HSC Health and Movement Science: Course, Assessment and Exam Guides (NESA)

Your HSC result in Health and Movement Science comes from your school's Year 12 assessment and one 3 hour, 100-mark written exam. The exam splits its marks roughly equally between the two Year 12 focus areas, so neither can be left to chance.

This is the Health and Movement Science 11-12 Syllabus (2023). Year 12 teaching of it began in Term 4 2025, and the first HSC exam was in 2026, so the 2027 cohort sits the same syllabus. It replaces PDHPE 11-12.

How is HSC Health and Movement Science assessed?

NESA sets the Year 12 school-based weightings. Your school decides the number, type and weighting of the tasks within them.

NESA limits take-home tasks and sets guidance on task weightings, so check your school's schedule against the rules in how the HSC works, which also covers how the school mark and the exam mark combine into your HSC mark.

What does Year 12 Health and Movement Science cover?

Year 12 is organised into two focus areas, with depth studies embedded across Year 11 and Year 12.

• Health in an Australian and global context. The outcomes cover analysing the health status of Australians nationally and internationally, how technology and data can achieve better health for all Australians, and how the Sustainable Development Goals can improve the health of a community.
• Training for improved performance. The outcomes cover investigating the factors that affect movement and performance, and analysing individual and group training programs.

NESA lists these as five Year 12 outcomes, HM-12-01 to HM-12-05. Year 11 content is assumed knowledge for the Year 12 exam, so gaps from Year 11 show up here.

What is the HSC Health and Movement Science exam like?

The exam is one written paper of 100 marks. You get 10 minutes of reading time, then 3 hours of working time.

• Section I (20 marks). Objective response questions.
• Section II (56 marks). Short-answer questions, which may have parts. There are 9 to 12 items in total, and at least 3 are worth 6 to 8 marks each.
• Section III (24 marks). Two extended-response questions worth 12 marks each, one for each focus area.

Questions on the skill outcomes are integrated through the whole paper rather than set apart. Check the NESA exam timetable and exam rules for your date.

What should you focus on?

Three points follow from how the course and exam are built.

1. Give both focus areas equal time. The paper weights them roughly equally, and each has its own 12-mark extended response.
2. Practise short answers worth 6 to 8 marks. Section II is 56 marks, and at least three of its items sit in that range.
3. Build skills, not only recall. The skills component is 60% of your school assessment, and skill questions run through the exam.

For how marks are reported across the HSC, see the guide on HSC bands. For which syllabus each cohort sits, see HSC syllabuses.