per cent, are sitting a Mathematics exam or have completed a Year 11 or Year 12 course in Mathematics in previous years.
• Almost half of all students (45 per cent) study at least one science course. Biology (4th), Chemistry (8th) and Physics (11th) are all in the top 15 subjects. Biology enrolments have risen by 18 per cent since 2004
• More than one quarter (28 per cent) of HSC candidates are enrolled in at least one history course, and 2051 students are studying both Ancient and Modern History.
• Ancient History has the seventh largest enrolment of HSC subjects with 11 326 students - an increase of 17 per cent on 2004 - and Modern History is in 10thposition with 9773.
• Visual Arts is the ninth most popular subject with 9777 students. This represents a 14% increase since 2004.
• Enrolments in Music courses have increased by about 25% since 2004.
• About 10 per cent of HSC candidates are enrolled in one or more Language courses.
• This year's three most popular languages are Japanese (1574 students), French (1493 students) and Chinese (1243). Japanese has switched places with French as the most popular language in 2008.

Ms Firth said it was great to see so many students undertaking vocational education and training (VET).

“With almost 68,000 HSC students this year, a record number in NSW, it seems many of them have their eye on life after school and are taking VET and technology subjects, which will support them in trades and other practical occupations.

“More than 20,000 Year 12 students are studying one or more VET courses, and most of them will sit for an exam in the course where available.

“This means the mark can contribute towards their UAI as well as provide them with a nationally recognised qualification and give them a head start on a trade.”

The details of the 2008 HSC statistics are available in the Media Guide.

Year 12 students can access all the Board's HSC resources, including their own personalised exam timetable and past papers in their courses as well as all the syllabuses and self-test quizzes, by logging in to Students Online.

The HSC Advice Line phone service, providing support in 26 subjects, will operate on 13 11 12 from 11 October 2008.