Ancient History 11–12 Syllabus (2024) – information for school leaders
Learn about the Ancient History 11–12 Syllabus (2024) – what has changed and where to get further support.
The Ancient History 11–12 Syllabus (2024) replaces content in the Ancient History Stage 6 Syllabus (2017). Planning and preparation will commence from 2025 with implementation in 2027.
This syllabus recognises the importance of critical analysis and inquiry skills in the development of knowledge and understanding of the ancient past. Outcomes and content build on the foundational skills developed through the History 7–10 Syllabus (2024). This supports deepening student knowledge, understanding and skills over time.
The NESA Statement of Equity Principles underpin the Ancient History 11–12 Syllabus (2024), ensuring inclusivity of every student, including Aboriginal students, students with disability, students learning English as an additional language or dialect, and gifted and talented students.
What you need to know
- The Ancient History 11–12 Syllabus (2024) will be taught in all NSW high schools from 2027.
- 2024–2026 – engage, plan and prepare to teach the new syllabus.
- 2027 – implementation commences in schools for Year 11.
- 2027 Term 4 – implementation commences for Year 12.
- 2028 – first HSC examination will be held.
- The Ancient History 11–12 Syllabus (2024) is a live document available via NESA’s digital platform.
- NESA will continue to add teaching advice and support materials throughout the implementation process.
- Integration of historical concepts and skills remains central to the study of Ancient History 11–12.
- Focus areas are similar but there are important changes to outcomes and content, particularly in Year 12 focus areas.
- There are pedagogical changes including an explicit focus on historiographical skills.
- Historical inquiry and historical analysis are maintained as mandated requirements for school-based assessment.
- Students with intellectual disability may access the Ancient History Life Skills Syllabus (2024).
- Planning and decisions about curriculum options for these students should be made through the collaborative curriculum planning process.
- The NSW Department of Education will be providing support materials to schools to assist and guide the implementation process.
The Ancient History 11–12 Syllabus (2024) includes:
- a streamlined structure, building on existing and familiar features of the current syllabus design, that makes clear the essential knowledge, skills and understanding students will learn through the course
- refined outcomes that increase clarity regarding the knowledge, understanding and skills students should be able to demonstrate
- reduced content across all focus areas, that identifies the skills needed by all students to develop deep knowledge and understanding of the ancient past
- increased integration of sources and historiography in syllabus content, promoting improved delivery of historical concepts and skills
- removal of the option studies ‘Historical Authentication and Reliability’ in Year 11 and ‘The Near East – Sennacherib’ and ‘Rome –Tiberius Gracchus’ in Year 12
- increased consistency in content load across options in Year 12 focus areas
- teaching advice to clarify content and support teachers to make informed pedagogical decisions.
- seven focus areas for Ancient History 11–12, with 3 in Year 11 and 4 in Year 12
- most focus areas with option studies for teachers to select from when creating a learning pathway and studies undertaken, to be selected from a range of societies in Year 11 and from at least 2 societies in Year 12
- historical concepts and skills integrated across the focus areas
- teaching advice to support understanding of syllabus content and to support teachers to make informed pedagogical decisions.
The organisation of Ancient History 11–12 image is from the Ancient History 11–12 Syllabus (2024) © NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA), for and on behalf of the Crown in right of the State of New South Wales, 2024.
Prior to implementing the Ancient History 11–12 Syllabus (2024), leaders will need to consider the following:
- complexities for staff working from 2 syllabuses to teach Ancient History 11–12 during the staggered implementation (syllabus differences include structure, language and pedagogy)
- complexities for staff implementing multiple new HSIE syllabuses from 2027, including the History 7–10 Syllabus (2024) and the Geography 7–10 Syllabus (2024)
- building teacher understanding about the application of historiographical skills to focus area content
- supporting teachers’ knowledge and understanding of appropriate protocols for collaborating with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities and engaging with Cultural works
- resource and budget implications, such as
- providing time for staff to engage with syllabus expectations and build their skills and understanding to effectively teach and plan for syllabus requirements across 11–12 to implement in 2027
- supporting staff to engage with subject-specific teacher support networks
- determining what resources are currently available to address the new framework
- accessing resources which enable all students to access the curriculum, including accessing and composing multimodal and digital texts, such as audio books, screen readers, and mini whiteboards with whiteboard markers for each student
- purchasing texts for teacher professional learning and texts to support student engagement in wide reading.
- collaboration with staff and learning support teams to ensure appropriate curriculum planning
- exploring ways to adopt and adapt the sample materials provided by the department and curriculum materials developed in school to deliver the course in an engaging way that is appropriate for your school context.
The syllabus for Ancient History 11–12 is based on evidence referenced in the Bibliography: History 11–12 which highlights that:
- integration of historical knowledge, understanding and skills is central to learning history
- historical thinking is developed through inquiry, which is core to the discipline of history
- historical thinking develops in complexity and sophistication over time through the application of historical concepts and skills to content
- it is important to recognise distinctions and connections between substantive and disciplinary knowledge in history
- incorporation of sources with the teaching of content are key in the teaching and learning of history.
Ancient History 11–12 Syllabus (2024) © NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) for and on behalf of the Crown in right of the State of New South Wales, 2024.
Knowledge of the syllabus and professional learning needs
- To what extent do staff understand the syllabus and the evidence underpinning the new syllabus?
- How has this been fostered and understanding evaluated?
- How will the new syllabus affect classroom practice?
- What is in place to support and evaluate this practice?
- What school practices and systems are in place to support teacher professional learning?
- How are these evaluated to maximise support for teachers?
- What evidence is there that staff have understood syllabus changes and familiarised themselves with the new syllabus?
Collaborative planning and development
- Which communities of practice does the school collaborate with to enhance teacher curriculum knowledge and pedagogy?
- Do staff have the skills and understanding to collaboratively undertake syllabus implementation?
- What explicit systems are in place to foster collaboration?
Resourcing and support
- How has the school engaged with departmental resources and support for curriculum implementation, for example, Curriculum Reform Communities, curriculum resources, professional learning, and DEL network initiatives?
- How are expert teachers identified and used to build the teaching knowledge and capacity of colleagues?
- How have change management considerations been embedded into the School Excellence Plan (SEP) to support teachers and sustain and strengthen curriculum implementation?
- What structures are in place for tailored professional support for all staff to strengthen curriculum implementation?
- What else might be required for this syllabus?
- What resources are required to commence syllabus implementation and meet planning, programming, assessing, and reporting requirements?
Ongoing evaluation and refinement
- How is the new syllabus being used to lift teaching practice? How does the plan for curriculum implementation measure the impact of this?
- What is in place to support and evaluate the impact of these changes in practice to maximise support for teachers and the impact on student outcomes?
- NSW Department of Education Planning, programming and assessing Ancient History 11–12.
- NSW Department of Education Professional learning HSIE K–12
- NSW Department of Education HSIE 11–12 curriculum resources
- NESA Ancient History 11–12 Syllabus (2024)
- NESA Ancient History 11–12 Syllabus (2024) Teaching and learning support
- NESA Introduction to the History 11–12 Syllabuses video (3:48)
- NESA Assessment and Reporting
- NESA Collaborative curriculum planning
Further support
- See Leading curriculum K–12 for updates and additional information
- HSIE K–12
- Contact the HSIE curriculum team: hsie@det.nsw.edu.au
- Join the HSIE statewide staffroom (staff only)