Menu
Education
Global Search

HSIE K–12

History Elective 7–10 Syllabus (2025) – information for school leaders

Learn about the History Elective 7–10 Syllabus (2025) – what has changed and where to get further support.

The History Elective 7–10 Syllabus (2025) replaces content in the History Elective 7–10 Syllabus (2019). Planning and preparation will commence from 2026 with implementation in 2028.

The syllabus recognises the critical importance of understanding history as a dynamic and interpretive discipline, shaped through historical approaches and narratives that draw on diverse evidence, perspectives and experiences.

The NESA Statement of Equity Principles underpin the History Elective 7–10 Syllabus (2025), ensuring inclusivity of every student, including Aboriginal students, students with disability, students learning English as an additional language or dialect, and high potential and gifted students.

What you need to know

  • The History Elective 7–10 Syllabus (2025) will be taught in NSW high schools from 2028.
  • The History Elective 7–10 Syllabus (2025) is a live document available via NESA’s digital platform. NESA will continue to add teaching advice and support materials throughout the implementation process.
  • History Elective 7–10 (2025) can be taught as a 100-hour or a 200-hour course
  • In the 100-hour course students must study:
    • at least ONE focus area from historical approaches
    • at least ONE focus area from historical narratives
    • at least ONE additional focus area.
  • In the 200-hour course students must study
    • at least ONE focus area from historical approaches
    • at least ONE focus area from historical narratives
    • at least THREE additional focus areas
    • at least ONE Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander depth study
    • at least ONE non-western depth study.
  • Across both a 100-hour and 200-hour course, students can only study ONE school developed option.
  • The NSW Department of Education will be providing support materials to assist schools and guide the implementation process on the Planning, programming and assessing HSIE 7–10 webpage.
  • For History Elective 7–10 Life Skills students, teachers have the flexibility to select, group and sequence outcomes and content to meet the needs, strengths, goals, interests and prior learning of their students. Teaching advice for a variety of focus areas is provided by NESA.
  • NSW syllabuses accommodate teaching approaches that support student diversity.

The History Elective 7–10 Syllabus (2025) includes:

  • structural changes to the focus areas, divided into 2 groups
    • historical approaches: investigating different ways history can be explored, interpreted and understood; with an emphasis on tools, methods and forms of inquiry used to construct historical meaning
    • historical narratives: investigating how the past is organised and explained, including who constructs historical accounts, how they are structured, and why some interpretations become more dominant than others
  • increased emphasis on the historical inquiry process and historical skills and concepts, which can be seen as mandatory content points under the ‘Thinking and working historically’ content group within each focus area
  • new outcomes and content that are informed by evidence and identify historical skills and concepts needed by all students to develop essential knowledge, understanding and skills
  • teaching advice to support understanding of syllabus content and to support teachers to make informed pedagogical decisions
  • a requirement that students studying a 200-hour course must undertake ONE Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and ONE non-western depth study option
  • Life Skills outcomes have been aligned to the Stage 4 and 5 outcomes to facilitate integrated delivery.
Focus on historical approaches and Focus on historical narratives appear from left to right at the top of the diagram. Focus on historical approaches includes the focus areas Aboriginal Country as historical record, Constructed lives, History and archaeology, History and heritage and Public History. Focus on historical narratives includes the focus areas Australian histories, Histories of the ancient world, Histories of the medieval and early modern world, Histories of the modern world, Histories of women and Thematic study. The focus area School-developed option overlaps both groups. Both groups are connected by Thinking and working historically and The nature of history. Focus on historical approaches and Focus on historical narratives appear from left to right at the top of the diagram. Focus on historical approaches includes the focus areas Aboriginal Country as historical record, Constructed lives, History and archaeology, History and heritage and Public History. Focus on historical narratives includes the focus areas Australian histories, Histories of the ancient world, Histories of the medieval and early modern world, Histories of the modern world, Histories of women and Thematic study. The focus area School-developed option overlaps both groups. Both groups are connected by Thinking and working historically and The nature of history.
Image: Figure 1: The organisation of History Elective 7–10

History Elective 7–10 Syllabus (2025) organisation image is from the History Elective 7–10 Syllabus (2025) ©NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) for and on behalf of the Crown in right of the State of New South Wales, 2025.

Prior to implementing the History Elective 7–10 Syllabus (2025), leaders will need to consider the following:

  • building teacher knowledge and understanding of appropriate protocols for collaborating with Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Communities and engaging with Cultural works
  • supporting teachers’ understanding of the principles of inclusive education, adjustments and access to the HSIE curriculum for all learners
  • supporting teachers’ understanding in adjusting Stage 5 outcomes for Stage 4 students
  • awareness of the Controversial issues in schools procedures when teaching potentially controversial historical content within the syllabus
  • resource and budget implications including:
    • providing time for staff to engage with the syllabus and develop their skills and understanding in order to plan and effectively implement the syllabus from 2028
    • resources which enable students to demonstrate all outcomes, including planning and conducting a historical inquiry and presenting conclusions, using evidence from a range of sources
    • equipment that enhances learning and supports all students to access the curriculum such as audio books, screen readers, mini whiteboards and whiteboard markers for each student.
  • exploring ways to adopt and adapt the sample materials provided by the department and curriculum materials developed in school to support consistency of curriculum implementation between mainstream and special education settings.
  • collaboration with staff and learning support teams to ensure appropriate curriculum planning
  • all decisions about curriculum options for a student with disability should be made through the collaborative curriculum planning process
  • suitability of a Life Skills pattern of study for students.

The syllabus for History Elective 7–10 (2025) is based on evidence highlighting that:

  • historical thinking is a disciplined form of engagement with the past that supports students to interpret the present and develop an informed approach to citizenship
  • historical thinking increases in complexity and sophistication over time via the application of historical concepts and skills to the content
  • integrating historical knowledge, understanding and skills is important to the learning of history
  • engagement with historical evidence including sources is central to examination of the past
  • explicit teaching of historical skills and concepts supports students to undertake meaningful historical inquiry
  • the disciplinary expertise of the teacher is a significant factor in student achievement.

History Elective 7–10 Syllabus (2025) © NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) for and on behalf of the Crown in right of the State of New South Wales, 2025.

  • To what extent do staff understand the syllabus and the evidence underpinning the new syllabus?
  • How will the new syllabus affect classroom practice? What is in place to support and evaluate this practice?
  • Do staff have the skills and understanding to collaboratively undertake syllabus implementation? What explicit systems are in place to foster collaboration?
  • What resources are required to commence syllabus implementation and meet planning, programming, assessing, and reporting requirements?
  • To what extent are staff ready to undertake syllabus implementation?
    • How is readiness determined?

Further support

Syllabus information for school leaders

An overview of the pedagogical changes and whole school considerations to support school leaders’ understanding of what has changed for each new syllabus.

Leading curriculum K–12

Advice and resources supporting leaders to facilitate effective curriculum implementation in schools.

Category:

  • Teaching and learning

Business Unit:

  • Curriculum
Return to top of page Back to top