Embedded Files
HSC Explained
HSC Explained
The NSW Education Standards Authority (or NESA for short) is responsible for credentialing the HSC in NSW. NESA is responsible for appointing the examination committees for each subject, employing examiners to write the HSC papers, supervisors to oversee each examination in each school and training markers and judges to assess the papers and mark and judge student examinations and major works. NESA contacts students to inform them of their results and sends out the HSC Testamur and Record of Achievement.
The University Admission Centre (or UAC for short) is responsible for calculating the ATAR through a process known as scaling. Its is the ATAR that universities use to determine whether a student is ready for undergraduate studies and whether a place might be offered in a course. UAC contacts students to inform them of their ATAR. UAC does this the day after the HSC results have been released to students. Students must apply for consideration for university admission through UAC for most courses.
The HSC marks for each subject are determined by the student's result in the HSC examination itself and by the moderated assessment mark. The final HSC mark is the average of the student's HSC examination mark + the moderated assessment mark.
A students 'raw' HSC examination mark is used to determine the HSC exam mark reported on the Record of Achievement. Judges meet to discuss the performance of students in the paper and then determine how the 'raw' mark aligns to the Band descriptors. A HSC mark of 85 means that a students answered enough questions well enough to record a standardised mark of 85 (the raw mark or actual mark might have been higher or lower than the report mark). Read more here.
NESA moderates the school-based assessment mark against the performance of all the students in the course at the school; the rank order and the relative difference between each student is used to determine the moderated assessment mark awarded to each student. The rank order and assessment marks are forwarded to NESA by the school. NESA moderates these marks against the marks achieved by the students in the HSC examination. In simple terms, NESA adds up the HSC marks and distributes these, according to the rank order and relative difference between the students; the first ranked student will receive the top HSC mark as their moderated assessment mark and the last ranked student receives the last HSC mark as their moderated assessment mark. All other marks are distributed according to the rank order and relative difference between the students.
Please note: a student always keeps their own HSC mark for the examination; it is the moderated assessment mark that is determined by the performance of all students on that paper. That is why we always remind students that:
We'll all do well if we all do well!
Read more about your HSC here or view the videos below that further explain how the final HSC mark and ATAR is determined.
Moderation Explained
Moderation Explained
Scaling Explained
Scaling Explained
Report abuse