HIGHER School Certificate written exams will start on October 12 with a compulsory English paper and end on November 4 with Food Technology.
Minister for Education Sarah Mitchell said the Thursday release of personalised timetables to 76,000 NSW students represented the final leg of the school journey for the 2021 year 12 cohort.
"The HSC is a logistical behemoth, it includes scheduling 18 days of HSC exams involving around 76,000 students, 129 exams and more than 775 exam centres," Ms Mitchell said.
"The HSC is the culmination of years of schooling and receiving your timetable makes it all the more real for students.
"Students are already working hard in their final year, and I wish them all the best during an exciting time."
Most of this year's HSC cohort started kindergarten in 2009.
NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) chief executive Paul Martin said planning for the HSC exams is a "necessarily rigorous" process, especially after 2020 and COVID-19 showed just how quickly things can change.
"The timetable is designed to provide a schedule which is as fair and equitable as possible to ensure all students get the opportunity to do their best in their written exams," Mr Martin said.
"Last year showed that plans can change in an instant and we always want to make sure students, schools and exam supervisors feel prepared for anything, so they can focus on exams."
NESA said it followed "rigorous procedures" to provide sufficient breaks between exams for popular courses and between exams for frequently combined courses; enable all exams to be marked and students to receive their results from 6am on December 10; and minimise the number of students with two exams scheduled at the same time.
Students will receive their Australian Tertiary Admission Rank at 9am on December 10.
The Universities Admissions Centre will release Schools Recommendation Scheme unconditional and conditional offers on November 12.
UAC will make the first offers to year 12 students based on ATARs on December 20.
Last year, 5701 students in Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and the Hunter Valley were enrolled in one or more HSC courses.
