HSC trial exams during lockdown

Update for students completing trial HSC exams at home during power outages

12 August 2021

During these challenging times, access to reliable, safe power is more important than ever before.

For that reason, Ausgrid is continuing with critical scheduled maintenance work, meaning some customers will experience power outages while working or learning at home. While these interruptions are rare, they are critical to the safety and reliability of the entire network.

Ausgrid is doing what we can to avoid and limit interruptions, given the challenging circumstances we are in. For critical scheduled maintenance that must go ahead, we share information on disruptions directly to customers, ahead of time, and on our website.

However, we have no way of knowing if a HSC student is reliant on the power supply to complete a trial exam at the same time as a critical scheduled power outage. 

We have contacted schools across our network area to provide power outage information and advice to students, teachers and facilitators. A summary of the information is provided below.

How to check for a power outage

1. Check your mail for a outage notification from Ausgrid - We notify customers affected by a planned power outage up to 4 days in advance.
2. Check your exam dates ahead of time - You can also check the Ausgrid website for outages on the days on which your HSC exams occur.

If you are impacted 

If you find that a power outage coincides with one of your exams – here’s what you can do:

Think through whether there is a way you can still undertake the exam during the outage. For example, if your exam is on a device, will a full charge of battery give you enough to complete it? If you rely on wifi, can you use the cellular network instead? 

• Contact your school to discuss any possible alternatives.
• Contact Ausgrid on 13 13 65 or enquiries@ausgrid.com.au and provide a letter from the school confirming the time power is required to complete the trial exam.

Have a contingency plan

While it is rare to experience a power outage, we encourage students to consider planning for one as part of normal part of exam preparations, by ensuring devices are fully charged
ahead of time and preparing for hotspotting as an alternative to wifi.

Although it is expected to be small in numbers, Ausgrid is committed to working with schools, teachers and students to see if a backup, such as a battery or generator, can be provided. Ausgrid will do everything we can to balance the needs of individual students with the overall security and reliability of the network.

We are here to help, so if you require further information please contact us on 13 13 65 or enquiries@ausgrid.com.au.