2010 changes to HSC examinations and assessment requirements – Frequently asked questions
General questions
- 1. What is changing from 2010?
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HSC examination specifications and assessment requirements for 2010 have changed for a number of courses. Changes that apply to a course are identified in the Summary of HSC examination specifications and assessment requirements from 2010 on the course webpage linked from the HSC Syllabuses landing page.
A range of other publications documenting the changes can be accessed on the 2010 HSC Changes webpage including a useful 2010 HSC Changes – Important Checklist.
Note that for most courses, syllabus content, outcomes and objectives have not changed.
- 2. Why have the changes been made?
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The changes have been made to provide a better variety of question types in examinations, to make examinations and assessment requirements more consistent between courses, and to provide more flexibility to schools and teachers in constructing assessment programs.
In 2008 the Board asked teachers, parents and others in the community for feedback on proposed changes to HSC examinations and assessment. After considering the responses, the Board decided on some changes to be implemented with the 2010 HSC cohort.
- 3. Are all HSC courses affected by changes to examinations and assessment requirements from 2010?
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No. Courses such as English (Standard and Advanced) as well as all of the Mathematics courses have no changes this year to either HSC examinations or assessment requirements.
It is important to check each course for specific changes that apply from 2010.
Teachers may find the 2010 HSC Changes - Important Checklist useful in identifying courses affected by assessment and/or examination changes.
- 4. Which is the first group of students to whom these HSC examination and assessment changes apply?
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The new HSC examination specifications and assessment requirements will first apply to Year 12 students in 2010 (ie those students completing a HSC course this year).
- 5. Are these changes related to the introduction of the Australian Curriculum?
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No. The changes to the HSC examinations and assessment requirements are not connected to the Australian Curriculum. The initial proposal for these changes, the consultation process and the final decisions occurred throughout 2008.
- 6. Why change HSC examinations and assessment requirements at a time when consultation on the Australian Curriculum is underway?
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The Australian Curriculum will not mandate the assessment, examination and reporting requirements for the Higher School Certificate. These areas will remain under the jurisdiction of the state and territory authorities.
Questions about school assessment
- 7. What are the new assessment and reporting requirements?
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The Board decided in December 2008 that the HSC assessment components were to be based on a manageable set of objectives or groupings of outcomes. The requirement that three to five assessment tasks be used for a two-unit course has not changed.
The assessment and reporting requirements for each course are now detailed in a document that is separate from the syllabus. This document can be found on the course webpage linked from the HSC Syllabuses landing page.
Teachers may find the 2010 HSC Changes - Important Checklist useful in identifying courses with new assessment components and weightings from 2010.
- 8. What are the implications of the new assessment components and weightings?
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The new assessment components and weightings provide more flexibility to schools in constructing assessment tasks. As the new components are based on a manageable set of objectives or groupings of outcomes, they reflect what is important in teaching and learning in each course. They do not prescribe particular task types or topics.
The requirement that three to five assessment tasks be used for a two-unit course has not changed.
Sample assessment schedules have been produced for each course to help teachers to better adhere to the Board’s recommended number of assessment tasks.
- 9. Will school assessment programs need to change?
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Most assessment programs that contain a variety of task types will not need to change, other than to demonstrate that they incorporate the new components in the designated weightings.
- 10. Are sample assessment schedules available?
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Yes. Sample assessment schedules for each course are available on the course webpages linked from the HSC Syllabuses landing page.
While these samples are not mandatory, they will help teachers to adhere to the Board’s recommended number of assessment tasks and show one way in which the components and weightings may be combined in an assessment program of three to five tasks.
Schools may use the sample assessment schedules without modification, or change them to suit their particular needs, being mindful that the weightings for each of the assessment components in HSC courses are mandatory.
- 11. For some courses there is a specification that limits the proportion of a school’s assessment mark that can come from tests and examinations. Is this new?
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No. In December 2008, the Board decided to retain the existing specified limits on the proportion of a school’s assessment mark that can come from tests and examinations for courses that already had such restrictions.
Details of specific assessment weightings and components can be found in the Assessment and Reporting documents that are available for each course on the Board’s website.
Note:The limitation on the proportion of the assessment mark that may be derived from tests and examinations only applies to certain courses.
- 12. What types of assessment tasks are defined as tests and examinations?
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Written tests, timed class tests and examinations of a similar nature to the HSC written examinations are examples of assessment tasks that would be considered a test or examination.
The intention of limiting the use of tests and examinations in the assessment process is to emphasize that all courses are more validly assessed if an appropriate variety of assessment task types is used.
The restrictions were not intended to apply to, for example, practical, oral or other performance examinations, or to the type of projects and submitted works that constitute some components of HSC examinations.
- 13. If there are changes to the HSC examination for a course, should school assessment tasks be modified to reflect these examination changes?
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It is up to schools and teachers whether they modify any HSC assessment tasks to reflect the changed format of HSC examinations. Trial HSC examinations produced by systems and commercial providers may model new HSC examination structures.
- 14. Has the Board’s advice regarding the number of assessment tasks for each course changed?
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No, the Board re-affirmed its advice that three to five tasks are sufficient for a two unit course and two to three tasks are sufficient for a one unit course.
- 15. Are the Preliminary course components and weightings compulsory?
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No. Preliminary assessment components and weightings are suggested only.
Questions about HSC examinations
- 16. Which HSC examination specifications will be different in 2010?
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Changes to the mark value, question type and/or format and structure of the examination paper will affect some examinations from 2010.
It is important that teachers check the 2010 HSC examination specifications for their course to ensure that they and their students are fully aware of the changes that will apply from this year.
Teachers may find the 2010 HSC Changes - Important Checklist useful in identifying courses affected by examination changes.
- 17. Will specimen examination papers be available for all courses that have changes to examination specifications?
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Specimen or sample examination materials have been produced only where the 2010 examinations will contain new question types. All the necessary specimen examinations, specimen sections and sample questions for the 2010 HSC examination have been produced and can be found on the course webpages linked from the HSC Syllabuses landing page.
The sample examination questions are only examples of what could be asked within the HSC examination specifications. They are not meant to be prescriptive; other structures and formats, as well as targeted content and outcomes are possible in each year's examination.
A list of all Specimen and Sample examination materials for the 2010 HSC can be found in the 2010 HSC Changes - Important Checklist.
- 18. Why have some examination rubrics changed?
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The Board decided that some rubrics and marking guidelines should be amended to ensure:
- appropriate emphasis is placed on the structure and organisation of responses
- the quality of the arguments and explanations
- the relevance of the content to the question asked.
Revised rubrics for similar courses and across course groups now also use a more consistent terminology.
HSC examination committees will incorporate these rubrics into their examination marking guidelines.
Examination rubrics can be found on the course webpages linked from the HSC Syllabuses landing page.
- 19. What is meant by ‘objective response questions’ in the new examination specifications?
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While there is a variety of objective response item types used in School Certificate tests (multiple choice, constrained response and multiple correct/incorrect), for the HSC examinations, objective response questions will be restricted to multiple choice at this stage.
- 20. How much should students write in their responses to short-answer questions?
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Short-answer questions have a mark value and, often, an answer space in which to write a response. The mark value gives an indication of the proportionate amount of time to spend answering a question, and the size of the space provides guidance for the expected length of responses. There is advice regarding the length of time to allow for completing each section on the cover of each written HSC examination.
- 21. How much should students write for extended examination responses?
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The expected length for extended examination responses (except for English (Standard and Advanced) and ESL) is now included as a guide in the HSC examination specifications that are detailed in the Assessment and Reporting documents for each course.
This length is presented as the approximate number of examination writing booklet pages (based on average-sized handwriting), and/or an approximate number of words.
Students will not be penalised for responses of excess length: they may write less than or more than what is expected, and their responses will be marked on their merits.
Note. The expected length for extended examination responses will not appear on the HSC examination question papers.
- 22. Will HSC markers read all of a student’s extended response if it is longer than the expected length recommended?
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Yes. The expected length for the responses is included as a guide that provides clear directions about the length and depth expected in their answers. Students will not be penalised for responses of excess length: they may write less than or more than what is expected, and their responses will be marked on their merits.
Markers are looking to reward answers that are relevant to the question asked and that answer the specific question. Responses should be carefully planned rather than contain everything a student knows about a topic.
- 23. What should students do if they run out of space in answering a short-answer question in a ‘question and answer booklet’ (eg if they cross out their answer and wish to write a new answer)?
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Students should request extra writing paper from the examination supervisor if they require more space to answer a question.
- 24. Will the glossary of key words continue to be used in the 2010 HSC examinations?
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Candidates need to be familiar with the Board’s Glossary of Key Words which contains some terms commonly used in examination questions. However, candidates should also be aware that not all questions will start with, or contain, a key word from the glossary. Questions such as ‘how?’, ‘why?’ or ‘to what extent?’ may be asked, and verbs which are not included in the glossary may be used, such as ‘design’, ‘translate’ or ‘list’.
The purpose of the glossary is to help students better prepare for the HSC by showing them that certain key words are used similarly in examination questions across the different subjects they are studying.