Illness and misadventure
If a student becomes sick or experiences a mishap in the time leading to their HSC exams, they may need to go through the illness and misadventure process. Find out how it works and the evidence they will need to provide.
Illness and misadventure during exams
The illness and misadventure process supports students who, at the time of a Higher School Certificate (HSC) exam:
- are unwell
- have an accident
- suffer other misadventure.
You need to submit a separate application and supporting evidence for each exam or exam component that is affected.
If your whole school is affected by an event, your school will contact you directly with advice.
Read how your exam mark is calculated if your illness or misadventure application is approved.
The illness and misadventure process
Applications must be accompanied by evidence of the illness or misadventure.
Application forms can be collected at the time of the exam, if it is safe for the student to attend, or through the school if the student is unable to attend the exam.
Submit an application to NESA
If a student is unwell, they must seek independent medical advice on the day of the exam.
General advice
If it is safe to attend the exam:
- attend the exam as usual
- when you arrive at the exam, notify the Presiding Officer of your illness and that you will be submitting an illness/misadventure application form
- ask your school for an illness/misadventure application form
- complete and submit the form to the principal with the appropriate evidence within one week of your last exam
- the school will process the form and submit your application to NESA.
If you are running late:
- contact your principal immediately
- get to the exam centre as soon as possible
- after the exam, follow the instructions of the Presiding Officer or your principal.
If it is NOT safe to attend the exam:
- contact your school as soon as possible to advise of the issue
- your school will provide an application form for you to complete and sign
- provide your school with evidence
- once completed and signed, the school will submit your application to NESA.
If you misread the exam timetable and miss an exam:
- contact your principal immediately and follow their instructions.
Read more in the HSC Rules and Procedures guide.
Review your application by NESA
- Your application and documentation, including statements from the Presiding Officer and your principal, are reviewed by a panel.
- The panel will decide whether to uphold (approve) or decline your application.
Read below how your exam mark is calculated if your application is upheld.
If your application is declined, you will be awarded the mark you achieved in the exam. If you were absent from the exam and your course only has one exam, you will not receive any result in that course. This could mean that you become ineligible for the HSC.
Your exam mark is calculated
If illness and misadventure are upheld, your exam mark will be calculated as follows.
Courses with one exam only
If you are:
- unable to attend - you will receive your moderated school assessment mark
- able to attend - you will receive either your moderated school assessment mark OR your actual exam mark – whichever is higher.
Courses with more than one exam
If you are:
- unable to attend all of the exams for the course - you will receive your moderated school assessment mark
- able to attend but affected in all of the exams for the course - you will receive either your moderated school assessment mark OR your actual exam mark – whichever is higher
- unable to attend or are affected in a subset of the exams for the course - you will receive a calculated mark OR your actual exam mark – whichever is higher (the calculated mark is either your moderated school assessment mark OR a mark determined from other unaffected exams in the course).
Courses with optional exams
VET, English Studies, Maths Standard 1
If you are:
- unable to attend - you will receive a moderated estimate submitted by your school
- are able to attend - you will receive your moderated school estimate OR your actual exam mark – whichever is higher.