School-based assessment in New South Wales
The NSW Education Standards Authority Kâ10 syllabuses incorporating the Australian curriculum continue to promote a standards-referenced approach to assessing and reporting student achievement in NSW and the importance of assessment for, as and of learning as essential components of good teaching and learning.
Visit the NESA site for advice on assessment and assessment strategies.
Awarding grades
The NSW syllabuses state what students at each stage are expected to learn. A to E grade scales describe how well students have achieved. Teachers make professional on-balance judgements to decide which grade description best matches the standards their students have achieved.
Teachers use the common grade scale to award grades to students in Year 1 to Year 10. At the end of Year 10, course performance descriptors are used to report achievement in Board Developed courses. Advice for awarding grades in Year 1 to Year 10 is provided on the NESA site.
Sample activities and student work
We provide work samples aligned to A to E grades for a selection of courses in Year 1 to Year 10 to assist teachers in understanding state-wide standards.
Standards materials (Year 12)
Standards materials contain examples of real HSC responses from students whose exam performances place them on the borderline between two Performance Bands. They illustrate the level of performance required to achieve these marks.