Year 12 students in rural areas and their parents are concerned about the potential impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the final year of high school.

Key points: Parents in NSW are being encouraged to keep their children at home.

Parents in NSW are being encouraged to keep their children at home. Year 12 students worry they won't have enough access to teachers.

Year 12 students worry they won't have enough access to teachers. Poor internet connectivity in rural areas means online study can be frustrating.

The predicament facing students is becoming clearer, as state and territory governments put in place various restrictions to limit the number of pupils attending schools.

One of those who has misgivings about not attending school is Wyatt Smith, 18, who lives on a property near Wallabadah in the NSW New England region.

He said he was unhappy about not having direct access to his teachers, now that the NSW Premier, Gladys Berejiklian, has urged parents to keep their children home.

"In class, I do use the teacher quite a lot," he said.

"If I shoot the teacher an email, they might get back to me in 10 minutes, they might get back to me in an hour or two."

Mr Smith said he would also miss the help he received from his peers.

"You can call them on the phone, but it's still not the same as 'here, look at what I've done, what have you done?'"

Wyatt Smith says he's not looking forward to doing much of his final year at school from home. ( ABC New England: Matt Bedford )

Boarding school students brought back

Parents and teachers alike said students at boarding schools were particularly vulnerable to disruptions in their learning.

Gabbie and Stuart Le Lievre are concerned their internet allowance won't be enough for their son to study from home. ( ABC News: Andrew Whitington )

Gabbie and Stuart Le Lievre from the Yathonga Station, about 150km south-west of Bourke, recently brought their son Nicholas back from a boarding school in Sydney after a coronavirus scare.

Although Nicholas is in year 11, Ms Le Lievre said they were still concerned about how a lengthy period at home would affect his final year.

"We are at the business end of it all, which is a bit worrying, because we really don't know how long it's going to take to get back to normal," she said.

"He has some learning difficulties, but we'll contact teachers, we'll get the help we need. The school has been amazing."

Internet struggles

For now, most of the long-distance boarders at The Armidale School in northern NSW are remaining on site.

The head of school, Alan Jones, said he was concerned about the integrity of final year assessments if the school had to close, and students relied on the internet to do their work.

"Delivering an online platform requires both ends to have very good connections," Mr Jones said.

"I couldn't see it being a good thing for them [to leave]."

Wyatt Smith said the internet was a source of frustration for him and his sister, who is studying a university course online.

"We come over here and we're stuck in one room all using it at the same time — it slows it down," he said.

The NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) said in a statement year 12 students would graduate with a Higher School Certificate, and it had given more authority to school staff to set HSC assessment tasks.

"The Board affirms its complete trust in principals and teachers," NESA said.