Board Endorsed (BECs) Higher School Certificate courses – categories
ACE 6005
Last Updated: 29 March 2019
There are three categories of Board Endorsed Courses – Content Endorsed Courses (CECs), School Developed Courses and University Developed Courses.
Content Endorsed Courses are developed by NESA to cater for a wide candidature in areas of specific need not served by Board Developed Courses.
School Developed Courses are designed by an individual school, or group of schools, to meet the local needs of a group of students. School Developed Courses require the endorsement of NESA through the School Developed Board Endorsed Course Panel.
University Developed Courses are developed by universities in conjunction with a school or group of schools or school system for the particular needs of high-ability Stage 6 students. They require the endorsement of NESA through the University Developed Board Endorsed Course Panel.
Assessment and Credentialling
Content Endorsed and School Developed Board Endorsed Courses, when completed as HSC courses, are not externally examined and have an unmoderated school assessment mark recorded on the Higher School Certificate Record of Achievement. Schools are responsible for ensuring that marks submitted to NESA are aligned to the Stage 6 Board Endorsed Course Performance Descriptions.
Board Endorsed VET Courses are reported without a mark and with the notation Refer to vocational documentation.
Board Endorsed Life Skills courses are credentialled without a mark and with the notation 'Completed'.
In the case of University Developed Board Endorsed Courses, the delivering university reports the final assessment of the student’s performance directly to the student, in accordance with normal university practice, and also provides a copy to the student's school. The name of the course and its unit value appears on the student's Higher School Certificate Record of Achievement without a mark and with the notation 'Refer to University Documentation'. It is the school's responsibility to withdraw the student from the course if it has not been satisfactorily completed. This should be done no later than the date for the submission of school assessment marks.
Results in Board Endorsed Courses are not eligible for inclusion in the calculation of the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR).