Leading English academics and former HSC chief examiners have warned that plans to make HSC English exams shorter and put word limits on answers will make it easier for students to game the system and will "further fuel the HSC tutoring industry".

From 2019, the NSW Education Standards Authority will change the way it tests HSC English, with plans for a reduction in the exam times, word limits and multiple-choice questions for English Studies, the lowest level course which will now count towards an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR).

An optional 90-minute test on logical reasoning and analytical reasoning skills will be introduced to year 11 students this year. Credit:Karleen Minney

In a scathing submission to NESA on the planned changes, a group of English academics, including two recent former chief HSC examiners, warn that HSC English will now be a "significantly less rigorous intellectual challenge" than the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE), Britain's General Certificate of Education (GCE) and the International Baccalaureate.

The submission warns of "diminishing the status, integrity and intellectual challenge of HSC English".