When it comes to choosing HSC subjects, students are spoilt for choice. The possibilities include courses that will and won't contribute to students' Australian Tertiary Assessment Rating (ATAR).
Some courses are only offered through Technical and Further Education (TAFE) programs while others are reserved for students with special needs. Even students in Vocational Education Training (VET) programs may study HSC subjects.
The 'danger' lies in the abundance of opportunity. Even self-assured adults may baulk when confronted with too many choices; we call this phenomenon the Paradox of Choice.
High school students with every opportunity ahead of them might be even more indecisive about the choices they must make. That's a tall ask for a cohort that is, for the most part, unsure about what they want to do with their lives.
Should students choose the easiest subjects to ensure their marks and ATAR, and worry about what the future may hold another day?
Or should they select courses with an eye towards how they scale? What if they choose hard courses but fail to earn good marks?
Superprof answers these questions and more.
Selecting from the HSC Subjects List
Phenomena aside, we're glad that the New South Wales Education Standards Authority (NESA) makes all these courses available. It is very generous with its instructions, too.
For instance, they make it clear which subjects contribute to students' HSC. These instructions also point out eligibility requirements and what students must do before they start Year 11.
The HSC subjects list is long but every course title comes with a facts sheet. Each details the course's highlights and how the skills learned in that course apply to the professional world. You can also find out how to transfer your credits if you're taking TAFE courses and which courses are eligible for transfer - because some aren't.
But most students don't have time or energy to browse through the catalogue and explore future possibilities. If the online student community Bored of Studies is any indication, students prefer talking to each other about HSC subject selection.
That's a great way to narrow down your choices but you can do some preliminary work before checking in with your mates.
Think about the topics you enjoy learning about and the subjects you did well in. They won't necessarily be the same subjects. And then, do a thought exercise: can you see yourself building a career around that topic or subject?
Ask yourself if you'll still enjoy working in that field 10 or 20 years from now.
By some estimates, only 27 to 41 per cent of university graduates work in fields related to their degrees. Many emphasise that they apply the skills they learned during their studies to whichever type of work they now do.
If this worries you, consider choosing your HSC subjects for the skills you'll learn instead of focusing on the course's content.
Whatever you do, don't choose your subjects hoping for an ATAR boost. This is a common practice but it's misguided. Taking Advanced English and Mathematics extension courses won't do anything for you if you don't already excel in these subjects.
Instead, focus on courses that you'll get the most enjoyment and benefit from.
The Most Popular HSC Subjects
Every year, statistics show that English is the most well-attended subject but those numbers are misleading. English is the only required HSC subject, which is why the numbers must show that more students take English than any other course. But that doesn't make English popular. Advanced English enrolment numbers are satisfying but it isn't the most popular course.
Students have long been wondering why English is compulsory but Maths isn't. Mathematics is a feature of everyday life; even Life Skills classes teach budgeting and basic mathematics. Some university courses specify a Maths requirement, even if they're not maths-intensive disciplines. Students have clued into this disparity; they've made Mathematics the most-selected course after English.
And then, there's science. Here, the numbers show an interesting trend. Physics course enrolments are at a 20-year low even as biology enrolments reach new heights.
By contrast, Chemistry enrolments have remained fairly consistent over the years. So we might say that, of the science offerings, Chemistry rules, with Biology coming in second and Physics lagging ever farther behind.
Often, students comb through NESA's HSC offerings, looking for the easiest subjects. They may end up disappointed because no course description includes the word 'easy'. And besides, what makes a course easy varies from one student to the next.
Some pupils are gifted at maths and others at languages; still others may wield a fierce artistic pen - or whichever their instrument. Some people love history and others are entranced with Earth Sciences.
Interest and affinity are what make an HSC subject easy. The study materials should only be a secondary consideration.
We might say the most popular HSC subjects are those that learners gain the most benefit from and the most satisfaction from. HSC subject selection's best quality is that doing so allows you to decide which areas you want to study. NESA publishes 'by the numbers' reports every year detailing which courses saw the highest attendance.
But like you, students chose their subjects based on their preferences and desires; the courses' popularity had little to do with anything.
The Hardest Courses on the List of HSC Subjects
We all know the clever student who solves differential equations for fun or considers classic literature light reading. Such a one may scoff at anyone saying Maths extension or Advanced English courses are hard. As stated above, whether a course is easy or difficult comes down to individual preferences.
But we can definitely say that advanced and extension courses are more challenging than standard courses. That's because these study materials include university-level content. Most high schoolers find that daunting and no one could blame them for that.
Students may choose Maths Extension 2 or Physics Extension courses if they plan to study those subjects at university. Let's say someone wants to major in engineering or theoretical physics. Taking HSC MathsEx2 could help them get a jump on their undergraduate studies.
Likewise, someone planning to major in History or English Literature at uni wouldn't hesitate to choose HSC English Advanced.
But there's been an alarming trend in Extension course selection of late, and it's all because of a rumour. Some believe that completing an Advanced/Extension course delivers an ATAR boost even if they do poorly in those classes. This is not true. If you earn bad marks in a class, your HSC and ATAR will suffer.
The smartest way to choose your courses is according to what interests you and what you'll get the most benefit from. If these more challenging courses will deliver that, they are the choices for you. But if you have no interest in advanced subjects, you shouldn't select them simply to boost your ATAR.
You don't need the hardest HSC subjects to do that; working hard on subjects you're passionate about would benefit you more.
The HSC Subjects List: Scaling Subjects
There's always a lot of noise surrounding HSC subject selection. Choosing a mix of hard and easy subjects is good advice but taking hard courses for an ATAR boost isn't. Selecting courses that will advance your future goals misses the mark if you don't have any goals set.
But selecting your HSC subjects according to how they scale misses the mark entirely. Every year, the University Admissions Centre (UAC) tallies up the total number of students sitting HSC exams in New South Wales (NSW). And then, they consider all the subjects these students studied and tested in and 'build' a scale for each subject. Subject by subject, they input all students' raw marks to find their average score (mean) and determine the range of marks.
UAC then measures individual students' marks against that mean and standard deviation (the range of marks). This reveals how a student ranks among their peers who studied the same subject.
It also allows for relative performance comparisons across subjects. UAC uses scaling to accord each subject equal weight and each student equal advantage based on their marks alone.
Make no mistake, scaling is important but it shouldn't be a factor in selecting your HSC subjects. When we know how scaling works, we can use logic to tell us that challenging courses scale higher and heavily populated courses scale lower. That's because fewer students select challenging courses and they tend to earn higher marks. More populated courses have more marks to average and a greater range of marks to factor in.
If you happen to have firm plans for university study, you might take scaling into consideration. But you needn't worry yourself about it too much because so many factors are out of your control.
After all, you can't do anything about the number of students taking HSCs or what their marks are. You will fare better by focusing on subjects you're keen to study and doing well in them.
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