All year 12 students will have to study grammar and dramatically improve their writing skills as part of the most significant changes to the state's HSC in decades, which will see fewer topics studied in favour of "less breadth and more depth" in all subjects.
Students who study higher level maths will be rewarded through the introduction of a common marking scale to discourage them from choosing easier subjects and there will be a renewed emphasis on maths in the sciences, especially Physics and Chemistry.
The NSW Education Standards Authority, formerly the Board of Studies, will release new syllabuses for English, Maths, Science and History on Tuesday after a four-year consultation period with teachers and academics. Some of the feedback has been particularly critical.
Several prominent mathematicians attacked the draft Maths syllabuses, and warned that the standards authority risked its credibility because the drafts were littered with poor mathematical language. The standards authority said it was still finalising the advanced maths syllabuses.
The chairman of the standards authority, Tom Alegounarias, said he expected some criticism that the new syllabuses were "old-fashioned" or "dumbing-down and back to basics" but he denied that, saying it was about "depth and mastery".
"We have done extensive audits to reduce unnecessary breadth because we do not want a helicopter ride through learning," Mr Alegounarias said.
He said a new topic, the Craft of Writing, would be mandatory for all English students. English is the only compulsory HSC subject.
Mr Alegounarias said being able to write well, and understanding the mechanics of good writing, including the correct use of grammar, had never been so important, with the demand for digital content increasing at a rapid rate.
The executive director of the English Teachers Association NSW, Eva Gold, said she could not comment on the final English syllabuses because teachers had not yet seen them. But in a submission to the draft syllabuses, the association raised several concerns.
It warned that reducing the range of texts was not appropriate "for 21st century learners" and it would be difficult to maintain students' interest while spending "40 hours on a single text".
The association also questioned whether the Craft of Writing module would be simply "subsumed into other modules".
But the NSW Catholic Education Commission said the new syllabuses would encourage more students to study traditional subjects rather than avoiding them in favour of so-called "easier subjects" and they were more "contemporary and therefore more appealing" to students.
"These new syllabuses will allow students to study courses most appropriate to their ability," the commission's executive director, Brian Croke, said.
"This will help ensure continued high participation rates, particularly in Physics, Chemistry and Maths, at a time when more students are completing year 12 than ever before."
Mr Alegounarias said there would be a new focus on scientific principles, theories and laws in the science syllabuses.
"There may be some criticism that we are taking the sociology out of science but it comes back to the issue of depth and mastery," he said.
He said there would be more focus on the topic rather than the context. Instead of studying "moving about" in Physics, students would learn "kinematics and dynamics".
In History, students will look at how the modern world was shaped, with topics including the Enlightenment, the French Revolution and the expansion of capitalism, while there would be a requirement to study a non-European and non-western topic.
The new syllabuses will be introduced next year for students doing the HSC in 2019.
