Originally posted by kow_dude
Does anyone know someone who achieved above 90 HSC mark and did standard english?
I think he was talking about HSC mark.. and they don't come in .xx do they?
A UAI of higher than 90 is still very achieve able for those of us who do standard english.. i think 3 people who did standard english got between 92-95 uai @ my school last year (+ my school is really dodgy.. i mean.. well.. you know what i mean.. don't mean to put it down. but it is.. oops.. hehe.. that means i'm dodgy too!)
I have sent an e-mail to BOS regarding to this a while ago and this is their reply:
Dear Student,
I refer to your email inquiry "Is Standard English disadvantageous to HSC
candidates?" Many of the issues you raise relate to the scaling of marks
carried out by the Universities Admissions Centre (UAC) to calculate the
Universities Admissions Index. It would be advisable to look on the UAC
website (
www.uac.edu.au) for detailed information about how the
calculations are made.
For specific information on the scaling of English (Standard) I recommend
Professor Cooney's site "HSC and Beyond"
(
www.hscandbeyond.mq.edu.au/careers/cooney.htm) which reports on the 2001
HSC but is also relevant to the 2002 examinations. Professor Cooney wrote
that:
English was scaled as a single group but Standard and Advanced
were separated for purposes of reporting. Neither Advanced or
Standard students were advantaged or disadvantaged as a result of
scaling.
The reason that no student was awarded First Place in subject for English
(Standard) is that no student was placed in Band 6 for that subject.
Professor Cooney commented that:
The lack of Standard students in Performance Band 6 and the small
proportion of Standard students in Performance Band 5 were
entirely consistent with the performance of Standard students on
the common paper. Few Standard students received high marks on the
common paper and, as markers were unaware of which scripts were
from Standard students and which were from Advanced students,
there was no bias in the marking of this paper that favoured
Advanced students.
The English (Advanced) course was designed to provide students with
the opportunity to undertake the challenge of higher-order thinking in
English .
The English (Standard) and the English (Advanced) courses are made up
of a common Area of Study constituting 40% of each course with 60% made
up of modules unique to each course.
The outcomes of the English (Advanced) course incorporate and extend
beyond the English (Standard) course outcomes. It is especially through
the unique section of the English (Advanced) course that students have
the opportunity to demonstrate knowledge, skills and understanding
beyond the outcomes established for the English (Standard) course.
The English (Standard) course emphasises reflection on texts and
demonstration of the effectiveness of texts for different audiences and
purposes. The emphasis of the English (Advanced) course is on the
analysis and evaluation of texts and the ways they are valued in their
contexts.
Students who undertake the English (Standard) course will have the
opportunity to perform at the levels described in the higher bands, but
they will be less likely to achieve in those bands than those students
undertaking the English (Advanced) course.
The rewards for students undertaking the English (Advanced) course,
however, will not be automatic. Success will depend on hard work and
performance that demonstrates achievement of the standard at the
highest levels.
Regards,
Fran Trefry
Board of Studies Liaison Officer
Metropolitan East Region
for Andrew Goodyer
A/Manager Policy and Development
I hope that clear things up a bit for you guys
Good luck with the HSC! Let's kick advanced's bum(<--- hmm... i don't really mean that, but you know what i mean
i mean, they are still good people in advanced
...)
