Credentials

How Life Skills courses are credentialed 

Students can meet all Years 7–10 mandatory curriculum requirements for a Record of School Achievement (RoSA) if they satisfactorily complete courses based on Life Skills outcomes and content.

Students who study Stage 6 Life Skills courses are eligible for the award of the HSC credential if they meet eligibility requirements.

The RoSA and HSC credentials list all courses that a student satisfactorily completes. It includes courses based on Life Skills outcomes and content. To satisfactorily complete a Life Skills course, students must demonstrate achievement in relation to at least one Life Skills outcome – either independently or with support.

Courses not satisfactorily completed are reported on the credentials as ‘Not completed’. 

As part of their RoSA or HSC credentials, students who studied Life Skills courses will receive a Profile of Student Achievement. The Profile of Student Achievement lists the Life Skills outcomes the student achieved in each Life Skills course studied.

Record of School Achievement

The RoSA is a certificate that lists the courses a student satisfactorily completed in Years 7–10. It can also be given to eligible students in Years 11–12 who leave school before completing the HSC.

Students studying one or more courses based on Life Skills outcomes and content may accumulate courses towards the RoSA. There is no time limit for accumulation of courses. 

Life Skills courses that appear on a student’s RoSA will have ‘Refer to Profile of Student Achievement’ written next to them.

A student who leaves school but is not eligible for the RoSA will receive a Transcript of Study. If they have satisfactorily completed any Life Skills course, they will also receive a Profile of Student Achievement.

View sample RoSA certificates with Life Skills.

Higher School Certificate

Stage 6 Life Skills courses are Board Developed courses. Students can study them to meet the requirements for the award of the HSC credential.

There are no external examinations for Life Skills courses. They cannot contribute to the calculation of a student's Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR).

A student’s HSC Record of Achievement lists the Year 12 Life Skills courses they satisfactorily completed. An assessment mark is not formally reported for Life Skills courses. Each Life Skills course listed will have ‘Refer to Profile of Student Achievement’ written next to it. Students studying one or more Life Skills courses may accumulate courses towards Year 11 or Year 12. There is no time restriction on the accumulation of courses towards Year 11. Students may take up to 5 years to accumulate courses towards Year 12.

View sample HSC certificates with Life Skills.

Minimum standard of literacy and numeracy requirements

Students need to achieve a minimum standard of literacy and numeracy to receive the HSC.

However, students studying Year 12 Life Skills courses may be exempt from the minimum standards.

HSC: All My Own Work requirements

Students studying only Life Skills courses in Stage 6 are not required to complete HSC: All My Own Work. However, schools may determine that the program or an equivalent is appropriate for some of these students based on their priorities, learning and support needs.

All other students, including those studying any combination of Life Skills courses and other courses, must complete HSC: All My Own Work or an equivalent. For some students with disability, schools may decide to devise an appropriate equivalent of the HSC: All My Own Work program.

Profile of Student Achievement

NESA issues the Profile of Student Achievement: 

• to each student who satisfactorily completes:
  • courses based on Life Skills outcomes and content during Year 10, or
  • Life Skills courses in Years 11 and 12.
• with the syllabus outcomes the student achieved listed. These can include outcomes achieved from additional courses
• when the student leaves school. 

Life Skills outcomes not taught or not satisfactorily completed are not reported on the Profile of Student Achievement.

Students studying Life Skills and other courses

The Profile of Student Achievement lists only outcomes achieved for Life Skills courses. Other courses are reported with a grade for the RoSA or with relevant marks for the HSC.

Reporting Life Skills syllabus outcomes achieved

The student’s school records the Year 10–12 Life Skills outcomes achieved through Schools Online. Recording of outcomes occurs when schools submit:

• Stage 5 grades
• Year 11 grades
• Year 12 assessment marks.

Life Skills outcomes cannot be recorded in Schools Online until a student is in Year 10.

Achievement of Stage 6 Life Skills outcomes is a cumulative process. Outcomes achieved are recorded in Year 11. Where a student continues a course in Year 12, teachers amend or extend what was recorded in Year 11.

Outcomes achieved in earlier years for Year 10 courses

Schools should record outcomes achieved for a course studied in Year 10, regardless of the year the student achieved them. For example, a student achieved some outcomes in Years 7 and 8 for a course they studied in Year 10. These earlier outcomes achieved should be entered in Schools Online.

Outcomes achieved in courses studied prior to Year 10

Outcomes achieved for 100-hour elective courses in Year 9 should be entered in Schools Online, even if the course is not continued in Year 10. Outcomes achieved for courses in Stage 4 that are not continued in Stage 5 should not be entered, for example Language courses that are only studied in Stage 4.

Outcomes achieved from additional courses

Students may also achieve Life Skills outcomes from extra courses they are not enrolled in. These outcomes can be recorded in Schools Online and will be listed on the Profile of Student Achievement.

For example, a student is studying a unit on money for Year 10 Mathematics Life Skills. The student’s program is supplemented with some Life Skills outcomes from the Commerce Years 7-10 Syllabus. The student achieved 2 Life Skills outcomes from the Commerce syllabus. Even though the student wasn’t enrolled in the Commerce Life Skills course, the 2 outcomes achieved can be recorded and will appear on the student’s Profile of Student Achievement. However, the course will not appear as a course completed on the student’s RoSA.

How to use Schools Online to report Life Skills outcomes achieved

Only schools can enter outcomes achieved in Schools Online. There is no limit to the number of Life Skills outcomes that can be reported as achieved (independently or with support) for a student.

Each Life Skills outcome is automatically set to ‘Not applicable’ in Schools Online. Teachers will need to:

• select the Achieved column next to each outcome the student has achieved
• select the Achieved with support column for each outcome the student required support to achieve, or
• leave any outcomes not achieved, or not addressed in the teaching and learning program, as Not applicable. These outcomes will not appear on the student’s Profile of Student Achievement.