About the statistics
Each year NESA provides statistics on HSC students and their courses. Find statistics from 2021, or view more from different years.
Cohort insights
2009 was the year that most students who sat their HSC exams in 2021 started their 13 years of schooling.
Students studying a HSC course
The total number of HSC students in 2021.
Students on track to complete their HSC
Making the HSC the most popular school credential in Australia in 2021.
How many students are studying for the HSC?
The HSC is the most popular high school credential in Australia with 76,399 students studying one or more HSC courses in 2021. Of these students, 68,710 are on track to complete their HSC this year.
Where are students studying their courses?
The majority are studying for the HSC at schools in major cities. The others are studying in inner regional areas of NSW, and outer regional, remote and very remote NSW. There is a small number of HSC students outside Australia.
The location is based on Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Remoteness Area classification.
Enrolment data is taken from 1 September 2021.
Learn more about the HSC course enrolments by region
Learn more about HSC course enrolments
Exam insights
There are now 110 written exams, which will be reviewed by the 96 exam committees 6 times before more than 700,000 exam papers are printed.
- 26 km of security wrapping
- 51 km of security strapping
- 7,000 boxes
- 17,000 consignments tracked
- 35,000 papers quality checked
- 40,000 return envelopes
- 1,975,000 items to pack
- 50 tonnes of steel cabinets
- 8,200,000 exam pages scanned.
Written exams
Totalling 350 hours
Exam committees
With 300 committee members developing the HSC written exam papers
Sat the HSC exams overseas
Exam papers are reviewed
Before more than 700,000 exam papers are printed
Exam centres
Staffed by over 7,500 supervisors and presiding officers
What courses are students studying?
149 Board Developed HSC courses, covering a broad range of subjects, are available to meet students’ diverse needs.
These include:
- 105 examinable courses
- 12 Industry Curriculum Frameworks (with optional examinations)
- 32 Life Skills courses for students with disability.
In addition, there are more than 110 Board Endorsed courses available, including about 70 Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses, through which students can also achieve an Australian Qualifications Framework credential, 11 Content Endorsed courses, and 6 university developed courses
It is compulsory to study an English course for the HSC. 69,446 students (91% of the total cohort) are enrolled in at least one of the following HSC English courses this year:
- English Standard
- English Advanced
- English Extension 1
- English Extension 2
- English EAL/D
- English Studies
- English Life Skills.
59,310 students (78% of the total cohort) are enrolled in at least one of the following HSC Maths courses:
- Mathematics Standard 1
- Mathematics Standard 2
- Mathematics Advanced
- Mathematics Extension 1
- Mathematics Extension 2
- Mathematics Life Skills
- Numeracy (Content Endorsed Course).
32,460 students (42% of the total cohort) are enrolled in at least one of the following HSC Science courses:
- Biology/Living World Science Life Skills
- Chemistry/Chemical World Science Life Skills
- Physics/Physical World Science Life Skills
- Earth and Environmental Science/Earth and Space Science Life Skills
- Investigating Science/Investigating Science Life Skills
- Science Extension.
5,308 students (7% of the total cohort) are enrolled in at least one HSC Language course.
20,234 students (26% of the total cohort) are enrolled in at least one HSC Vocational Educational and Training (VET) course. Of these, 17,932 are enrolled in one or more of the VET Industry Curriculum Frameworks.
2,411 students are enrolled in at least one HSC Life Skills course.
Highest candidature subjects
There are 149 Board Developed HSC courses.
| Rank | Subject | Unique students |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | 69,446 |
| 2 | Mathematics | 59,310 |
| 3 | Biology | 19,178 |
| 4 | Business Studies | 18,137 |
| 5 | Personal Development, Health & Physical Education | 17,894 |
| 6 | Studies of Religion | 14,770 |
| 7 | Modern History | 11,284 |
| 8 | Legal Studies | 10,974 |
| 9 | Chemistry | 10,038 |
| 10 | Community and Family Studies | 9,415 |
| 11 | Visual Arts | 9,028 |
| 12 | Physics | 8,063 |
| 13 | Hospitality | 7,274 |
| 14 | Ancient History | 6,686 |
| 15 | Industrial Technology | 5,992 |
| Rank | Language | Unique students |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Japanese | 1,246 |
| 2 | French | 987 |
| 3 | Chinese | 786 |
| 4 | Italian | 526 |
| 5 | Spanish | 430 |
| Rank | Framework | Unique students |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hospitality | 7,274 |
| 2 | Construction | 3,663 |
| 3 | Business Services | 2,564 |
| 4 | Retail Services | 1,600 |
| 5 | Entertainment Industry | 1,206 |
Fun facts
Joshua and Jack topped the list of the given names for the 2021 cohort. There are 898 sets of twins and 15 sets of triplets and quadruplets who will sit exams in the 2021 HSC.
| Rank | First name | Total |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joshua | 645 |
| 2 | Jack | 596 |
| 3 | Emily | 585 |
| 4 | Thomas | 575 |
| 5 | William | 534 |
| 6 | Lachlan | 531 |
| 7 | Daniel | 519 |
| 8 | James | 516 |
| 9 | Olivia | 514 |
| 10 | Jessica | 504 |
| Rank | Family name | Total |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nguyen | 609 |
| 2 | Smith | 458 |
| 3 | Jones | 271 |
| 4 | Brown | 269 |
| 5 | Lee | 257 |
| 6 | Tran | 244 |
| 7 | Williams | 239 |
| 8 | Taylor | 204 |
| 9 | Wilson | 192 |
| 10 | Chen | 182 |
| Sets of twins | Sets of triplets and quadruplets | Set of multiple births |
|---|---|---|
| 898 | 15 | 913 |
Course and region numbers
More detailed data for courses (including VET and Life Skills) and enrolment by regions across NSW.
2021 course enrolments
NESA reports on student enrolment information for HSC courses each year. Learn the number of students enrolled in Board Developed HSC courses in 2021
2021 region enrolments
Students are studying their HSC courses in schools throughout NSW, and even at some schools overseas. View the number of students at schools in each region for the 2021 HSC cohort.