How do hsc marks work? (1 Viewer)

[Momentazeus]

How does one get a specific mark in the HSC for a subject? Is it based on individual performance in the HSC or is it based on ranking and school performance?

 

[jimmysmith560]

If by "specific mark in the HSC" you are referring to the Examination Mark (which is your mark in the HSC exam for a subject), it is based on your own performance and is not affected by factors such as your rank relative to your cohort or your school rank. The Examination Mark contributes 50% towards your final mark in a particular subject. If you are referring to your final mark in a particular subject, that is determined by calculating the average of your Examination Mark and your Assessment Mark. The Assessment Mark is the mark that is determined using your rank through a process called moderation. I previously posted a breakdown of NESA's terminology with respect to HSC results and I will also include it here (with a few minor additions):

Let's use the following example to understand all the terms relevant to a student's HSC results:

There are 3 important terms, each of which must be understood correctly, so that the student fully understands their results once they receive them:

• The Examination Mark refers to a student's external mark (i.e. your mark in the HSC exam for each respective subject). This mark is subject to alignment. It is based on your own performance in the HSC exams and is unaffected by factors such as your ranks relative to your cohort or school rank.
• The Assessment Mark/Grade refers to a student's internal mark. This mark is subject to moderation. This is where ranking is important, meaning that the higher you rank, the higher the Assessment Mark you can expect.
• The HSC Mark is the student's final mark for a particular subject. This mark is the average of the student's Assessment Mark and Examination Mark. In this example, the student's Assessment Mark for Mathematics Extension 2 is 84, and their Examination Mark is 80. Therefore, their HSC Mark is
  

I hope this helps!

 

[Momentazeus]

Thank you so much!

 

[Momentazeus]

If by "specific mark in the HSC" you are referring to the Examination Mark (which is your mark in the HSC exam for a subject), it is based on your own performance and is not affected by factors such as your rank relative to your cohort or your school rank. The Examination Mark contributes 50% towards your final mark in a particular subject. If you are referring to your final mark in a particular subject, that is determined by calculating the average of your Examination Mark and your Assessment Mark. The Assessment Mark is the mark that is determined using your rank through a process called moderation. I previously posted a breakdown of NESA's terminology with respect to HSC results and I will also include it here (with a few minor additions):

Let's use the following example to understand all the terms relevant to a student's HSC results:

There are 3 important terms, each of which must be understood correctly, so that the student fully understands their results once they receive them:

• The Examination Mark refers to a student's external mark (i.e. your mark in the HSC exam for each respective subject). This mark is subject to alignment. It is based on your own performance in the HSC exams and is unaffected by factors such as your ranks relative to your cohort or school rank.
• The Assessment Mark/Grade refers to a student's internal mark. This mark is subject to moderation. This is where ranking is important, meaning that the higher you rank, the higher the Assessment Mark you can expect.
• The HSC Mark is the student's final mark for a particular subject. This mark is the average of the student's Assessment Mark and Examination Mark. In this example, the student's Assessment Mark for Mathematics Extension 2 is 84, and their Examination Mark is 80. Therefore, their HSC Mark is
  

I hope this helps!

How does the moderation process work though? I read somewhere that rank 1 internally gets the highest external assessment mark and last rank gets the lowest external mark. Is this true?

 

[jimmysmith560]

How does the moderation process work though? I read somewhere that rank 1 internally gets the highest external assessment mark and last rank gets the lowest external mark. Is this true?

Essentially, the highest Assessment Mark is adjusted to equal the highest Examination Mark of any student in your school cohort. Similarly, the lowest Assessment Mark is adjusted to equal the lowest Examination Mark of any student in your school cohort. This is where the importance of ranks lies, as the higher your rank, the higher the Assessment Mark (worth 50% of your final mark for a subject) that you can expect.

If a school submits assessment marks with two (or more) students ranked first, then the top moderated assessment mark will equal the average of the two (or more) highest exam marks for the school group. This also applies if students tie on the bottom assessment mark.

Have a look at the following example from NESA:

In this example, the highest moderated Assessment Mark is set to equal the highest Examination Mark (92). Similarly, the lowest moderated Assessment Mark is set to equal the lowest Examination Mark (50).

I hope this helps!

 

[Sunaina123]

@jimmysmith560
What if the student who ranks 1st internally, doesn't get the highest external HSC Exam mark on the day of the HSC Exam. Do they still end up getting the highest mark anyway since they were 1st internally?

 

[jimmysmith560]

@jimmysmith560
What if the student who ranks 1st internally, doesn't get the highest external HSC Exam mark on the day of the HSC Exam. Do they still end up getting the highest mark anyway since they were 1st internally?

Keep in mind that the moderation process is related to the Assessment Mark. Your own Examination Mark is determined by your own performance in the HSC exam for a particular subject and is not affected by factors such as your rank within your cohort or your school rank.

To answer your question, if the student ranks 1st internally, they will receive the highest Assessment Mark. What that mark will precisely be is to be determined using the highest Examination Mark of any student in the student's cohort.

 

[Sunaina123]

Yep, that makes more sense now. Thanks

 

[Momentazeus]

Also, if I was to try and get a 97 for English. What external examination mark would I need? Does 49/50 mean that you can only make one or two mistakes?

 

[jimmysmith560]

Also, if I was to try and get a 97 for English. What external examination mark would I need? Does 49/50 mean that you can only make one or two mistakes?

Which level(s) of English are you referring to? A 97 as your HSC mark (your final mark) will require you to rank as high as possible in order to maximise your Assessment Mark, in addition to ensuring optimal performance in the HSC exam, resulting in a high Examination Mark. This ultimately maximises your chances of achieving a 97 overall.

Keep in mind that the Examination Mark is subject to processes such as alignment, meaning you won't receive your raw mark. This also means that you may make more than one mistake in the HSC exam but still receive a mark that wouldn't reflect that.

 

[Momentazeus]

Oh ok. I was talking about advanced english.

 

[Momentazeus]

Do you have a rough idea cause I am bit scared as you have to write 3 essays of some sort?

 

[Momentazeus]

Also, my subjects are maths extension 1, chem, phys, bio, modern and adv eng. Since I am most likely not doing extension 2 maths, what English mark would I have to aim for? Would doing chem, phys, bio make up for not doing 4u?

 

[jimmysmith560]

Oh ok. I was talking about advanced english.

Do you have a rough idea cause I am bit scared as you have to write 3 essays of some sort?

Also, my subjects are maths extension 1, chem, phys, bio, modern and adv eng. Since I am most likely not doing extension 2 maths, what English mark would I have to aim for? Would doing chem, phys, bio make up for not doing 4u?

For English Advanced, as I mentioned above, your aim will be to rank as high as possible to maximise your Assessment Mark. In terms of the Examination Mark, and according to 2020 raw mark data from https://rawmarks.info/english/english-advanced/, a raw mark of approximately 94 is required to achieve an Examination Mark of 97. I believe that such a mark will require a determined mindset that is supported by regularly studying, staying up to date with content and ensuring your writing is of high quality, allowing you to perform well in assessment tasks and exams.

Not doing Mathematics Extension 2 is not as significant as you might think it is. You are taking subjects that scale relatively well (particularly Mathematics Extension 1). However, despite this, scaling should not be the primary consideration with respect to subject selection and ATAR aim. Keep in mind that you can achieve a high ATAR with any combination of subjects, meaning that your focus should be on your performance across your subjects going forward. The higher the marks you achieve, the less significant the effect of scaling becomes. Also, keep in mind that solely taking Mathematics Extension 2 is not sufficient to ensure favourable results. Although this subject scales great, it requires your performance to be of a certain standard. This also means that failing to perform at that standard in this subject will be detrimental to your marks and ultimately your ATAR.

 

[idkkdi]

Also, if I was to try and get a 97 for English. What external examination mark would I need? Does 49/50 mean that you can only make one or two mistakes?

97 is basically state rank english lol

 

[Momentazeus]

Also, how many papers are there in advanced English? For my mark, would I have to get a maximum of 6 mistakes altogether across all three of my papers to get the mark?

 

[jimmysmith560]

Also, how many papers are there in advanced English? For my mark, would I have to get a maximum of 6 mistakes altogether across all three of my papers to get the mark?

Are you referring to the English Advanced HSC exam? If so, there are 2 papers:

• Paper 1 - Texts and Human Experiences
• Paper 2 - Modules

In terms of your mark and number of mistakes, that depends on the nature and significance of the mistake(s). Some mistakes may result in more than one mark being deducted, whereas others may not be as significant, indicating that you may only lose one mark. With that being said, I believe it would be better to focus on reducing the number of mistakes you make throughout year 12 as much as possible instead of attempting to determine the number of mistakes you can make (which may not even be accurate).

 

[Momentazeus]

For state ranks, does your school have an influence?

 

[idkkdi]

For state ranks, does your school have an influence?

no. not really.

 

[Life'sHard]

no. not really.

I thought state ranks include internal marks after moderation? Or is it only based on external assessment?