Malpractice
This data reports on the breaches and offences that were committed for HSC assessments. Learn how many offences were committed for HSC exam or school-based HSC assessments in 2024.
About the statistics
Every year NESA receives a small number of reports on HSC students breaching the rules of HSC exams or school-based HSC assessments.
HSC Exam breaches
In 2024, the following numbers were penalised by the Examination Rules Committee:
- 108 cases of non-serious attempts
- 66 for the non-certification of projects
- 64 students with 68 offences for the breach of exam rules and malpractice.
Number of school-based assessment offences by course
In 2024, a total of 297 schools registered 1,302 offences in school-based assessments, involving 1,149 students. View the table for a breakdown of courses and the number of offences.
| Course | Number of offences | Offences per 1,000 students |
|---|---|---|
| English Standard | 282 | 8.5 |
| English Studies | 101 | 10.1 |
| Biology | 83 | 4.4 |
| English Advanced | 70 | 2.8 |
| PDHPE | 61 | 3.5 |
| Business Studies | 59 | 3.0 |
| Board Endorsed Courses | 54 | 3.4 |
| Community and Family Studies | 54 | 5.5 |
| Legal Studies | 43 | 4.2 |
| Mathematics Standard 2 | 42 | 1.3 |
| Ancient History | 40 | 5.2 |
| Modern History | 35 | 3.3 |
| Food Technology | 26 | 6.1 |
| Studies of Religion II | 25 | 4.0 |
| Industrial Technology | 24 | 4.0 |
| Society and Culture | 24 | 4.6 |
| Chemistry | 23 | 2.4 |
| Physics | 21 | 2.6 |
| Economics | 20 | 3.6 |
| Visual Arts | 20 | 2.3 |
| Mathematics Advanced | 19 | 1.1 |
| Earth and Environmental Science | 17 | 6.6 |
| Investigating Science | 17 | 5.2 |
| Studies of Religion I | 16 | 1.9 |
| Geography | 13 | 2.8 |
| Information Processes and Technology | 13 | 7.6 |
| Design and Technology | 11 | 2.7 |
| Agriculture | 10 | 6.3 |
| All other courses | 79 | 1.2 |
Number of offences by school-based assessment type
View details about the type of offences committed for the different school-based assessment types.
Overview
In 2024, there were:
- 841 take-home written assessment breaches
- 238 timed exam breaches
- 101 other breaches
- 100 project breaches
- 17 practical assessment breaches
- 4 group work breaches
- 1 oral exam breach.
There was a total of 841 take-home written assessment breaches, representing 65% of all breaches in 2024.
| Offence | Number of offences | % of offences |
|---|---|---|
| Plagiarism | 642 | 76% |
| Unacknowledged assistance | 65 | 8% |
| Collusion | 46 | 5% |
| Other | 54 | 6% |
| Late submissions | 31 | 4% |
| Making a false claim | 1 | <1% |
| Unauthorised alteration | 1 | <1% |
| Electronic device use | 1 | <1% |
There was a total of 238 timed exam breaches, representing 18% of all breaches in 2024.
| Offence | Number of offences | % of offences |
|---|---|---|
| Unauthorised notes | 94 | 39% |
| Electronic device use | 58 | 24% |
| Other | 31 | 13% |
| Plagiarism | 20 | 8% |
| Collusion | 10 | 4% |
| Unauthorised alteration | 7 | 3% |
| Late submissions | 6 | 3% |
| Making a false claim | 6 | 3% |
| Unauthorised access | 5 | 2% |
| Unacknowledged assistance | 1 | <1% |
There was a total of 101 other assessment breaches, representing 8% of all breaches in 2024.
| Offence | Number of offences | % of offences |
|---|---|---|
| Plagiarism | 53 | 52% |
| Late submissions | 22 | 22% |
| Electronic device use | 8 | 8% |
| Unauthorised notes | 7 | 7% |
| Unacknowledged assistance | 6 | 6% |
| Other | 4 | 4% |
| Making a false claim | 1 | <1% |
There was a total of 100 project breaches, representing 8% of all breaches in 2024.
| Offence | Number of offences | % of offences |
|---|---|---|
| Plagiarism | 69 | 69% |
| Unacknowledged assistance | 12 | 12% |
| Other | 9 | 9% |
| Late submissions | 4 | 4% |
| Collusion | 4 | 4% |
| Unauthorised alteration | 2 | 2% |
There was a total of 17 practical assessment breaches, representing 1% of all breaches in 2024.
| Offence | Number of offences | % of offences |
|---|---|---|
| Plagiarism | 7 | 41% |
| Late submissions | 5 | 29% |
| Electronic device use | 2 | 12% |
| Making a false claim | 1 | 6% |
| Other | 1 | 6% |
| Unauthorised notes | 1 | 6% |
There was a total of 4 group work breaches, representing <1% of all breaches in 2024.
| Offence | Number of offences | % of offences |
|---|---|---|
| Plagiarism | 4 | 100% |
There was a total of 1 oral exam breach, representing <1% of all breaches in 2024.
| Offence | Number of offences | % of offences |
|---|---|---|
| Plagiarism | 1 | 100% |
School-based assessment offence types and total penalties imposed by the school
Use the accordions to view details about each offence type.
Overview
In 2024, there were these penalties:
- 796 plagiarism
- 102 unauthorised notes
- 99 other
- 84 unacknowledged assistance
- 69 electronic device use
- 68 late submissions
- 60 collusion
- 10 unauthorised alteration
- 9 making a false claim
- 5 unauthorised access.
There was a total of 796 plagiarism offences, representing 61% of all offences in 2024.
| Penalty | Number of offences | % of penalties for this offence |
|---|---|---|
| Zero marks | 413 | 52% |
| Reduced marks | 340 | 43% |
| Warning | 28 | 4% |
| Other | 15 | 2% |
There was a total of 102 possessing or using unauthorised notes offences, representing 8% of all offences in 2024.
| Penalty | Number of offences | % of penalties for this offence |
|---|---|---|
| Zero marks | 70 | 69% |
| Reduced marks | 24 | 24% |
| Warning | 8 | 8% |
There was a total of 99 other offences, representing 8% of all offences in 2024.
| Penalty | Number of offences | % of penalties for this offence |
|---|---|---|
| Zero marks | 45 | 45% |
| Reduced marks | 43 | 43% |
| Warning | 9 | 9% |
| Other | 2 | 2% |
There was a total of 84 unacknowledged assistance offences, representing 6% of all offences in 2024.
| Penalty | Number of offences | % of penalties for this offence |
|---|---|---|
| Reduced marks | 51 | 61% |
| Zero marks | 21 | 25% |
| Warning | 8 | 10% |
| Other | 4 | 5% |
There was a total of 69 electronic device usage offences, representing 5% of all offences in 2024.
| Penalty | Number of offences | % of penalties for this offence |
|---|---|---|
| Zero marks | 48 | 70% |
| Reduced marks | 11 | 16% |
| Warning | 10 | 14% |
There was a total of 68 late submission offences, representing 5% of all offences in 2024.
| Penalty | Number of offences | % of penalties for this offence |
|---|---|---|
| Zero marks | 55 | 81% |
| Reduced marks | 10 | 15% |
| Warning | 3 | 4% |
There was a total of 60 collusion offences, representing 5% of all offences in 2024.
| Penalty | Number of offences | % of penalties for this offence |
|---|---|---|
| Reduced marks | 31 | 52% |
| Zero marks | 20 | 33% |
| Other | 5 | 8% |
| Warning | 4 | 7% |
There was a total of 10 unauthorised alteration offences, representing 1% of all offences in 2024.
| Penalty | Number of offences | % of penalties for this offence |
|---|---|---|
| Reduced marks | 5 | 50% |
| Warning | 3 | 30% |
| Zero marks | 2 | 20% |
There was a total of 9 false claim offences, representing 1% of all offences in 2024.
| Penalty | Number of offences | % of penalties for this offence |
|---|---|---|
| Zero marks | 5 | 56% |
| Other | 2 | 22% |
| Reduced marks | 2 | 22% |
There was a total of 5 unauthorised access offences, representing <1% of all offences in 2024.
| Penalty | Number of offences | % of penalties for this offence |
|---|---|---|
| Zero marks | 3 | 60% |
| Other | 2 | 40% |