HSC exam provisions: information for health practitioners

What are HSC exam provisions?

HSC exam provisions are practical changes that can support students to access, read or respond to the HSC exams. They are usually for students with a medical condition or disability that affects how they function in the exam room.

Examples are:

• rest breaks
• small group supervision
• a large-print exam paper.

Support in the HSC exams is different to the support students might get in their everyday schooling, including in their HSC school assessments or HSC trial exams. 

Find out more on the HSC exam provisions page. 

What provisions should a patient apply for?

The exam provisions should be based on a student’s needs in an exam setting, rather than their needs in a classroom setting or for a general assessment task. Exam provisions are based on those exam needs, rather than a medical condition or disability. For example:

• We might approve a large-print exam paper for one student with vision impairment, and approve rest breaks (for eye strain) for another student with vision impairment.
• We might approve varied seating within the exam hall for one student with ADHD, and approve small group supervision or rest breaks for another student with ADHD.

Find out what provisions are available on the Types of exam provisions page. 

How do I give a medical opinion for a patient?

Medical advice is a critical piece of supporting information for students asking for support in the HSC exams. To help us understand the student’s exam needs and what provisions will support them, please complete a form (or forms) to tell us:

• what your patient’s diagnosis is
• what functional impact this condition or disability will have on the patient in the HSC written exams
• what exam provisions will help to mitigate those effects.

Your patient’s school will provide the form or forms. We use:

• a vision form for students with vision impairment
• a hearing form for students with hearing impairment
• a medical form for all other medical conditions or disabilities.

You can also visit the Supporting information page to understand more about what we need. 

What happens if a patient’s application is not approved?

Sometimes we do not approve a request for an exam provision. This might be because:

• the application didn’t have all the right supporting information
• approving that provision for your patient wouldn’t be fair for all HSC students
• the request isn’t possible or practical.

If the school, the student, parent or caregiver think we’ve made the wrong decision, they might decide to appeal. In that case, they might ask you for new supporting information to support their request.

Find out more about what we need Supporting information to do.