The role of the HSC consultative committee
The HSC Consultative Committee is appointed by the Board of Studies to review the distribution of marks in each course. The committee is an expert technical committee made up of leading authorities in educational measurement in NSW.
The role of the Consultative Committee in the Higher School Certificate is to ensure the integrity of the standards-setting process and the integrity of the final decisions. The Committee seeks advice from judges and, where necessary, makes adjustments within the natural variability of judges’ decisions. On behalf of the Board, the Consultative Committee also determines appropriate action if the standards-setting process has not been applied appropriately or if there are other anomalies or problems in the process.
Following the standards-setting process, the Consultative Committee meets and considers the results of the standards setting process for each course. The role of the Committee is to:
- ensure that the standards-setting process followed by each team of judges was in accordance with the Board’s requirements;
- identify any issues that may have impacted on the effectiveness of the standards-setting process;
- receive advice as to what adjustments, if any, should be made to the distributions of marks for optional questions; and
- receive from the judges their recommended band cut-off marks.
The Consultative Committee then:
- determines whether the recommendations submitted by each team of judges are appropriate or whether minor amendments are necessary; and
- approves the final band cut-off marks for each course.
Once the cut-off marks are approved by the HSC Consultative Committee, the cut-off examination mark between Band 5 and Band 6 is assigned a value of 90. The cut-off mark between Band 4 and Band 5 is assigned a value of 80; between Band 3 and Band 4, a value of 70; and so on. Examination marks between the cut-off marks are adjusted in a linear manner.
Masters, G.N. (2002) Fair and Meaningful Measures? A review of examination procedures in the NSW Higher School Certificate.