ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø

The Biology 11–12 Syllabus (2025):

• has been streamlined by removing peripheral content. Its revised structure now divides the material into seven focus areas: three (3) for Year 11 and four (4) for Year 12
• changed depth study requirements, including programmable outcomes and instruction length
• includes clearly defined content that improves student access to rich learning opportunities at school and pathways after school
• offers increased opportunities to apply scientific concepts and ideas to real-world situations
• includes assessable, specified scientific investigations that provide accessible opportunities for the development of knowledge, understanding and skills
• includes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ content that provides all students with opportunities to explore Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ Knowledges and Cultures
• increases the focus on scientific concepts rather than named scientists.

© NSW ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø Standards Authority (NESA) for and on behalf of the Crown in right of the State of New South Wales, 2025.

Before implementing the Biology 11–12 Syllabus (2025), leaders will need to consider the following:

• complexities for staff working across 2 different biology syllabuses, as they will teach different courses to their Year 11 and Year 12 cohorts. The implementation of the Biology 11-12 Syllabus (2025) also coincides with the implementation of the Physics 11-12 Syllabus (2025) and the Science 7–10 Syllabus (2023), with the Year 8 and Year 10 content scheduled to be taught for the first time in most schools in 2027
• building teachers’ understanding about working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander content when designing and delivering biology content and assessment
• supporting teachers’ understanding of the principles of inclusive education, adjustments and access to the biology curriculum for all learners
• resource and budget implications, including:
  • providing time for staff to engage with the expectations of the Biology 11–12 syllabus (2025), especially the novel content contained in it, so that they are best prepared to teach the course in 2027
  • reviewing the course requirements, including mandatory practical investigations, to identify new equipment and other resources that may need to be purchased
• all decisions about curriculum options for should be made through the process
• leaders will need to consider the eligibility of students for a pattern of study.

The Biology 11–12 Syllabus (2025) is based on evidence summarised in the published by NESA. The evidence base highlights that:

• students need to make connections across scientific concepts that facilitate the application of knowledge to new scenarios (Bravo González and Reiss 2021; Harlen et al. 2015)
• although built on prior knowledge and understanding, the learning of new abstract concepts is aided by the multisensory input inherent in modelling and practical experiences (Essex, 2018)
• student performance at multiple levels of sophistication is supported by a learning progression framework which identifies and fuses core disciplinary ideas and scientific practices (Corcoran et al., 2009; Gotwals & Songer, 2013)
• the syllabus should be knowledge-rich, as disciplinary knowledge is liberating and enables students to make sense of the living world (Young, 2014)
• the syllabus should distil scientific knowledge into big ideas and guiding principles for students to be able to explain and make sense of a diversity of biological phenomena (Harlen et al., 2010)
• the need to prepare students for a changing society and workforce where skills are identified as core capabilities (Rumbens, 2014).

© NSW ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø Standards Authority (NESA) for and on behalf of the Crown in right of the State of New South Wales, 2025.

• How will the new syllabus affect classroom practice? What measures are 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?
• To what extent are staff ready to undertake syllabus implementation? How is that readiness determined?
• How has the school engaged with departmental resources and support for curriculum implementation, such as Curriculum networks, curriculum resources, professional learning, and DEL network initiatives?
• What enablers and barriers to successful curriculum implementation have been identified? What plans are in place to overcome the barriers and leverage the enablers?

• NSW Department of ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø Planning, programming and assessing science 11–12
• NSW Department of ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø Professional learning science K–12
• NSW Department of ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø Science 11–12 curriculum resources
• NESA
• NESA