Formal assessment

Formal school-based assessment provides opportunities to gather evidence about student achievement of syllabus outcomes in different ways to the HSC examinations. Formal assessment tasks are those which students undertake as part of the school-based assessment program, reflecting specific course requirements, components and weightings.

Evidence gathered through formal assessment assists teachers to report on student achievement in relation to syllabus outcomes and standards at a point in time, and is often used for grading or ranking purposes. The components and weightings and the prescribed nature of some tasks ensure a common focus for school-based assessment in a course across schools, while also allowing for flexibility in the design of some tasks at the school level.

Task types

Some examples of task types considered appropriate for formal assessment in Stage 6 include, but are not limited to:

• Presentations – digital, oral, multimodal, viva voce
• Reports – analytical, fieldwork, research, written
• Practical work – experiments, improvisation, projects, performances
• Portfolios, journals, log books, process diaries
• Class and/or cohort tests
• Compositions.

A formal assessment task may contain more than one part. The task notification should detail the requirements for each part, including that all parts are to be submitted and/or completed together.

A task that has parts, with multiple due dates spanning weeks or months, is not a single formal assessment task. Such tasks are separate individual formal assessment tasks, each with their own weighting. Each task is to be represented separately in an assessment schedule and each will contribute to the maximum number of tasks allowed for the course.

Tests

Tests of limited scope (ie include a small number of content areas or topics or modules) will continue to be relevant and appropriate methods of formal assessment. These types of tasks are not considered as formal written examinations.

Formal written examinations

A formal written examination is defined as a task such as a Half Yearly, Yearly or Trial HSC Examination completed during a designated examination period. It is undertaken individually, under supervised examination conditions and includes one or more unseen questions or items. A formal written examination is used to gather evidence about student achievement of a range of syllabus outcomes, at a point in time. A formal written examination is often in the format of an HSC examination and typically draws from most or all content areas or topics or modules completed at that point in time.

Schools are able to schedule more than one written examination to provide opportunities for students to prepare for and experience examination conditions. However, only one formal written examination can contribute to a formal assessment schedule.

Group work tasks

Where group work is a course requirement, teachers should ensure that:

• the task is designed to assess the contribution of individual group members
• outcomes selected complement the task type and end product
• the teacher provides procedures for how the task will be completed such as establishing expectations including considering a range of views
• the required support documentation or evidence, such as a log book, process diary, journal or reflection, to be developed by students is outlined in the task notification.

For more advice, see the course-specific assessment and reporting materials available on each of the syllabus webpages.

See also:

• Purpose of Stage 6 assessment
• Using feedback to support student learning
• Informal assessment
• Developing formal school-based assessment programs in Stage 6
• Marking formal assessment
• Reporting student achievement
• Assessment checklist for Teachers