Following months of creative effort, around 9,600 HSC Visual Arts students from nearly 600 schools across NSW are handing in their major works today.

12 per cent of HSC students are studying Visual Arts making it the most popular subject with a practical component and 12th most popular overall.

Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards (BOSTES) President Tom Alegounarias said studying HSC Visual Arts allows students to not only make their own artwork, but also study art history and learn to analyse and interpret the work of other artists.

“Some may go on to successful careers in visual arts, but all HSC Visual Arts students learn to look at the world from an artist’s point of view.

Students choose from a range of media, techniques and materials for their Body Of Work, including painting, drawing, photography, sculpture and multimedia.

“Throughout the Visual Arts course students document their progress, in their Visual Arts Process Diary (VAPD). By developing their art making from a concept to finished work, students learn new skills and the ability to critique their own work as they do so.

“The Body Of Work accounts for 50% of students’ Visual Arts exam mark. The other 50% comes from the written exam on 4 November.

“In the written exam, students analyse and interpret artworks using the three areas of the HSC Syllabus: Practice, Frames and the Conceptual Framework,” Mr Alegounarias said

To ensure HSC major projects are students’ own work:

• schools certify that each HSC project submitted has been completed or attributed by the student. Zero marks may be awarded where it cannot be established that the project represents a student’s own work
• students receive a copy of the HSC Rules and Procedures and must agree to abide by these when they sign their Confirmation of Entry form
• students must complete the All My Own Work program about the principles and practices of good scholarship and penalties for cheating.

Exemplary HSC Visual Arts Major Works are selected for the annual BOSTES ARTEXPRESS showcase. View ARTEXPRESS details: http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/exhibitions/

View the HSC Visual Arts syllabus: http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus_hsc/visual-arts.html

View HSC key dates and exam timetables: http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/key_dates/

2015 HSC FACT SHEET: 11 August 2015

• More than 75,000 students are enrolled in one or more HSC courses
• Around 65,000 students will be eligible for the HSC credential this year
• HSC Music, Dance and Drama practical exams are scheduled for August and September
• 51 HSC oral language exams are scheduled from 30 July to 5 September
• 118 HSC written examinations totalling around 300 hours are scheduled for 12 October to 4 November
• HSC exams will be held in over 750 exam centres staffed by over 7,500 supervisors and presiding officers
• Plans are in place for 318 students to sit their HSC exams at Australian schools overseas
• 85 exam committees and 300 committee members are involved in developing the written examinations
• Each exam will be reviewed at least six times before more than 700,000 exam papers are printed
• More than 5,500 markers will mark HSC exams from 10 marking centres and home across NSW
• Around 45% of HSC markers will mark online with 64 courses (an increase of 13%) to be fully or partially marked online
• Each student will have their English exams marked by at least 11 markers, and their Mathematics exam by at least six markers
• Students can access their HSC results from 6.00am on Wednesday 16 December
• To be awarded the internationally recognised HSC students must complete at least 12 units of preliminary courses and 10 units of HSC courses. English is compulsory. Most students complete preliminary courses in Year 11, HSC courses in Year 12 and are awarded an HSC at the end of Year 12
• HSC exams were first held in 1967
• The HSC Rules and Procedures underpin the integrity of the world class HSC. BOSTES treats breaches very seriously. Students found to have cheated may not be awarded an HSC