There is no proposal to allow students to use mobile phones, iPods, or the internet during Higher School Certificate (HSC) examinations.

General Manager of the Office of the Board of Studies, Dr John Bennett, said strict rules govern the HSC exams which prevent students from taking such devices into the exam room.

‘This year’s HSC students must remember that if they take a mobile phone into an exam, they risk a zero mark in that course’, Dr Bennett said.

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BOS 35/08 (Vol 17 No 3)

The NSW Board of Studies invites expressions of interest from suitably qualified teachers and academics who wish to participate in the development of the 2009 Higher School Certificate examinations and School Certificate tests as Chief Examiner, member of an examination committee or assessor. The development of the examinations commences in Term 4 2008 and continues to about July 2009. Assessing takes one day and occurs usually in Term 1.

Successful applicants receive an honorarium and travel expenses.

Applications for Chief Examiner must be submitted no later than Friday, 4 July and for committee member and assessor no later than Friday, 22 August 2008.

Further information and application forms are available from the Board of Studies website at www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au or by contacting Beverly Gale by email at beverly.gale@bos.nsw.edu.au or by phone on (02) 9367 8371.

Students and parents - The 2008 Higher School Certificate (HSC) examination timetable is now available. The examination period is from Thursday, 16 October 2008 to Thursday, 13 November 2008.

Also available are the School Certificate test dates for 2008. The tests run from from Monday, 10 November to Friday, 14 November 2008.

Now available: the Guide to the 2008 School Certificate: Rules and Procedures for Students

The guide covers:

• requirements for the award of the School Certificate
• School Certificate grades
• the School Certificate tests
• special examination provisions
• School Certificate test procedures
• Illness/Misadventure during the tests
• School Certificate documentation
• appeals against grades
• students undertaking courses based on Life Skills outcomes and content
• copyright.

The following 2007 School Certificate test papers are now available for download:

• English-literacy
• Mathematics
• Australian History, Geography, Civics and Citizenship

Important dates and events for 2008 for School Certificate, Preliminary (Year 11) and HSC are now available:

• HSC (Year 12) 2008 Event Timetable
• Preliminary (Year 11) 2008 Event Timetable
• School Certificate (Year 10) 2008 Event Timetable

NSW Year 10 students have performed strongly in this year's mandatory School Certificate tests, the Minister for Education and Training, John Della Bosca, said today.

NSW high school principals will today receive results for the 86,740 Year 10 students who sat English-literacy, Mathematics, Science, Australian History, Australian Geography, Civics and Citizenship, and Computing Skills exams in early November.

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Board Bulletin (Vol 16 No 4)

A series of workshops are being held in term 3 to provide more information about the online component of the 2007 School Certificate Computing Skills test.

All schools will receive full information about venues and dates from their Board of Studies Liaison Officer (BOSLO). Contact them with all inquiries and to register to attend a workshop.

Also visit the School Certificate Computing Skills Test page for more information about the test.

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Board Bulletin (Vol 16 No 3)

As calls are made for stronger core curriculum across all Australian schools, New South Wales’ School Certificate courses are increasingly recognised as a benchmark in secondary education.

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