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Assessment and reporting in Ancient History Stage 6

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Year 12 school-based assessment in 2023

NESA has given principals and system authorities the authority to determine the number, type and weighting of tasks for Year 12 school-based assessment in 2023. These changes affect the published Assessment and Reporting requirements. Please ensure you follow the school-based assessment advice for the 2023 HSC.

Effective from:Term 4, 2019 Year 12 and 2020 Year 11
Last updated: December 2023

Schools are required to develop an assessment program for each Year 11 and Year 12 course. NESA provides information about the responsibilities of schools in developing assessment programs in course-specific assessment and reporting requirements and in Assessment Certification Examination (ACE).

School-based assessment requirements

Year 11

Schools are required to submit to NESA a grade for each student based on their achievement at the end of the course.

Teachers use professional, on-balance judgement to allocate grades based on the Common Grade Scale for Preliminary courses.

Teachers consider all available assessment information, including formal and informal assessment, to determine the grade that best matches each student’s achievement at the end of the course.

The Year 11 formal school-based assessment program is to reflect the following components, weightings, and requirements.

Component Weighting
Knowledge and understanding of course content 40%
Historical skills in the analysis and evaluation of sources and interpretations 20%
Historical inquiry and research 20%
Communication of historical understanding in appropriate forms 20%

Requirements:

  • 3 assessment tasks
  • only one task may be a formal written examination
  • one task must be an Historical Investigation

The recommended weighting for any individual task is 20% to 40%.

Historical Investigation

The Historical Investigation may be undertaken as a standalone study or integrated into any aspect of the Year 11 course. The investigation must not overlap with or duplicate significantly any topic to be attempted in the Year 12 Ancient History or History Extension courses.

Further information relating to the Historical Investigation is provided within the Historical Investigation section of the Ancient History Stage 6 Syllabus.

Year 12

NESA requires schools to submit a school-based assessment mark for each Year 12 candidate in a course. Formal school-based assessment tasks are based on course requirements and components and weightings that contribute to the determination of the final mark for a course. The mark submitted by the school provides a summation of each student’s achievement measured at several points throughout the course.

The marks submitted for each course group at a school should reflect the rank order of students, and must be on a scale sufficiently wide to reflect adequately the relative differences in student performances. The actual mark should not be revealed to students as it is subject to moderation and may become confusing for students when they receive their results. Students must be informed that they can obtain their Assessment Rank Order Notice from Students Online after the last HSC examination at their centre and within the period of time for appeals.

The school-based assessment marks submitted to NESA for Year 12 must not include measures that address values and attitudes or reflect student conduct. Schools may decide to report on these separately to students and parents/carers.

The collection of information for the Year 12 school-based assessment mark must not begin before the completion of the Year 11 course.

The components and weightings for Year 12 are mandatory.

Component Weighting
Knowledge and understanding of course content 40%
Historical skills in the analysis and evaluation of sources and interpretations 20%
Historical inquiry and research 20%
Communication of historical understanding in appropriate forms 20%

The Year 12 formal school-based assessment program is to reflect the following requirements:

  • a maximum of four assessment tasks
  • the minimum weighting for an individual task is 10%
  • the maximum weighting for an individual task is 40%
  • only one task may be a formal written examination with a maximum weighting of 30%
  • one task must be an Historical Analysis with a weighting of 20–30%.

Formal written examination

This task may assess a broad range of course content and outcomes. Schools may choose to replicate the timing and structure of the HSC examination.

Historical Analysis

The Historical Analysis provides students with the opportunity to focus on an historical question, issue or controversy of interest, and to develop a reasoned argument, supported by evidence. It may occur in or across any of the Year 12 topics selected for study.

The Historical Analysis may be presented in written, oral or multimodal form, and must:

  • be completed individually
  • be a maximum of 1200 words, 6 minutes duration or equivalent in multimodal form
  • address relevant syllabus outcomes
  • relate to a Year 12 topic or topics studied in the Ancient History Stage 6 Syllabus.

HSC examination specifications

The external HSC examination measures student achievement in a range of syllabus outcomes.

The external examination and its marking relate to the syllabus by:  

  • providing clear links to syllabus outcomes
  • enabling students to demonstrate the levels of achievement outlined in the performance band descriptions
  • applying marking guidelines based on criteria that relate to the quality of the response
  • aligning performance in the examination each year to the standards established for the course.

Examination questions may require candidates to integrate knowledge, understanding and skills developed through studying the course.

The examination will consist of a written paper worth 100 marks.

The time allowed is 3 hours plus 5 minutes reading time.

The paper will consist of four sections.

Questions may include sources and/or interpretations.

Questions may examine content from the Survey and Focus of study.

Section I – Core: Cities of Vesuvius – Pompeii and Herculaneum (25 marks)

  • There will be three or four questions.
  • This section will require candidates to analyse and interpret sources and apply their own knowledge.
  • One question will be worth 10 to 15 marks.
  • Candidates will be required to answer all questions.

Section II – Ancient Societies     (25 marks)

  • There will be one question for each of the eight topics.
  • Questions will contain three or four parts.
  • One part will be worth 10 to 15 marks.
  • Candidates will be required to answer the question on the topic they have studied.

Section III – Personalities in their Times (25 marks)

  • There will be one question for each of the ten topics.
  • Questions will contain two or three parts.
  • At least one part will be worth 10 to 15 marks.
  • Candidates will be required to answer the question on the topic they have studied.

Section IV – Historical Periods (25 marks)

  • There will be one extended-response question for each of the ten topics.
  • Each question will have two alternatives.
  • Candidates will be required to answer one alternative on the topic they have studied.
  • The expected length of response will be around eight pages of an examination writing booklet (approximately 1000 words).

Further information

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