HSC Standards Package for Engineering Studies

In 2001 the Board of Studies introduced, as part of the Higher School Certificate, major changes to the way in which student achievement was reported. The Board determined that student performance in the examinations from 2001 onwards would be reported in relation to standards (or levels of achievement).

Standards Packages feature:

• Introductory comments on the 2003 HSC Standards Package and how it can be used
• Examination paper that shows each question students were required to answer or task they were required to perform
• Marking guidelines that show the criteria applied to allocate marks to the student responses in line with the quality of responses
• Syllabus
• Band descriptions that summarise the knowledge, skills and understanding typically demonstrated by students who achieve each band
• Samples of student responses for all compulsory questions and some of the optional questions on the examination that illustrate the nature and quality of the responses typically produced by students whose marks in the examination placed them at the borderline between each pair of bands. The material is organised in such a way that if a particular section or question is selected, and then a particular borderline selected, it will be possible to view or hear the responses of a sample of students at that borderline.
• Tables and graphs for questions where students are required to select an answer, such as multiple choice and true/false items. These tables provide statistics on the response patterns of students. The material is organised in such a way that for the groups of students whose marks are equal to the borderline between two bands, the percentage of each group that selected each of the responses A, B, C and D is given.
• Exemplary samples of non-multiple choice items. The 2003 Standards Packages include in a separate area an exemplary sample for all questions and options where a suitable exemplary sample is available.

Please note: To print the samples click on the printer icon on the Acrobat Reader navigation bar. The PDF files will not print from the Browser File menu.