"It's become a loophole. We see students who are doing very well in maths deliberately choosing general maths to achieve a band six,which contributes to a very high ATAR score,"Mr Meng said.
"Students studying calculus-based courses are reducing,making it challenging to study STEM subjects in universities."
The number of students opting for the HSC general maths course has increased nine per cent between 2001 and 2015,while the proportion of students studying advanced maths has dropped by 10 per cent over the same period,according to the report.
The overall proportion of HSC students studying any level of maths has also dropped significantly from 95 per cent in 1986 to 77.6 per cent of students in 2016,suggesting a broader shift away from maths and a tendency for those still studying it to choose the easiest subject.