HSC subject selection guide 2026: How to choose Year 11 and Year 12 subjects

The rules you must meet

NESA (to be awarded the HSC). Both your Year 11 and Year 12 patterns of study must include:

• at least 12 units in Year 11 and at least 10 units in Year 12;
• 6 units of Board Developed courses, including 2 units of Board Developed English;
• 3 courses of 2 or more units (Board Developed or Board Endorsed);
• 4 subjects.

You must also meet the HSC minimum standard of literacy and numeracy within 5 years of starting your HSC courses.

UAC (to get an ATAR). At least 10 units of ATAR courses, including 2 units of English, three courses of 2 units or more and four subjects. Your ATAR uses your best 2 units of English plus your best 8 other units. The old Category B limit was removed in 2025.

Step 1: Check prerequisites and assumed knowledge

This comes first, because missing a prerequisite rules you out regardless of ATAR.

• List the degrees and universities you might apply to (keep it broad in Year 10).
• For each, check the UAC course listing and the university's own page for prerequisites (must have) and assumed knowledge (expected, but you may be able to catch up through a bridging course).
• Requirements differ between universities and change over time. Quantitative degrees such as engineering, science, computing, economics and commerce commonly assume Mathematics Advanced, and some assume Extension 1; some health degrees assume a science such as Chemistry. Check the exact rule for each course and year of entry.

Step 2: Be honest about where you'd finish

Your scaled mark depends on your position within a course. Use your Year 10 results, your teachers' advice and your own interest to judge where you'd sit in each cohort. A course you enjoy and do well in usually beats one you'd struggle through.

Step 3: Build a balanced load

• 11 or 12 units gives you a spare unit or two; your best 10 count.
• Watch the number of major works. Courses with major projects or works (for example Visual Arts, Music 2, English Extension 2, Design and Technology, Industrial Technology) take a lot of time across Year 12.
• Check background requirements. Continuers languages and Music 2 assume prior study. Ask your school.

Step 4: Use scaling as a tie-breaker

UAC's 2025 scaled means per unit (out of 50) for some common courses:

Remember that position beats course: in 2025 a 90th-percentile Business Studies student scaled to 39.2, above a median Chemistry student (33.9). See highest scaling HSC subjects for the full data.

What's new for students starting Year 11 in 2026

• New maths syllabuses. Mathematics Standard and Mathematics Advanced 11-12 syllabuses (2024) started with Year 11 in Term 1 2026 and are first examined in the 2027 HSC. Students sitting the HSC in 2026 stay on the 2017 syllabuses.
• Software Engineering replaced Software Design and Development and was first examined in 2025.
• English EAL/D is available to eligible students with English as an additional language or dialect. Its 2025 scaled mean (21.3) was close to English Standard's (20.4).

Timeline

Schools set their own subject selection and change deadlines, usually in Terms 2 and 3 of Year 10. Ask your school when you can still change courses in Year 11 and what catching up would involve.

Related reading

• HSC Maths Standard vs Advanced
• How HSC subjects are scaled
• Hardest HSC subjects 2026
• How the HSC ATAR is calculated