2020 HSC malpractice data
This data reports on the breaches and offences that were committed for HSC assessments in 2020. Learn how many offences were committed, and the breakdown of breaches across subjects and assessment types.
About assessment breaches and offences
Every year NESA receives a small number of reports on HSC students breaching the rules of exams or school-based HSC assessments.
Statistics and malpractice information from other years can be found on:
Number of offences by course
In 2020, a total of 220 schools registered 842 offences in school-based assessments, involving 739 students.
View the table for a breakdown of the penalties imposed for this offence (with a minimum of 10 offences).
| Course | Number of offences | Offences per 1,000 students |
|---|---|---|
| English Standard | 132 | 4.3 |
| All other courses | 98 | 1.5 |
| English Studies | 63 | 7 |
| English Advanced | 56 | 2.3 |
| Mathematics Standard 2 | 48 | 1.6 |
| Personal Dev, Health & PE | 45 | 2.8 |
| Biology | 41 | 2.2 |
| Business Studies | 38 | 2.1 |
| Legal Studies | 34 | 3.2 |
| Ancient History | 33 | 4.6 |
| Studies of Religion I | 31 | 3.8 |
| Board Endorsed Course | 29 | 1.4 |
| Community & Family Studies | 27 | 3.1 |
| Mathematics Advanced | 27 | 1.6 |
| Physics | 24 | 3 |
| Food Technology | 23 | 6.8 |
| Modern History | 19 | 1.7 |
| Industrial Technology | 18 | 3.1 |
| Studies of Religion II | 18 | 2.9 |
| Chemistry | 16 | 1.6 |
| Economics | 11 | 2.2 |
| Visual Arts | 11 | 1.3 |
Assessment types and total number of offences
Use the graph to see the total number of HSC assessment breaches. Use the accordions to view details about the type of offence that was committed for the different assessment types.
Overview
In 2020 there were:
- 574 take-home written assessment offences
- 106 other offences
- 92 timed examination offences
- 48 project offences
- 13 practical assessment offences
- 9 oral assessment offences.
There was a total of 574 take-home written assessment breaches in 2020.
View the table for a breakdown of the types of offences that were imposed.
| Offence type | Total number of offences | Percentage of all offences |
|---|---|---|
| Plagiarism | 468 | 82% |
| Late submissions | 46 | 8% |
| Collusion | 28 | 5% |
| Other | 13 | 2% |
| Unacknowledged assistance | 10 | 2% |
| Unauthorised alteration | 7 | 1% |
| Making a false claim | 2 | <1% |
There was a total of 106 other assessment breaches in 2020.
View the table for a breakdown of the types of offences that were imposed.
| Offence type | Total number of offences | Percentage of all offences |
|---|---|---|
| Plagiarism | 69 | 65% |
| Collusion | 17 | 16% |
| Late submissions | 9 | 8% |
| Other | 4 | 4% |
| Unauthorised notes | 3 | 3% |
| Electronic device use | 3 | 3% |
| Unauthorised alteration | 1 | <1% |
There was a total of 92 timed examination breaches in 2020.
View the table for a breakdown of the types of offences that were imposed.
| Offence type | Total number of offences | Percentage of all offences |
|---|---|---|
| Plagiarism | 25 | 27% |
| Unauthorised notes | 24 | 26% |
| Electronic device use | 18 | 20% |
| Other | 7 | 8% |
| Late submissions | 6 | 7% |
| Collusion | 6 | 7% |
| Unauthorised access | 3 | 2% |
| Unauthorised alteration | 2 | 2% |
| Making a false claim | 1 | 1% |
There was a total of 48 project breaches in 2020.
View the table for a breakdown of the types of offences that were imposed.
| Offence type | Total number of offences | Percentage of all offences |
|---|---|---|
| Plagiarism | 30 | 63% |
| Other | 11 | 23% |
| Collusion | 3 | 6% |
| Late submissions | 2 | 4% |
| Unacknowledged assistance | 2 | 4% |
There was a total of 9 oral examination breaches in 2020.
View the table for a breakdown of the types of offences that were imposed.
| Offence type | Total number of offences | Percentage of all offences |
| Collusion | 5 | 56% |
| Plagiarism | 3 | 33% |
| Late submissions | 1 | 11% |
Offence types and total penalties imposed
Use the graph to see an overview of the total number of penalties imposed for each offence type. Use the accordions to view details about each offence type.
Overview
In 2020 there were:
- 599 plagiarism penalties
- 67 late submission penalties
- 54 collusion penalties
- 45 other penalties
- 27 unauthorised notes penalties
- 21 electronic device usage penalties
- 12 unacknowledged assistance penalties
- 10 unauthorised alteration penalties
- 4 false claim penalties
- 3 unauthorised access penalties.
There was a total of 599 plagiarism offences. This makes up 71% of all offences in 2020.
View the table for a breakdown of the penalties imposed for this offence.
| Penalty | Total number | Percentage of all penalties for this offence |
|---|---|---|
| Zero marks | 325 | 54% |
| Reduced marks | 246 | 41% |
| Warning | 18 | 3% |
| Other | 10 | 2% |
There was a total of 67 late submission offences. This makes up 8% of all offences in 2020.
View the table for a breakdown of the penalties imposed for this offence.
| Penalty | Total number | Percentage of all penalties for this offence |
|---|---|---|
| Zero marks | 43 | 64% |
| Reduced marks | 9 | 13% |
| Warning | 14 | 21% |
| Other | 1 | 1% |
There was a total of 54 collusion with other students offences. This makes up 6% of all offences in 2020.
View the table for a breakdown of the penalties imposed for this offence.
| Penalty | Total number | Percentage of all penalties for this offence |
|---|---|---|
| Zero marks | 26 | 48% |
| Reduced marks | 26 | 48% |
| Other | 2 | 4% |
There was a total of 45 other offences. This makes up 5% of all offences in 2020.
View the table for a breakdown of the penalties imposed for this offence.
| Penalty | Total number | Percentage of all penalties for this offence |
|---|---|---|
| Zero marks | 22 | 49% |
| Warning | 13 | 29% |
| Reduced marks | 7 | 16% |
| Other | 3 | 7% |
There was a total of 27 possessing or using unauthorised notes offences. This makes up 3% of all offences in 2020.
View the table for a breakdown of the penalties imposed for this offence.
| Penalty | Total number | Percentage of all penalties for this offence |
|---|---|---|
| Zero marks | 18 | 67% |
| Reduced marks | 7 | 26% |
| Warning | 2 | 7% |
There was a total of 21 electronic device usage offences. This makes up 2% of all offences in 2020.
View the table for a breakdown of the penalties imposed for this offence.
| Penalty | Total number | Percentage of all penalties for this offence |
|---|---|---|
| Zero marks | 15 | 71% |
| Reduced marks | 4 | 19% |
| Warning | 1 | 5% |
| Other | 1 | 5% |
There was a total of 12 unauthorised assistance offences. This makes up less than 1% of all offences in 2020.
View the table for a breakdown of the penalties imposed for this offence.
| Penalty | Total number | Percentage of all penalties for this offence |
|---|---|---|
| Zero marks | 5 | 42% |
| Warning | 4 | 33% |
| Reduced marks | 3 | 25% |
There was a total of 10 unauthorised alteration offences. This makes up 1% of all offences in 2020.
View the table for a breakdown of the penalties imposed for this offence.
| Penalty | Total number | Percentage of all penalties for this offence |
|---|---|---|
| Zero marks | 8 | 80% |
| Reduced marks | 1 | 10% |
| Warning | 1 | 10% |
There was a total of 4 false claim offences. This makes up less than 1% of all offences in 2020.
View the table for a breakdown of the penalties imposed for this offence.
| Penalty | Total number | Percentage of all penalties for this offence |
|---|---|---|
| Zero marks | 3 | 75% |
| Reduced marks | 1 | 25% |
There was a total of 3 unauthorised access offences. This makes up less than 1% of all offences in 2020.
View the table for a breakdown of the penalties imposed for this offence.
| Penalty | Total number | Percentage of all penalties for this offence |
|---|---|---|
| Other | 3 | 100% |
Examination breaches
In 2020 the following numbers were penalised by the Examination Rules Committee:
- 258 cases of non-serious attempts
- 95 cases (projects penalised) for the non-certification of projects
- 27 students with 32 offences for the breach of examination rules and malpractice.