Record of changes for CAFS
All changes made to the Community and Family Studies syllabus are recorded here. Learn about these updates.
About the record of changes
This record details amendments to the syllabus, school-based assessment and exams for the course.
Changes are also communicated via NESA official notices or news items in NESA News.
Formatting correction to the Community and Family Studies (CAFS) Stage 6 Syllabus (2022)
(Official Notice NESA 39/24)
An amendment has been made to the Community and Family Studies Stage 6 Preliminary course module Resource Management to correct a formatting error. ‘Communication’ in the personal management skills content area has been formatted with a dot point.
Amendment to the Community and Family Studies Stage 6 Syllabus
(Official Notice NESA 30/22)
The amended Community and Family Studies (CAFS) Stage 6 Syllabus is now available.
The CAFS HSC Core: Groups in Context, is reviewed periodically to rotate one group in Category A (mandatory groups) with one group in Category B.
For the 2024 CAFS HSC exam and onwards, the Community and Family Studies Stage 6 Syllabus has been amended as follows:
- Rural and remote families has been rotated to the mandatory Category A groups from Category B.
- People with disability has been rotated to Category B groups from Category A.
The Category A (mandatory) groups for the 2024 HSC exam and onwards will be:
- Youth
- Rural and remote families.
The Category B groups:
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
- Aged
- Homeless people
- Culturally and Linguistically Diverse communities
- Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual plus (LGBTQIA+) communities
- People with disabilities
- Sole parents.
All students must study the 2 groups in Category A plus 2 groups selected from Category B.
Implementation commences from Term 4, 2023 with Year 12 for the 2024 HSC exam and onwards.
The naming convention for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual plus (LGBTQIA+) communities has been updated in the content and glossary.
Implementation commences from 2023 with Year 11.
New Stage 6 school-based assessment requirements
(Official Notice NESA 29/17)
New school-based assessment requirements are to be implemented from Term 1, 2018 for Year 11 and Term 4, 2018 for Year 12. Course-specific assessment requirements are included in the Assessment and reporting materials. Sample assessment schedules for Year 11 and Year 12 are available.
Amendments to the syllabus
(Official Notice BOSTES 46/16)
The Community and Family Studies (CAFS) HSC Core: Groups in Context, is reviewed every three years to rotate one group in Category A (mandatory groups) with one group in Category B.
- For the 2018 CAFS HSC exam, Youth will be included in the mandatory Category A groups
- From 2018 Homeless People will be included in the Category B group.
These amendments will be implemented from Term 4, 2017 for the 2018 HSC exam.
Changes from current exam specifications
In Section I, the mark value of the objective response items is increased from 10 marks to 20 marks. All questions in Part B will now be short-answer, rather than a combination of short-answer and extended response.
In Section II, the expected length for the extended responses is included as a guide. It is presented as the approximate number of exam writing booklet pages (based on average-sized handwriting), and/or an approximate number of words. Students will not be penalised for responses of excess length: they may write less than or more than what is expected, and their responses will be marked on their merits.