Assessment and reporting in English Advanced Stage 6

Effective from: 2018 Year 11 and Term 4, 2018 Year 12
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.

Requirements:

• 3 assessment tasks
• only one task may be a formal written examination
• one task must be a multimodal presentation enabling students to demonstrate their knowledge, understanding and skills across a range of modes

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

Multimodal presentation in English Advanced

The multimodal presentation is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge, understanding and skills across all of the modes. A multimodal presentation includes at least one mode other than reading and writing such as listening, speaking, viewing and representing.

No specific weightings have been allocated to the modes to allow flexibility in task design and to meet the needs and interests of students in a range of contexts.

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.

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%
• Module C – The Craft of Writing must be assessed with a total weighting of 25%
• one task must be a multimodal presentation enabling students to demonstrate their knowledge, understanding and skills across a range of modes
• assessment of the Common Module must integrate student selected related material.

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.

Module C – The Craft of Writing

Assessment of this module must provide students with the opportunity to:

• demonstrate their knowledge, understanding and skills in creative writing for a range of purposes, audiences and contexts
• write in forms other than an analytical or critical response to literature.

The submitted task may be assessed in a variety of ways such as on more than one short piece of writing and through a range of modes. A portfolio of work is not a requirement for this task.

Multimodal presentation

The multimodal presentation is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge, understanding and skills across all of the modes. A multimodal presentation includes at least one mode other than reading and writing such as listening, speaking, viewing and representing.

No specific weightings have been allocated to the modes to allow flexibility in task design and to meet the needs and interests of students in a range of contexts.

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.

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

The examination will consist of two written examination papers worth 100 marks.

Paper 1: Common Module – Texts and Human Experiences

The time allowed is 1 hour and 30 minutes plus 10 minutes reading time.

The paper will consist of two sections.

Section I (20 marks)

There will be five to six short-answer questions.

Questions may contain parts.

Questions will be based on stimulus and/or unseen texts related to the Common Module.

At least three items will be common to English Standard.

Section II (20 marks)

There will be one question.

The question will require a sustained response based on the candidate’s prescribed text.

This question may include stimulus and/or unseen texts.

This question will be common to English Studies, English Standard and English Advanced.

Paper 2: Modules

The time allowed is 2 hours plus 5 minutes reading time.

The paper will consist of three sections.

Section I: Module A (20 marks)

There will be one question.

The question will require a sustained response based on the candidate’s prescribed texts.

This question may include a stimulus.

Section II: Module B (20 marks)

There will be one question.

The question will require a sustained response based on the candidate’s prescribed text.

This question may include a stimulus.

Section III: Module C (20 marks)

There will be one question.

The question may contain up to two parts.

The question will require an imaginative, discursive, persuasive, informative or reflective response.

The question may require students to reflect on one or more of their prescribed texts.

This question may include a stimulus and/or unseen texts.

Further information

• Assessment in Stage 6
• Principles of effective assessment
• Assessment in practice
• School-based assessment requirements
• Adjustments to assessment for students with disability
• Life Skills
• Assessment Certification Examination (ACE) website