HSC or VCE? (1 Viewer)

[Nick0]

Quick question, which is easier, the Victorian Certificate of Education or the NSW HSC?

 

[euskadi_warrior]

gday, I'm a Victorian and hence doing the VCE.

I don't there is any huge difference between the HSC and VCE. They roughly have the same sorta things.

The two systems which (I reckon) are different in respect to the HSC and VCE are the systems up in Queensland and Tasmania. I don't know much about them though.

For all you New South Welshmen (lol, a friend told me that's what you're called up there) that don't know how the VCE is run, I give you a quick run down.

Like the HSC, English in compulsory. You can then study as many other studies as you like, however, only 6 subjects are included in the ENTER (UAI). All subjects are marked out of 50.

Within these 6 subjects, there are the Primary Four. The Primary Four are your top 4 subjects including English. These four subjects are added together to give the bulk of your Scaled Aggregate. The other two subjects are considered extras and 10% of what you score is added to the Scaled Aggregate. The Scaled Aggregate is then turned into an ENTER score. The highest score for the ENTER is 99.95. It then goes down in increments of .05 (99.95, 99.90, 99.85, 99.80 etc etc.)

Each subject has different ways of testing the students knowledge of the work and there may be different spreading of value over the tests.

For example, Religion and Society gets its Study Score via two methods:

50% - School Assessed Coursework (SAC)
50% - Exam

But for Mathematical Methods, it is spread differently:

20% - Unit 3 (first semester) SACs
14% - Unit 4 (second semester) SACs
33% - Facts, Skills and Applications Exam
33% - Analysis Task (under Exam conditions)



Like to hear how the HSC works...might move up there before Year 12 starts

 

[kami]

Like to hear how the HSC works...might move up there before Year 12 starts

There is a great number of possible courses students can study, totaling over 100 (including languages), in a wide range of subject areas. However, most schools offer students a smaller selection from which they must choose. The only compulsory subject area is English, with one of English Advanced, English as a Second Language or English Standard required for the award of the HSC. Individual schools may require their students to undertake certain courses, as is the case with Studies of Religion in many religious schools or Agriculture in agricultural schools, however these are internal school requirements separate from HSC requirements.

Most courses offered comprise a preliminary (year 11) component and a HSC (year 12) component. As a general rule the preliminary component must be completed prior to the HSC component. Furthermore, each subject is designated as being worth either one or two "units". Each unit involves approximately two or three hours of formal tuition per week, and contributes a maximum mark of 50. The majority of courses are two unit courses, and thus students receive marks out of 100 in these courses. Extension courses, each with a value of one unit, may be included in the study program, meaning that a certain subject area may have up to four units, e.g. Mathematics (two units) plus Mathematics Extension 1 and Mathematics Extension 2 (each worth one unit).

To be eligible for the award of the HSC a student must have satisfied the requirements in at least twelve preliminary level units, and at least ten HSC level units, with the additional requirements that:

* at least two must be English units;
* at least six units must be Board of Studies-developed courses;
* at least three courses are of two unit or greater value.
* at least four subjects have been completed.

A student's final mark in each subject is determined by a combination of in-school assessments conducted throughout the HSC component of a course, and externally-administered final exam(s) typically held in October or November of that year. In addition to comprising half of a student's final assessment result in a subject, external exam results are also used to standardise in-school assessment results between different schools.

These exams are administered by the Board of Studies, who are responsible for the overall oversight of the HSC.

Upon successful completion of a satisfactory pattern of study students are awarded the Higher School Certificate by way of a testamur.

Whenever a student has completed a component of a course they also receive feedback regarding their results in that course, which typically includes exam results, school assessment results and the performance band (centile) in which their performance lies.

HSC results may also be used to calculate the University Admissions Index (UAI). This is a separate ranking calculated by another body, the Universities Admissions Centre (UAC), and is primarily used to determining university admissions for most undergraduate university courses. The UAI is not a part of the HSC itself, and since 1998 has been issued separately from the HSC notice in order to distinguish the two.

To calculate the UAI the UAC uses the raw exam marks of the HSC, what is presented to students is a moderated mark, and the moderated assesment mark. The student who comes first in the subject is then assigned the maximum mark, normally 50.0 on a one unit basis but may change with scaling. Following that all students who sat the course have a scaled mark calculated based on an estimate of what each student would have achieved had they sat that course. This is repeated for all of a students units.

The students two best English units are then added along with their next best eight units, which may include further English units, to give an aggregate mark, out of 500.0. This mark out of 500 was the previous equivalent of the UAI - the TER. Students are then ranked - however, this rank does not translate directly to UAI. As previously mentioned, the distribution of students is uneven. Ranking scales upwards - only 29.3% of students will receive a UAI of under 50, a statistical trend which is applicable at every UAI level.

Source: www.wikipedia.org

In addition to that, it should be noted that if you want a UAI there are additional requirements; no more than 2 units of Category B courses may be included in the UAI, and a minimum of 8 Category A units must be inclusive. Other HSC courses that are not in these two categories may not contribute to the UAI.This link[/here] explains which courses are Category A or B. Distinction courses, while in their own category essentially operate in the exact same way as Category A courses.

HSC Courses that are not Category A or B or Distinction courses usually fall into one of three categories:

• School Developed Board Endorsed courses
• TVET courses
• University Developed Board Endorsed courses

These courses, while meeting the HSC unit requirements do not contribute to the UAI, however many if not all TVET and University Developed Board Endorsed courses will bestow credit and advanced standing to TAFE and the appropriate universities respectively. As School Developed Board Endorsed courses are endless I wont bother to list them, but here is a list of the University Developed Board Endorsed courses and their repective universities/colleges:

• Advanced Mathematics(UNCLE)
• Archaelogy(USYD)
• Masculinity & Femininity: Exploring Representations of Gender(UNCLE)
• Mind & Morality(USYD)
• Modern Perspectives in Science(UOW)
• Problem Solving & Communication in Science(USYD)
• Secure & Reliable Digital Communication(UOW)
• Visual Arts Extension/Intensive Studio Practice(NAS)
  
  And here is a link to a listing of the TVET courses: [url]https://www.det.nsw.edu.au/vetinschools/tvet/tvetcourseinfo/tvet_2005list.htm

• 
  And thats just about everything in the HSC lol hope some of this is enlightening.

 

[euskadi_warrior]

Thanks Kami.

After reading that, it seems that VCE and HSC are basically identical...just a bit of name changing and all that.

But while the structure is the same, I reckon the subjects would differ quite a bit.

So, I don't think there is a clear winner outta VCE or HSC.

 

[sospecha]

HSC is supposed to be harder... you get to take cheat sheets into VCE, don't you?...we aren't allowed to do that

 

[Guernica]

Yeah, from what I've heard from a Victorian friend... for Methods, she's allowed to have her graphic calculator, plus 4 (i think?) cheat sheets with whatever she wants on them, plus they get a lot of formulas.

I want to move to Vic for year 12

 

[klaw]

HSC is supposed to be harder... you get to take cheat sheets into VCE, don't you?...we aren't allowed to do that

cheat sheets??? hahahahhahahahahahhahahahahahha

 

[pLuvia]

cheat sheets??? hahahahhahahahahahhahahahahahha

how I wish I were at Vic for the VCE

 

[Roguedeth]

oh man unit 3 is worth more than unit 4 i did so better in unit 4 than 3.
And cheat sheets you are allowed but it's not like you'll need it anyway.

 

[klaw]

how I wish I were at Vic for the VCE

pfffffffft it may seem good, but imo it is screwed up. Just think about it. How would their tests differentiate between candidates? They would have to make their tests so hard! And also, I would imagine that the quality of the cheat sheets plays a big role on the students' performances, but it shouldn't! How is it fair if a person more intelligent than another gets a lower mark due to an inferior cheat sheet?

 

[Riviet]

If they allow cheat sheets in the VCE, wouldn't that obviously imply that their exams would be significantly harder than the HSC, where all we're allowed to bring is our stationary and ourselves?

 

[aaaman]

pfft VCE is shit and any retard can do it all the maths orgisations in uni pay the system out


HSc is good but too demanding but still VCE is shit

 

[Riviet]

Haha, that reminds me... the SC is a freakin joke. XD

 

[pamcakes_2005]

hey
well iv moved from vic doing the (VCE) to nsw and now doing the (HSC) and i find the HSC to be far more easier than the VCE nsw is just more layed back i think

 

[Epiphany]

I think it's not really a matter of which is 'easier'. If you learn enough about how the system works and use it to your advantage.. then you'll get a top score.

We're allowed cheat sheets, which I disagree with. If I had my way this wouldn't be the case.

I can't comment on HSC because I know nothing about it.

 

[darkroomgirl]

Cheat sheets?!?!?!?!?!!?!

If in the HSC, all my cheat sheets had were quotes, I'd be so bloody happy.

 

[aaaman]

hey
well iv moved from vic doing the (VCE) to nsw and now doing the (HSC) and i find the HSC to be far more easier than the VCE nsw is just more layed back i think

pfft i bet your doing the dumb arse subjects

 

[Skillo]

My older sister did the VCE, I did the HSC. From my perspective, the VCE seems easier to go really well in.

Also, another aspect of the debate: city or country school? If you can choose, go to a school in the city, or make your entire family move there...I did mine at a country school and the lack of resources makes you feel a little disadvantaged in comparison to city kids.

 

[braindrainedAsh]

I'm from the border and I think the VCE is easier... perhaps easier isn't the best word, fairer might be a better explanation. It doesn't seem to rely so much on school rankings and the like blah blah.

Also any friends I have had who moved to Victoria said school is easier there. A friend moved for year 10 and said that victorian year 10 maths was the equivalent to NSW year 8 and 9 maths.

Also in English the Victorian syllabuses are based less on postmodern/critical analysis and more on a traditional model of English education. So they are quite different. But I think the VCE and HSC are the most rigorous testing systems in the country for year 12... Qld's seems like a piece of piss, they only have 2 days of exams I've been told!

 

[euskadi_warrior]

In response to the cheat sheets...

Not all subjects allow cheat sheets. The only subjects that allow a cheat sheet are: all the mathematical subjects and physics.

Also, currently in methods your allowed to have a calculator and a two-sided cheat sheet, but that's changing for 2006. For methods, there will be one exam that must b completed without a calculator and one with. From the sounds of it, the HSC must have had some influence on this.