Engineering Studies Stage 6 Syllabus (2011, amended) — HSC course (four compulsory modules)
The HSC exam is one written paper worth 100 marks: 5 minutes reading time and 3 hours working time, with a formulae sheet provided. Section I has 20 marks of objective-response (multiple-choice) questions, about 30 minutes. Section II is worth 80 marks: about seven short-answer questions (Questions 21–27 in every paper from 2021 to 2025) split into parts, about 25 items in total, with at least two items worth 6 to 8 marks; allow about 2 hours 30 minutes. The four modules carry approximately equal weighting and questions may integrate the whole course. NESA-approved calculators may be used; drawing questions are answered with drawing equipment in pencil. Your HSC mark is the average of your exam mark and your moderated school assessment mark; the Year 12 school-based components are Knowledge and understanding of course content (60%) and Knowledge and skills in research, problem solving and communication related to engineering practice (40%).
Past papers on this subject span more than one syllabus. Papers written under an older one still work as practice, but the modules they test have changed — the index labels every paper with the syllabus it was set under.
Engineering Studies Stage 6 Syllabus (amended 2011) — current syllabus; no replacement listed by NESA · 2021–2026
The modules, one by one
Each area below lists the concepts named in the syllabus, what the NESA exam asks of them, and the mistake that most often costs marks.
- Civil structures
- Personal and public transport
- Aeronautical engineering
- Telecommunications engineering
- Engineering communication and reports
Area 1 of 5
Civil structures
Bridges, buildings, dams, cranes and playgrounds: their history, materials over time, and social and environmental impact, including recycling when structures are replaced. Engineering mechanics: pin-jointed truss analysis by the method of joints, method of sections and graphical methods; shear force and bending moment diagrams for simply supported beams with point loads, neutral axis and bending stress σ = My/I; the effect of uniformly distributed loads (no calculation); stress and strain, the stress/strain diagram, Young’s modulus, yield and proof stress, toughness and factor of safety. Materials: X-ray and concrete testing, crack theory, glass, cement and bricks, composites (timber, reinforced, pre-tensioned and post-tensioned concrete, asphalt, laminates, geotextiles) and corrosion protection.
What the syllabus lists under this area · 6 points
- Historical and societal influences
- Engineering mechanics: truss analysis
- Engineering mechanics: bending, SF and BM
- Engineering mechanics: stress and strain
- Engineering materials
- Communication
What the exam asks
Where marks go missing
20 real NESA questions indexed on this area →
Area 2 of 5
Personal and public transport
Bicycles, cars, buses, trucks, trains and trams: history, design features and environmental impact of transport energy and materials. Mechanics: mechanical advantage, velocity ratio and efficiency; static friction, angle of friction and angle of repose; work, kinetic and potential energy and power. Materials: hardness and impact testing; annealing, normalising, hardening and tempering of steels and the resulting microstructures; forging, rolling, casting, extrusion, powder forming and welding; non-ferrous alloys and solid solution hardening; toughened and laminated glass; thermosoftening polymers, textiles, extrusion, injection and blow moulding. Electricity: generation and distribution, simple circuits, electric motors and speed control, control technology and electrical safety.
What the syllabus lists under this area · 6 points
- Historical and societal influences
- Engineering mechanics: machines, friction, work, energy and power
- Engineering materials: ferrous metals
- Engineering materials: non-ferrous, ceramics, polymers
- Engineering electricity/electronics
- Communication
What the exam asks
Where marks go missing
20 real NESA questions indexed on this area →
Area 3 of 5
Aeronautical engineering
The aeronautical engineering profession — its scope, projects, safety, training, careers, ethics and the engineer as manager — and the history of flight in Australia and its environmental effects. Flight mechanics: lift, weight, thrust and drag, lift to drag ratio, angle of attack and stall; Bernoulli’s principle and the venturi effect; bending stress in airframes; piston, turboprop, turbofan, ramjet, scramjet and rocket propulsion; Pascal’s principle, hydrostatic and dynamic pressure, the altimeter and pitot tube. Materials: non-destructive testing (dye penetrant, X-ray and gamma ray, magnetic particle, ultrasonic), aluminium alloys and age hardening, thermosetting polymers and lay-up and compression moulding, composites including Kevlar, carbon fibre and Fibre Metal Laminate, and corrosion in airframes.
What the syllabus lists under this area · 5 points
- Scope of the profession
- Historical and societal influences
- Engineering mechanics and hydraulics
- Engineering materials
- Communication
What the exam asks
Where marks go missing
20 real NESA questions indexed on this area →
Area 4 of 5
Telecommunications engineering
The telecommunications profession — scope, WHS, careers, ethics, privacy and security — and the history of the industry, including black-and-white and colour cathode ray television. Materials: voltage, current, insulation and signal-strength testing; copper beryllium, brass and electrolytic tough pitched copper; semiconductors such as transistors, zener diodes, LEDs and laser diodes; insulating polymers and fibre optics. Electronics: analogue and digital systems, modulation and demodulation, AM, FM and digital radio, digital television and display media, fixed and mobile telephony, transmission media and the electromagnetic spectrum, geostationary and low Earth orbit satellites and GPS, and AND, NAND, OR and NOR logic gates.
What the syllabus lists under this area · 5 points
- Scope of the profession
- Historical and societal influences
- Engineering materials
- Engineering electricity/electronics
- Communication
What the exam asks
Where marks go missing
17 real NESA questions indexed on this area →
Area 5 of 5
Engineering communication and reports
Drawing to Australian Standard AS 1100: third-angle orthogonal views, line types and dimensioning, assembly drawings and sectional views; freehand, pictorial and isometric sketching; developments of transition pieces; graphical solutions to mechanics and aerodynamic problems; CAD as a communication and problem-solving tool. In each HSC course a student writes two Engineering Reports (one from an application module, one from a focus module), one of them collaboratively.
What the exam asks
Where marks go missing
Common questions
How is the HSC Engineering Studies exam structured?
One 100-mark paper: 5 minutes reading plus 3 hours writing. Section I is 20 multiple-choice questions (about 30 minutes). Section II is 80 marks of short-answer questions with parts — Questions 21–27 in every recent paper — answered in the spaces provided (about 2 hours 30 minutes). A formulae sheet is printed at the back.
Which modules are examined?
The four HSC modules: Civil structures, Personal and public transport, Aeronautical engineering and Telecommunications engineering, with approximately equal weighting. Preliminary course knowledge (forces, moments, basic materials) is assumed.
How much of the exam is calculation?
A large share. Recent papers include truss analysis (often a 6-mark item), bending moment and shear force diagrams, stress, shear and factor-of-safety problems, friction on inclines, work, energy and power, lift to drag ratio and Ohm’s law. Show every step and quote the formula you use from the formulae sheet.
Do I have to draw in the exam?
Yes. Expect a sectioned assembly view or a development worth about 6 marks, plus smaller sketches: isometric or pictorial views, free body and SF/BM diagrams, microstructures, circuits and truth tables. Practise with instruments to AS 1100; this hub describes drawing tasks and their construction in words, so pair it with practice on paper.
What do markers reward in Section II?
NESA’s marking feedback repeatedly asks students to answer the exact command word, engage with the stimulus, use correct engineering and materials terminology, set out calculations logically with all working, and use approved drawing equipment for drawing questions.
Are the Engineering Reports part of the exam?
No. The two HSC Engineering Reports are school-based assessment. The exam can still ask about the purpose of reports and the benefits of collaborative work.
Is the syllabus changing?
NESA’s course page lists the Engineering Studies Stage 6 Syllabus (2011) with no replacement announced, so it governs the 2026 HSC. Check the NESA course page for any future announcement.