The program was originally conceptualised in 1991 at the direction of the then President of the Board Dr John Lambert following the relaxation of the requirement that all students in NSW had to attend a minimum number of primary and secondary years of schooling. Gifted and talented students who had previously been held in lock-step with their cohort were allowed to accelerate; although for a small portion of the population this involved whole-year grade advancement, a larger population typically accelerated in secondary school in just one (or more) subjects. This created a gap in the student's final year of schooling, which the Distinction Course program was designed to fill.