The new Society and Culture Stage 6 Syllabus (2013) was released on 10 October 2013. The syllabus is a revision of the current syllabus (1999) and will be implemented with Preliminary course students in 2014. The first HSC examination based on the new syllabus will be in 2015.

The syllabus, the Guide to the Stage 6 Society and Culture Syllabus, and the Society and Culture Stage 6 Syllabus Consultation Report, are available on the Board’s website at http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus_hsc/society-culture.html.

For the new syllabus:

• the syllabus structure, the internal assessment requirements and the Personal Interest Project (PIP) remain unchanged
• the number of objectives and the number of outcomes have been reduced
• the examinable and assessable HSC Core content is more explicit
• there is more explicit information on concepts, social and cultural research methods, ethical research, and social and cultural literacy
• there is a new HSC course depth study, Social Conformity and Nonconformity.

Teachers of the new syllabus should note that:

• many current resources will continue to be relevant. There is a wide range of resources, including freely available web-based resources and those currently available in schools, to assist the teaching of the syllabus
• existing teaching programs may be modified to meet the requirements of the syllabus and many existing units can form the basis of effective programs.

For more information, contact:
Lindsay Swan
Board Inspector, Human Society and Its Environment
lindsay.swan@bos.nsw.edu.au
(02) 9367 8150