![\"Christopher](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/d166559c39aab93d7e03fe1f476d98daf6d910d6.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
August 9, 2026 \u2014 7:45pm<\/p>\n
Save<\/p>\n
You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n
Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n A radical overhaul of the Higher School Certificate would bar year 12 students from completing unsupervised take-home assignments as Education Minister Prue Car vows to safeguard the integrity of the NSW education system from the threat of AI.<\/p>\n The move comes after it was revealed the use of artificial intelligence was driving a sustained and elevated<\/a> rate of misconduct in year 12 assessments, with more than 1000 cases of cheating in HSC school-based tasks recorded in 2025.<\/p>\n Car has written to the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) to ask for a \u201cmoratorium\u201d on take-home assessment tasks. It is subject to advice from NESA, but is expected to start as soon as next term when current year 11 students begin their year 12 studies.<\/p>\n \u201cThe value of the HSC as a highly trusted credential depends on it accurately reflecting student knowledge, ability, and understanding. That confidence will be undermined if assessment outputs can be produced without students performing the intellectual work that the course requires,\u201d Car said in a letter to NESA chair, Professor Peter Shergold, last month.<\/p>\n Removing take-home assessment would be an interim measure and will form part of a broader review on the impact of AI on student learning, amid concerns that students are outsourcing the most basic of tasks to AI.<\/p>\n The removal of take-home tasks makes NSW the first jurisdiction in Australia to do so.<\/p>\n Car said the purpose of schooling was to build knowledge, judgment, resilience and critical thinking over time, but that faced being undermined if students were using AI.<\/p>\n \u201cThe settings for the HSC have an impact on learning throughout high school. Where teachers and students know they face an offline environment in final exams, that will likely impact they way they are prepared for those exams,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you want to run a marathon, you don\u2019t practise on a computer. You don\u2019t build grey matter by getting a computer to do the thinking for you.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n While educational analysts have acknowledged the capacity of AI to enhance learning, a report drawing on surveys of 3400 NSW teachers revealed this year students were using it to complete assignments as well as outsourcing thinking to AI to help them perform even low-stakes activities like class discussions.<\/p>\n Car said it was better to put sensible safeguards in place as policymakers came to fully understand AI\u2019s long-term impact on student learning.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to act now as the evidence continues to emerge,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Final exams account for 50 per cent of a student\u2019s HSC mark, while school-based tasks comprise the remaining half. Until now, they comprise a mix of both in-class (such as in-class tests and speeches) and take-home assessment.<\/p>\n When the interim measures are introduced, it is expected there will be some exceptions for subjects with major projects, such as art and technology.<\/p>\n Some principals report moving away from take-home tasks in response to AI, while most have updated their assessment policies to warn students they must be able to prove work done outside the classroom and submitted for assessment is their own.<\/p>\n \u201cTeachers will continue to use standard monitoring, draft checkpoints, and oral reflections (viva voce) to ensure all submitted work genuinely reflects a student\u2019s own learning and authentic understanding,\u201d Oakhill College in Sydney\u2019s northwest informed parents earlier this year.<\/p>\n All Saints College in Maitland warns students that teachers \u201cmay use a viva voce, examine the digital footprint of the document, ask for research notes and drafts as part of the investigation to discover the authenticity and originality of student work\u201d.<\/p>\n Of the 1270 total cases of cheating in HSC assessment tasks recorded last year, the majority of misconduct cases related to take-home tasks.<\/p>\n Related Article The HSC shake-up comes as higher education analysts warn entry to universities in Sydney has become increasingly competitive due to funding changes. Next year will be worse, they say.<\/p>\n Federal Education Minister Jason Clare said since the advent of widespread generative AI in 2022, the technology must be part of the education landscape, citing its ability to \u201cpersonalise education\u201d.<\/a><\/p>\n This year, Norway moved to implement a near total ban on primary school students using AI because of the risk pupils could skip important steps in their education.<\/p>\n A similar push is under way in Australia. Last week, the Heads Up Alliance \u2013 an organisation that spearheaded the push to ban adolescents from using social media \u2013 launched a new campaign to stem the widespread use of tablets and laptops in Australian schools.<\/p>\n A key principle of their campaign is that \u201cGenerative AI has no place in school learning\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIt turns out that Australia\u2019s Digital Education Revolution of 2008 was, in effect, a vast experiment on our children. Today, the results of that experiment have become impossible to ignore,\u201d founder Dany Elachi said.<\/p>\n Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n![\"NSW](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/086d4563e14c8571d0086319268aa92f3fb29a71.jpeg\")
NSW Education Minister Prue Car has asked NESA for a moratorium on take-home HSC assessment tasks due to the threat of AI.Dion Georgopoulos<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/c243304dad8ffa2dbafab8d347c4bc1eb6f6a80a.jpeg\")
The HSC proposal is set to start at the beginning of next term.Dominic Lorrimer<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ccaca365ef79b9ec3ec5b5e05611ced6b74e1680.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n