HSC Exam Timetable 2026: Key Dates & Countdown
See the confirmed 2026 HSC timetable: written exam start and finish dates, results day, and how many days remain until NSW exams begin.
33 days until the 2026 HSC written exam period
Photo by Gera Cejas on Pexels.
The 2026 HSC timetable is confirmed: written exams run from Tuesday 13 October to Thursday 5 November 2026, an 18-day window inside NSW's Term 4. NESA released the personalised student timetables on 1 May 2026, and results are set down for Wednesday 16 December 2026.
When do the HSC exams start and finish in 2026?
The 2026 HSC written exams start with English Paper 1 on Tuesday 13 October 2026 and finish no later than Thursday 5 November 2026, when Physics is sat in the morning session. Across the 18-day window, 123 written exams are scheduled, with sessions spread over morning and afternoon slots so students sitting multiple subjects don't clash.
Around 80,000 NSW Year 12 students received their individual exam schedules through the NESA Students Online portal from 9am on 1 May 2026. Every student's personal timetable — which subjects, which day, which session — is only available through that portal, since students take different subject combinations and no two students sit an identical set of exams.
Language and practical or performance exams (such as Music, Drama and some vocational courses) run earlier in the year, outside this written-exam window, and are scheduled separately by NESA. The 13 October–5 November block covers the written papers only — the exams most students associate with "HSC exams".
2026 HSC key dates at a glance
| Milestone | 2026 date |
|---|---|
| Personalised written exam timetables released | Friday 1 May 2026 |
| Written exams start (English Paper 1) | Tuesday 13 October 2026 |
| Written exams finish (Physics) | Thursday 5 November 2026 |
| HSC results released | Wednesday 16 December 2026 |
These dates are drawn from NESA's official 2026 HSC key dates and exam timetable releases. Trial HSC exams sit earlier in Term 3 and are scheduled by each school individually, not by NESA, so check with your school directly for those dates. Languages oral exams and performance-based practical exams also run ahead of the written block — languages orals from August, and performance exams through Term 3 — so close to half of Year 12 will already have sat one HSC exam before English Paper 1 on 13 October.
Full 2026 HSC written exam timetable
NESA's published timetable runs across four weeks of Term 4, from Tuesday 13 October to Thursday 5 November 2026. Exact session start and finish times vary by subject — check your personalised timetable on NESA Students Online for the precise times that apply to you. The table below groups every written exam day by date and session.
| Date | Session | Courses |
|---|---|---|
| Tue 13 Oct (Day 1) | AM & PM | AM: English Advanced Paper 1, English Standard Paper 1, English Studies, English EAL/D Paper 1. PM: Classical Greek Extension, Classical Hebrew Extension, German Continuers, Indonesian Extension, Japanese Beginners, Japanese Continuers. |
| Wed 14 Oct (Day 2) | AM & PM | AM: English Advanced Paper 2, English Standard Paper 2, English EAL/D Paper 2, Listening Paper. PM: Music 1 (Aural Skills), Music 2 (Musicology and Aural Skills). |
| Thu 15 Oct (Day 3) | AM & PM | AM: Indonesian Beginners, Classical Hebrew Continuers, Earth and Environmental Science, Tourism, Travel and Events (VET), Indonesian Continuers. PM: Agriculture, Arabic Continuers, Chinese in Context, Japanese in Context, Korean in Context, Modern Hebrew Continuers, Spanish Beginners, Spanish Continuers, Vietnamese Continuers, plus 17 CCAFL community-language courses (Armenian, Croatian, Dutch, Filipino, Hindi, Hungarian, Khmer, Macedonian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Russian, Serbian, Swedish, Tamil and Turkish Continuers). |
| Fri 16 Oct (Day 4) | AM & PM | AM: Modern History, Japanese Extension. PM: Classical Greek Continuers, Hospitality (VET) – Kitchen Operations and Cookery / Food and Beverage, German Extension. |
| Mon 19 Oct (Day 5) | AM & PM | AM: Mathematics Advanced, Mathematics Standard 1, Mathematics Standard 2. PM: Mathematics Extension 2. |
| Tue 20 Oct (Day 6) | AM & PM | AM: German Beginners, Engineering Studies, Latin Continuers, Primary Industries (VET), Textiles and Design, Spanish Extension. PM: Automotive (VET), Society and Culture, Arabic Extension, Chinese Continuers. |
| Wed 21 Oct (Day 7) | AM & PM | AM: Biology. PM: History Extension, Business Services (VET), Chinese and Literature. |
| Thu 22 Oct (Day 8) | AM & PM | AM: Latin Extension, Studies of Religion I, Studies of Religion II. PM: Drama, Chinese Beginners, Chinese Extension. |
| Fri 23 Oct (Day 9) | AM & PM | AM: Ancient History, Electrotechnology (VET). PM: Mathematics Extension 1. |
| Mon 26 Oct (Day 10) | AM & PM | AM: Business Studies. PM: Science Extension, Construction (VET). |
| Tue 27 Oct (Day 11) | AM & PM | AM: Modern Greek Beginners, Human Services (VET), Italian Continuers, Korean Continuers, Modern Greek Extension, Software Engineering. PM: Economics, Entertainment Industry (VET). |
| Wed 28 Oct (Day 12) | AM & PM | AM: Health and Movement Science. PM: English Extension 1, Information and Digital Technology (VET), Retail Services (VET), Korean and Literature. |
| Thu 29 Oct (Day 13) | AM & PM | AM: Italian Beginners, Korean Beginners, Dance (Core Appreciation and Major Study Appreciation), Italian Extension, Modern Greek Continuers, Enterprise Computing. PM: Design and Technology, French Beginners, French Extension. |
| Fri 30 Oct (Day 14) | AM & PM | AM: Aboriginal Studies, Chemistry, Financial Services (VET). PM: Visual Arts (Art Criticism and Art History). |
| Mon 2 Nov (Day 15) | AM & PM | AM: Legal Studies. PM: Geography. |
| Tue 3 Nov (Day 16) | AM & PM | AM: Community and Family Studies. PM: Investigating Science, French Continuers. |
| Wed 4 Nov (Day 17) | AM & PM | AM: Food Technology. PM: Industrial Technology (Automotive, Electronics, Graphics, Metal and Engineering, Multimedia, and Timber and Furniture Technologies streams). |
| Thu 5 Nov (Day 18) | AM | Physics. No afternoon session – this is the last written exam day. |
Source: NESA's official 2026 HSC written exam timetable. Your own subjects, session times and exam rooms are on your personalised timetable in NESA Students Online — this table is for planning around the exam period, not a substitute for it.
When is the 2026 HSC written exam timetable released?
NESA released the 2026 written exam timetable on Friday 1 May 2026 — well ahead of the October exam period. Students access their personalised timetable through the NESA Students Online portal rather than a single public schedule, since each student's combination of subjects produces a different exam calendar. If you're checking for a future year's release date, expect NESA to publish it several months out from exams, as it did in 2026.
How many days are there until the HSC in 2026?
The written exams start on Tuesday 13 October 2026. See the live countdown at the top of this guide for the exact number of days as of today — it updates automatically, so it stays accurate no matter when you're reading this. You can also enter 13 October 2026 into the Date Calculator for the same figure, plus working-day and business-day counts.
How does the HSC exam period sit within the NSW school terms?
The HSC written exams fall inside NSW's Term 4. Based on the site's 2026 school-holiday data, NSW's spring holidays run 28 September to 9 October 2026 and the summer break begins 18 December 2026 — which puts Term 4 2026 at roughly 12 October to 17 December. The confirmed HSC exam window (13 October–5 November) sits in the first four weeks of that term, meaning Year 12 students finish their formal timetabled exams well before the rest of the school year winds down. See the NSW School Term Dates page for the full term structure, and the School Holidays 2026 guide for how the surrounding breaks line up for the rest of the family.
Planning around HSC 2026
With confirmed dates in hand, the practical planning questions are straightforward:
- Avoid booking travel or family events between 13 October and 5 November 2026 — this is now a confirmed exam window, not an estimate.
- Check your personal exam schedule via NESA Students Online rather than relying on the general date range, since your specific subjects and sessions differ from other students'.
- Mark 16 December 2026 for HSC results, and plan any post-results ATAR or university offer follow-up around that date.
Frequently asked questions
When does the HSC start and finish in 2026?
The 2026 HSC written exams run from Tuesday 13 October to Thursday 5 November 2026, an 18-day window that opens with English Paper 1 and closes with Physics, inside NSW's Term 4.
When is the 2026 HSC written exam timetable released?
NESA released the 2026 timetable on Friday 1 May 2026. Students access their personalised schedule through the NESA Students Online portal, since each student sits a different combination of subjects.
How many days are there until the HSC in 2026?
Check the live countdown at the top of this guide for the exact number of days until the exam start date (13 October 2026) — it recalculates from today's date, so it's always current. The Date Calculator gives the same figure on demand.
How does the HSC exam period sit within the NSW school terms?
The HSC written exams fall in the first four weeks of NSW's Term 4, which runs from around 12 October to 17 December 2026. Year 12 students finish their exams well before Term 4 ends for the rest of the school. See NSW School Term Dates for the full term breakdown.
When are 2026 HSC results released?
HSC results are released on Wednesday 16 December 2026, roughly six weeks after the written exams finish.
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