Official notice

Changes to ACE Rules concerning take-home assessment tasks and the use of artificial intelligence

Published:: 16 September 2026
Released by:: NSW Education Standards Authority

NESA has made changes to the ACE Rules concerning take-home assessment tasks for Preliminary and HSC courses.

Effective: Immediately
Reference: NESA 34/26

Who needs to read this?

Principals
Deputy principals
Secondary teachers
Curriculum coordinators
HSC coordinators
Head teachers
Year advisers
Staff in charge of Schools Online entries
Present Years 10–12 students

NESA has made changes to the ACE Rules concerning take-home assessment tasks. Changes affect the following ACE Rules:

Formal assessment programs and tasks
- 2.1.1 Preliminary course school-based assessment
- 2.1.2 HSC course school-based assessment
Calculating and confirming submitted marks and grades
- 2.2.2 Submitting HSC school-based assessment marks to NESA
HSC practical exams
- 2.5.2 Certifying and submitting HSC projects, submitted works and performances
Breaches and malpractice
- 10.1.2 Developing a school malpractice policy

A summary of the changes for each of the above ACE Rules themes can be found in the ACE Record of Changes.

Changes apply to:

Year 12 students commencing HSC courses from Term 4, 2026
Year 11 students commencing Preliminary courses from Term 1, 2027
Year 11 students studying under a compressed curriculum model and commencing their Preliminary courses from Week 6, Term 4 of 2026.

Notice information

Topic: Curriculum, HSC
Learning Area: Creative Arts, English, HSIE, Languages, Mathematics, PDHPE, Science, Technological and Applied Studies
Stages: Stage 6 (Years 11 and 12)