The HSC remains a gold standard but the year 12 experience needs a reboot

October 14, 2026 — 6:44pm

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The Higher School Certificate began this week, an ordeal many who have completed high school in NSW since 1967 remember as the dark tunnel they had to crawl through as they made their way to adulthood and freedom.

Premier Chris Minns this week said he still has nightmares about it. He is surely not alone.

On Tuesday more than 74,000 students sat the first exam, English paper one, and the test will continue over the next four weeks. It will include 123 written exams, totalling 350 hours. About 20 students will sit the exams overseas.

In many ways the HSC has stayed the same since 1967; it is still, mostly, pen and paper, a method that was recently criticised as behind the times, amid a push for more........

© The Sydney Morning Herald