But just one of his courses,construction,is a practical Vocational Education and Training (VET) course:skills-based subjects designed to prepare students for work. He found construction has fit in nicely with his physics and engineering studies,teaching him to build and giving the more academic subjects practical relevance.
Isha would have taken another VET subject,but he wants to keep university as an option,and students can only study one VET course if they want to receive an ATAR.
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However,a sweeping review of the NSW curriculum by Professor Geoff Masters has proposed changes to the ATAR and balance in the subjects students study. The review suggests the number of subjects in the HSC,presently 170,be significantly cut down so that vocational subjects teach more theory,and academic subjects teach more work-ready skills.
This would bridge the division between the two types of courses,Professor Masters argued.
There are 20,088 students who took one or more VET courses as part of their HSC this year. For 16,161 of these students,one or more of their VET courses were delivered at a school.
Hospitality was the most popular,taken by 7049 students of whom those seeking an ATAR will sit their exam on Tuesday. Construction follows with 3447 students,while lesser studied offerings include electrontechnology (491),tourism (358) and financial services (128).