1. Choosing HSC courses: facts and myths
UAC Year 10 Presentation
Choosing HSC courses: facts and myths
Welcome. Planning your future studies is an exciting time. There are many challenges and it can also be stressful, but it’s less stressful if you plan well.
The Universities Admissions Centre (NSW and ACT) processes applications for admission to most undergraduate degree, advanced diploma, diploma and associate diploma courses at participating institutions in NSW and the ACT – as well as Australian Maritime College (Tas), Latrobe University (Vic), and Griffith University (Gold Coast campus).
UAC also calculates and releases the ATAR.

2. Overview HSC and beyond Focus on the uni option ATAR facts and myths
UAC Year 10 booklet
Summary
The purpose of this presentation is to give you (Year 10 students) some information that will help guide your selection of HSC courses especially if you’re thinking about going to uni after Year 12.

3. Choosing your HSC courses
It’s important to consider
What you are good at
What you are interested in
What you think you might want to do when you leave school
The basic ingredient for success is to choose courses that you find interesting. This means you will enjoy learning and studying, and this will lead to better marks.
You also need to be clear about your goals … where you are heading … and what will help you get there.

4. Inspirations Who & what inspires you? What do you like to do?
Helping others
Being creative
Working with technology
Finding out how things work
Working indoors or outside
Working with or without others
Students are encouraged to think about who and what inspires them and what it is they like to do,
when considering their future careers as this could help them make some decisions or inspire them to look more closely at what kind of careers are available to them.

5. The next few slides give an example of careers in Health Science but there are many more to be found which are laid out in the Year 10 booklet Entry requirements for 2016.
I’m interested in….
I’m….
…and I’m good at….
This gets students thinking about their own personal attributes.

6. After thinking about their personal attributes they may then think about where that may lead them in terms of careers.

7. After looking at different careers they could then consider future studies at University which will help them get into their chosen career.

8. So after considering future careers students could then look at the recommended Year 11/12 subjects which will set them up for success.
If a student is still unsure of what it is they would like to do in the future then we suggest selecting a variety of subjects TO KEEP THEIR OPTIONS OPEN.

9. Post-school options University TAFE Other tertiary providers Work
Let’s look at after-school options. Can you think of any others?
Yes … travel … or a combination of work and study (such as an apprenticeship).
The most important thing is to think about what you are interested in, and find careers that are related to your interests.

10. Going to university There are many pathways but most involve the HSC
Your selection for most uni courses will be based the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR)
We’ll now focus on the university option.
For Year 12 students in NSW, your ATAR is the main selection criteria. A few courses have other prerequisites such as portfolios (visual arts and design courses), interviews … or special tests such as UMAT (medicine, optometry) or STAT (vet science).
You might also get some bonus points (for living in a particular region, for a successful application under an Educational Access Scheme, or for strong performance in a particular HSC subject) which may be considered in conjunction with your ATAR.

11. HSC facts
To do the HSC you need to complete at least 12 units in Year 11 and at least 10 units in Year 12.
English is compulsory.
At least six units must be in courses examined by the Board of Studies.
As the major milestone on your continuing journey is the HSC, let’s look at some HSC facts.
Teachers/Careers Advisers may wish to add details here about which courses are being offered by the school – and whether they are Category A or B courses.

12. Your HSC marks
For your HSC you will receive two marks for each course:
School assessment – based on assessment tasks and tests
Examination mark – based on the HSC examination
These marks indicate the standard you have reached in the course.
Teachers/Careers Advisers may wish to add some explanation here about school assessments and how moderation removes differences between teachers and schools related to difficulty of tasks and marking standards.

13. ATAR facts
Your ATAR …
allows you to be compared with other students who have completed different combinations of courses
shows your POSITION, or where you are ranked amongst all other HSC students
is a RANK, not a mark
is provided by UAC
Ranking is like a swimming race where you are competing against others. It’s all about POSITION.
Your aim is to do your best.

14. Will you be eligible for an ATAR?
To get an ATAR you need at least ten units of Board Developed courses – these are HSC courses that are examined by the Board of Studies. Your teachers will tell you which courses do not count.
Your ATAR is based on your best two units of English and the best eight units from your remaining courses.
Remember, the ATAR requirements are different to what’s required to get a HSC.
Your teachers can help you with what courses the school offers, and with making sure you have the right number of units.

15. Scaling
Different HSC courses have very different groups of students studying them. To create an even playing field actual marks need to be adjusted before they are added. This is called scaling.
What scaling does is to calculate what your mark and your position would be if all courses were studied by all students.
Scaling is done so marks can be compared. This makes the process of ranking as fair as possible.

16. How the ATAR is calculated.
Once your marks are scaled an aggregate mark is calculated using your best two units of English and the best eight of your remaining units.
Aggregate marks lie between 0 and 500.
Your position is then determined and your ATAR is calculated.
No more than 2 units of Category B courses can be included in your ATAR. This does not mean that you can’t do Category B courses, you just have to make sure that you will have enough units to be eligible for an ATAR.

17. A couple of myths …
Don’t choose a VET frame work course such as Business Services or Hospitality – you won’t get a good ATAR.
False – it doesn’t matter what course you do … it is still possible to get a good ATAR. But remember that you can only include two units from Category B (VET) courses.
As the ATAR is a rank, where your performance is being compared against everyone else’s, the only thing you can control is how well you do.

18. A couple of myths …
I can only maximize my ATAR if I study hard subjects.
So what is a hard subject?
The talk is that chemistry, physics and the extension math courses are subject that will give you a high ATAR ! WRONG
What if you are not good at these subjects?
We advise students to do subjects they are good at and that they will do well in as this is the only way to maximise your ATAR .
As the ATAR is a rank, where your performance is being compared against everyone else’s, the only thing you can control is how well you do.

19. In summary… How do I get a good ATAR? Choose courses that
- you are interested in,
- you are good at,
- are relevant to what you want to do.
Work hard
Have a life
Ignore the ATAR and rumours about it
As the ATAR is a rank, where your performance is being compared against everyone else’s, the only thing you can control is how well you do.

20. and finally… Thank you for your attendance and your attention.
You may wish to use the UAC Year 10 Booklet to help you choose your HSC courses.
Your school has reference copies of the UAC Year 10 Booklet. Additional copies can be ordered through UAC’s website at – click on Schoolink for details.