'This is pathetic': Thousands of students get HSC certificate with unfortunate error

Thousands of NSW high school graduates were left disappointed and frustrated after realising their HSC certificates had a glaring typo.

The certificates were signed off by the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) and were dated ‘2017’ instead of ‘2018’.

The incorrect line on the document reads: ‘Issued by NESA without alteration or erasure on 14th December 2017 at Sydney, NSW, Australia.”

In a Facebook group for HSC students, dozens shared photos of the error on their own certificates.

“We wait 13 years for a piece of paper with the wrong date,” one boy wrote.

“This is f***ing pathetic… like seriously come on,” another student said.

“When you are told not to copy and paste and NESA copies and pastes,” a girl commented.

The blunder has been labelled by the NSW premier as “human error” and will force the reissuing of thousands of certificates.

“It’s human error, I wish the mistake hadn’t happened,” Premier Gladys Berejiklian told 7 News.

“Worse things can happen.”

Almost 70,000 students completed the HSC in 2018, although it is unclear exactly how many have been affected by the typo.