2023 HSC malpractice data
This data reports on the breaches and offences that were committed for HSC assessments in 2023. 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.
Previous years' statistics and malpractice information can be found on:
Number of offences by course
In 2023, a total of 223 schools registered 900 offences in school-based assessments, involving 771 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 | 188 | 5.9 |
| Personal Dev,Health & PE | 87 | 5.2 |
| Business Studies | 67 | 3.6 |
| English Studies | 62 | 6.8 |
| Modern History | 51 | 4.9 |
| Biology | 47 | 2.4 |
| English Advanced | 46 | 1.8 |
| Community & Family Studie | 32 | 3.5 |
| Design and Technology | 29 | 7.7 |
| Physics | 27 | 3.4 |
| Legal Studies | 27 | 2.6 |
| Mathematics Standard 2 | 22 | 0.7 |
| Board Endorsed Course | 21 | 1.0 |
| Ancient History | 18 | 2.7 |
| Industrial Technology | 17 | 2.9 |
| Economics | 16 | 2.9 |
| Society and Culture | 15 | 3.0 |
| Food Technology | 14 | 3.7 |
| Visual Arts | 13 | 1.5 |
| Chemistry | 10 | 1.0 |
| All other courses | 91 | 1.0 |
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 2023 there were:
- 663 take-home written assessment offences
- 138 timed examination offences
- 57 project offences
- 28 other offences
- 11 practical assessment offences
- 2 oral assessment offences
- 1 group work offence.
There was a total of 663 take-home written assessment breaches in 2023.
View the table for a breakdown of the types of offences that were imposed.
| Offence type | Number of offences | Percentage of offences |
| Plagiarism | 465 | 70% |
| Late submissions | 78 | 12% |
| Unacknowledged assistance | 65 | 10% |
| Collusion | 19 | 3% |
| Other | 34 | 5% |
| Making a false claim | 2 | <1% |
There was a total of 138 timed examination breaches in 2023.
View the table for a breakdown of the types of offences that were imposed.
| Offence type | Number of offences | Percentage of offences |
| Unauthorised notes | 51 | 37% |
| Electronic device use | 28 | 20% |
| Plagiarism | 15 | 11% |
| Other | 11 | 8% |
| Collusion | 11 | 8% |
| Late submissions | 9 | 7% |
| Unauthorised alteration | 8 | 6% |
| Unauthorised access | 2 | 1% |
| Making a false claim | 2 | 1% |
| Unacknowledged assistance | 1 | <1% |
There was a total of 57 project breaches in 2023.
View the table for a breakdown of the types of offences that were imposed.
| Offence type | Number of offences | Percentage of offences |
| Plagiarism | 37 | 65% |
| Late submissions | 18 | 32% |
| Collusion | 2 | 3% |
There was a total of 28 other assessment breaches in 2023.
View the table for a breakdown of the types of offences that were imposed.
| Offence type | Number of offences | Percentage of offences |
| Plagiarism | 12 | 43% |
| Unauthorised notes | 8 | 29% |
| Other | 4 | 14% |
| Late submissions | 2 | 7% |
| Collusion | 1 | 4% |
| Electronic device usage | 1 | 4% |
There was a total of 11 practical assessment breaches in 2023.
View the table for a breakdown of the types of offences that were imposed.
| Offence type | Number of offences | Percentage of offences |
| Plagiarism | 5 | 45% |
| Late submissions | 4 | 36% |
| Use of electronic device | 2 | 18% |
There was a total of 2 oral examination breaches in 2023.
View the table for a breakdown of the types of offences that were imposed.
| Offence type | Number of offences | Percentage of offences |
| Plagiarism | 2 | 100% |
There was a total of 1 group work breaches in 2023.
View the table for a breakdown of the types of offences that were imposed.
| Offence type | Number of offences | Percentage of offences |
|---|---|---|
| Plagiarism | 1 | 100% |
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 2023 there were these penalties:
- 537 plagiarism
- 111 late submission
- 66 unacknowledged assistance
- 59 unauthorised notes
- 49 other
- 33 collusion
- 31 electronic device usage
- 8 unauthorised alteration
- 4 false claim
- 2 unauthorised access.
There was a total of 537 plagiarism offences. This makes up 59.7% of all offences in 2023.
View the table for a breakdown of the penalties imposed for this offence.
| Penalty | Number | Percentage of penalties for this offence |
| Zero marks | 284 | 53% |
| Reduced marks | 229 | 43% |
| Warning | 20 | 4% |
| Other | 4 | <1% |
There was a total of 111 late submission offences. This makes up 12.3% of all offences in 2023.
View the table for a breakdown of the penalties imposed for this offence.
| Penalty | Number | Percentage of penalties for this offence |
| Zero marks | 91 | 82% |
| Reduced marks | 16 | 14% |
| Warning | 3 | 3% |
| Other | 1 | <1% |
There was a total of 66 unauthorised assistance offences. This makes up 7.3% of all offences in 2023.
View the table for a breakdown of the penalties imposed for this offence.
| Penalty | Number | Percentage of penalties for this offence |
| Zero marks | 16 | 24% |
| Reduced marks | 40 | 61% |
| Warning | 10 | 15% |
There was a total of 59 possessing or using unauthorised notes offences. This makes up 6.6% of all offences in 2023.
View the table for a breakdown of the penalties imposed for this offence.
| Penalty | Number | Percentage of penalties for this offence |
| Zero marks | 36 | 61% |
| Reduced marks | 19 | 32% |
| Warning | 4 | 7% |
There was a total of 49 other offences. This makes up 5.4% of all offences in 2023.
View the table for a breakdown of the penalties imposed for this offence.
| Penalty | Number | Percentage of penalties for this offence |
| Warning | 16 | 33% |
| Zero marks | 17 | 35% |
| Reduced marks | 6 | 12% |
| Other | 10 | 20% |
There was a total of 33 collusion with other students offences. This makes up 3.7% of all offences in 2023.
View the table for a breakdown of the penalties imposed for this offence.
| Penalty | Number | Percentage of penalties for this offence |
| Reduced marks | 18 | 55% |
| Zero marks | 10 | 30% |
| Warning | 5 | 15% |
There was a total of 31 electronic device usage offences. This makes up 3.4% of all offences in 2023.
View the table for a breakdown of the penalties imposed for this offence.
| Penalty | Number | Percentage of penalties for this offence |
| Zero marks | 26 | 84% |
| Reduced marks | 3 | 10% |
| Warning | 2 | 6% |
There was a total of 8 unauthorised alteration offences. This makes up less than 1% of all offences in 2023.
View the table for a breakdown of the penalties imposed for this offence.
| Penalty | Number | Percentage of penalties for this offence |
| Zero marks | 1 | 13% |
| Reduced marks | 6 | 75% |
| Warning | 1 | 13% |
There was a total of 4 false claim offences. This makes up less than 1% of all offences in 2023.
View the table for a breakdown of the penalties imposed for this offence.
| Penalty | Number | Percentage of penalties for this offence |
| Zero marks | 2 | 50% |
| Warning | 1 | 25% |
| Other | 1 | 25% |
There was a total of 2 unauthorised access offences. This makes up less than 1% of all offences in 2023.
View the table for a breakdown of the penalties imposed for this offence.
| Penalty | Number | Percentage of penalties for this offence |
|---|---|---|
| Zero marks | 2 | 100% |
Examination breaches
In 2023 the following numbers were penalised by the Examination Rules Committee:
- 83 cases of non-serious attempts
- 61 for the non-certification of projects
- 47 Students with 50 offences for the breach of examination rules and malpractice.