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Students starting year 12 studies in seven weeks will be limited to one take-home assignment counting towards their Higher School Certificate mark in each subject under urgent new rules introduced to combat the threat of AI.
The overhaul stops short of a moratorium on take-home essays or assignments first flagged by Education Minister Prue Car in response to a steep increase in HSC cheating and broader fears school students were using the technology to outsource their thinking.
More than 90 per cent of a student’s final mark will be determined by their performance on supervised exams, tests and other in-person assessments, with take-home tasks to be capped at 15 per cent of their assessment mark, ultimately comprising a maximum 7.5 per cent of their final HSC score.
The government says the decision gives schools flexibility to choose assessment types that are appropriate to the nature of each course, while ensuring appropriate safeguards are in place.
Car said NSW was leading the nation when it came to responding to AI and the new rules were a critical first step to deal with the rapid intrusion of AI into learning and brain development.
“The message this sends to schools and communities more broadly is that we are committed to protecting the teaching and learning happening in schools,” she said.
Under the new rules, subjects in which students complete a major work have been quarantined from the new requirements, with visual art, industrial technology and English extension 2 to proceed as normal.
In the HSC, students complete a range of assessment tasks throughout the year which make up 50 per cent of their final score while final end-of-school exams make up the remaining half. Students start year 12 studies in term four of the academic year and begin doing assessments throughout the following 12 months which count towards their final mark.
Paul Martin, chief executive of the NSW Education Standards Authority, which runs the HSC, said the rule would protect learning and good education.
“It is a signal to students that they need to build and rely on their knowledge,” he said.
Asked about the ongoing risk to the integrity of the remaining take-home tasks, Martin said the ceiling was a “sensible balance” that enables teachers to still provide opportunities for independent learning while reducing the risks posed by AI.
“Teachers know their students and must certify that any marks awarded reflect what the student knows and can do,” he said.
At Strathfield Girls, year 11 student Nelum Purohit was in year 7 in 2022 when ChatGPT was launched, and she quickly saw its potential to “essentially do all your work for you”. But she’s since realised that might not be a good thing.
“At the end of the day, you can’t use AI to dictate your life, and at some point you have got to start taking matters into your own hands and actually doing what benefits you,” she said.
Strathfield Girls has moved quickly to redesign assignments in the face of AI so the new rules will not be as significant a change for them. Nelum could see how some students might not like the restriction on the number of take-home tasks.
“Everyone would prefer having a lot more time to do one singular essay compared to doing it in a short amount of time,” she said.
“However, being assessed in exam conditions where you have only a limited amount of time, it tests you far more.”
Samantha Truong said take-home tasks helped teach students time management and co-operation skills when completing group projects.
“I think both are beneficial in different ways … With the possibility of AI being used in an immoral, unethical way, I don’t think it’s as beneficial as an exam would be for students,” she said.
She said more broadly, while students could resort to AI chatbots for help with homework, school was a better place to learn.
“Teachers offer insight that AI could never offer,” she said.
A report this year flagged that beyond cheating, students were using AI to outsource their thinking for basic tasks.
Strathfield Girls High School principal Mechel Pikoulas said the school used laptops in an intentional way and not in every lesson, and had made changes to assessments in response to AI.
“We know that the deepest learning happens when students are really engaged and involved in the learning process, not sitting behind a screen,” she said.
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