Year 10

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YEAR 10 PAGE


	Subject Selection. Year 10 students all over NSW will choose subjects for Years 11 & 12, usually early in Term 3. Once subjects are chosen it can be difficult/impossible to change them during the next two years if you wish to graduate at the end of Year 12 with your HSC, so it is important to make good choices. This is because most HSC (Year 12) courses require you to have completed the Preliminary (Year 11) course before you can take them. The rules are contained in an information booklet which can be downloaded here: CLICK HERE. OK! So how do you choose your subjects? The first piece of advice would be to talk to your careers adviser. Then talk to everyone else! Teachers, parents, friends, work experience employers, university, TAFE and private provider advisers, and then make up your own mind! It's the next 50 years of your life that you are planning! An example of where you have to decide: It could be that you want to travel and think that taking a language would be a good idea, but language teachers who remember you from Year 7 might think that you are hopeless at languages. They may suggest that you do something else because they expect you to get poor results. It is your choice! You should take subjects that you like, subjects that you are interested in, subjects that you are good at, and subjects that lead towards your career choice. If your UAI is very important to you, for example your choice of degree needs a UAI of 95+, then you should choose courses that you are good at. Otherwise, you should choose courses that you like or are interested in. If you have subject selection questions, or any careers questions for that matter, please send them in and I will do my best to answer them. CLICK HERE Year 10 to year 11 Subject Selection. Subjects, courses and units. Science, English, etc are subjects. Within these subjects: Physics, English Advanced, etc are courses. A unit is an amount of time that you spend studying a course. (Approximately 2 hours per week) Most courses are taken for approximately 4 hours per week, which is 2 units. Normal pattern of courses. To qualify for a Higher School Certificate (HSC) you must successfully complete 12 preliminary units and 10 HSC units. For most students this means 6 courses (12 units) in year 11 and at least 5 courses (10 units) in year 12. Some VET courses can count as either preliminary or HSC courses, but for the majority of subjects the preliminary course must be completed before going on to the HSC course. During subject selection, schools have to organize teachers and classes for the following year, and obviously they cannot afford to have classes with only one or two students. Similarly, if the maximum class size is 25 students and 28 want to take the course, then 3 students will miss out. So students often do not get their first choice of subjects. Because of this students are usually asked to choose more than 6 courses and they may have to take their 2^nd choice courses. If a student had to take a particular course, the only options may be either going to another school or distance learning. Rules for an HSC. At least 6 units of Board Developed Courses. At least 2 units of a Board Developed Course in English. At least 3 courses of 2 unit value or greater. At least 4 subjects. Vocational Education & Training Courses (VET). VET courses are a great alternative to academic courses for students who want to finish year 12, but who are not heading for university. This is because they give a recognized qualification towards a job, they give advanced standing in related TAFE courses, and they make students more employable. Doing a VET course may also be a good idea for any student. Because they are more practical, they lighten the study load for students who take them, compared to others who may be doing 12 units of academic courses in Year 11. Some VET courses do not count towards a ATAR, so if you are planning on going to uni make sure that you choose a course that counts! Rules for an ATAR. At least 10 units of ATAR courses. At least 8 units from Category A Units. At least 2 units of English. At least 3 Board Developed Courses of 2 units or greater. At least 4 subjects. Most courses are Category A, but some which the Board of Studies consider to be less academic are Category B. Only 1 Category B course can count towards your ATAR. UNIVERSITY ENTRY REQUIREMENTS 2012 UAC produce a booklet to help with planning your subject selection for the senior school if you intend to go on to university. A copy of the booklet should be kept in the careers office for your reference. The booklet for Year 10 2009 can be seen here: http://www.uac.edu.au/pubs/pdf/yr10bk_2012.pdf \| General \| Year 10 \| Year 12 \| Ask The Careers Adviser \| Resources \| Work Experience \| \| Return Home \| NEWS/EVENTS/SCHOOLS \| Post School \| Course Search \| Explore Careers \| Careers Advice \| Careers Advisers \| Links \| Contact Us \|