Requirements for the Personal Interest Project

Resource Description

Requirements for the Personal Interest Project
Society and Culture students must each undertake, on an individual basis, a Personal
Interest Project worth 40% of the HSC examination mark. The PIP requires students to
select a suitable topic related to the course, develop and apply appropriate research
methods and submit a completed project containing the required components.
Development of the PIP may commence from the beginning of the HSC course.
Schools must have procedures in place to ensure the effective supervision of the
development of students’ PIPs. This is particularly the case where work is done away from
school. Schools must be confident that effective supervision and sufficient documentation
of this work is possible before giving consent for students to begin work on their PIP.
Each student is to report their progress at three points during the development of the PIP.
Both the student and the teacher are to sign these reports. A proforma for the reports is
included with this document.
In addition, a brief written record of each student’s progress throughout the project must
be kept by the teacher. Teachers may refer to students’ PIP diary and progress reports as
well as observations and discussions to maintain the record of student progress. This
should not be submitted with the project, but may be requested in exceptional
circumstances where the examiners require further information. This record should be
retained in the school together with assessment records. A Practical Project: Record of
Student’s Progress proforma is available to download from Schools Online.