Interpreting your results from SAM (1 Viewer)

Ragerunner

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Seeing the large amount of threads that keep popping up asking whether SAM is accurate I've decided to clarify a few things as I understand how mis-interpreting the results could have a big impact.

Briefly, what SAM is not intended for:

<li> Inputting half yearly marks
<li> Inputting any form of assessment mark
<li> Inputting trial HSC exam marks

A quick FAQ.

I put in my half yearly marks, and I got a really low UAI, is this true?

Your half yearly are not marks that should be put into SAM. Mainly because:

<li> They are not scaled/moderated.
<li> They do not take into account the difficulty of the exam in comparison to every other school in NSW.
<li> They only test part of the HSC course. You haven't completed learning everything which means there is more to learn.

Those marks are however good indicators of predictive performance in further exams/assignments that can only be properly gauged by you and maybe your teacher. If you think the half yearly exam you did was difficult in terms of the questions asked yet you still did well would mean your performance in the HSC should be good taking into account your performance carries on throughout the rest of the year.

So what does SAM do?

SAM estimates the UAI you will receive if you sat the HSC in the year that is selected and attained the HSC marks that you input in.
- HSC marks refer to the final mark you see at the end of the year that is released by the offical Board of Studies in December. No other marks should be used.

If we don't see our results until December, what's the point of SAM?

There is a huge point of using it. That is to estimate your HSC marks. This can be done by using the HSC standards packages in conjunction with advice from your teachers. The HSC standards package contains sample answers that correspond to all the different bands so students can get an idea of the type of answers the Board of Studies expects of the student and the marks associated with it.



If anyone has any other questions, it will be great if you can ask it here and I'll build on this FAQ for the better of everyone. SAM is indeed a useful program, it just needs to be used correctly.
 

jemsta

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good post rage runner...hope that clears any misocnceptions about putting in raw marks onto SAM :)
 

Filotemper

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to be honest i think my marks will be round about the same as my half yearly's . those this mean, that what i see is close 2 what i get? =(
 

mzsugausugq

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yes im still uncertain about one thing:
the pie chart that comes on the right of your screen

the numbers around the pie chart? what do they mean? why are they different from the ones you inputed in your profile?

why is there a piece of the pie sticking out? does that mean its your best subject?
 

Sparcod

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mzsugausugq said:
yes im still uncertain about one thing:
the pie chart that comes on the right of your screen

the numbers around the pie chart? what do they mean? why are they different from the ones you inputed in your profile?

why is there a piece of the pie sticking out? does that mean its your best subject?
Aggregate scores are the sum of the scaled marks for all 10 units.

The pie chart shows what the proportion of the aggregate score is made up by a certain subject. The numbers are the scaled marks and all of them should up up to your aggregate mark.

The piece that sticks out may be your best subject. It is actually the subject with the highest scaled mark. (E.G 88 in Chemistry has a higher scaled mark than 89 in music 1)
 
Last edited:

xclusv2bhung

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Hm , i`m still kinda lost.

Is the aggregate score out of 500 , sparcod ?
 

Sparcod

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I've just edited my post.
xclusv2bhung said:
Hm , i`m still kinda lost.

Is the aggregate score out of 500 , sparcod ?
Yes, the aggregate score is out of 500. The UAI is a ranking and that is determined by how you compare to everybody else in terms of aggregate scores out of 500.
 

Lewanna

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if i was to bum out in englist and average an 85 in other subjucts would i get at least a 65 UAI?
 

guyzbabigal

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This is really scary!! i hate waitin 4 the results
i cant sleep @ night properly lol!!
takes me ages to get to sleep.. keep worryin abt the uai thing


*sighs*
 

ponsoa

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guyzbabigal said:
This is really scary!! i hate waitin 4 the results
i cant sleep @ night properly lol!!
takes me ages to get to sleep.. keep worryin abt the uai thing


*sighs*
Ha ha, that sucks. Sometimes I have a weird dream where I'm still in the middle of HSC exams, and I haven't prepared properly. Then I wake up and am like phew !. Otherwise, I don't worry, it doesn't change anything. Hope your UAI works out for you :)
 

-pari-

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lol i dont think i've given the uai/results a thought since the exams finished...hahaha....

there's no point.
 

CongSheng

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just curious, is the bell-curve applied to the aggregates to work out the UAI? For only a few UAI points, in the very high 90's, are between aggregates of 450-500 or so.
 

yoakim

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-pari- said:
lol i dont think i've given the uai/results a thought since the exams finished...hahaha....

there's no point.
Same mentality as mine :) I recently remembered that the results come out this week. whenever i think of 'HSC' i think of boredofstudies lol hence me here
 

Jmee1058

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Yer hey all, i know this is an old thread but i as just curious. Currently in yr 12 undertaking the hsc, finding it gruelling lol. This is my first post so i'd love some help!

So far an average of the assessments marks i hve achieved, as a percentage after applying th correct waitings are:

English Adv - 85 Rank 6
Mathematics - 90 Rank 6ish (mark wont count as i do ext 1 and 2)
Maths Ext 1 - 80 Rank 4
Maths Ext 2 - 80 Rank 3
Chemistry - 88 Rank 2
Biology - 96 Rank 1
Physics - 85 Rank 2

As a rough estimate and help, what marks should i put into SAM? I know its still early days, but i function well knowing where im at. Is there anyone out there who understands this more than me (probably all of you haha)

I know that with my school assessments its really only the ranks that are counting, and ive looked at th packges thing, but not sure how its meant to help....

So what marks should i put into SAM?

Thanks for the help off anyone, would be muchly appreciated!

jmee
 

floatinglily

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i put a conservative number for my subjects, ie. 80 & i got 94.
our school usually scales things up, coz its selective but my rankings is crap amidst all the smart ppl who dont even study...so i guess it kinda evens out?

hope i do well~!!
i hate selective schools...
 

cadybabes

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how the bloody hekll do you find this calculator i really wana do it?
 

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