Assessment and reporting in English EAL/D
Assessment for English EAL/D provides information to support learning and reporting of performance. Find out about assessment requirements and the structure of the HSC exam.
School-based assessment requirements
Schools are required to develop an assessment program for each Year 11 and Year 12 course. NESA provides information about the responsibilities of schools in developing assessment programs in course-specific assessment and reporting requirements and in the Assessment Certification Examination (ACE) rules and requirements.
Schools are required to submit to NESA a grade for each student based on their achievement at the end of the course.
Teachers use professional, on-balance judgement to allocate grades based on the Common Grade Scale for Preliminary courses.
Teachers consider all available assessment information, including formal and informal assessment, to determine the grade that best matches each student’s achievement at the end of the course.
See ACE (Assessment, Certification and Examination rules and requirements) for further information.
Assessment programs must reflect course components and weightings
The course components and component weightings for Year 11 are mandatory.
| Course component | Weighting |
|---|---|
| Knowledge and understanding of course content | 50% |
| Skills in responding to texts and communication of ideas appropriate to audience, purpose and context across all modes | 50% |
Schools may determine specific elements of their assessment program
Schools have authority to determine the number, type of task and the weighting allocated to an assessment task. Schools may also follow the sample assessment programs provided by NESA.
Sample assessment program
NESA’s sample Year 11 formal school-based assessment program for English EAL/D includes:
- 3 assessment tasks, including:
- a formal written exam
- a multimodal presentation enabling students to demonstrate their knowledge, understanding and skills across a range of modes, one of which is listening.
The recommended weighting for any individual task is 20% to 40%.
Multimodal presentation
The multimodal presentation is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge, understanding and skills across all of the modes. A multimodal presentation includes at least one mode other than reading and writing. One of these should be listening but the task may also include speaking and/or viewing and representing.
No specific weightings have been allocated to the modes to allow flexibility in task design and to meet the needs and interests of students in a range of contexts.
NESA requires schools to submit a school-based assessment mark for each Year 12 candidate in a course. Formal school-based assessment tasks should reflect the syllabus outcomes and content. The mark submitted by the school provides a summation of each student’s achievement measured at several points throughout the course.
A school’s program of school-based assessment includes both mandatory and non-mandatory elements.
See ACE (Assessment, Certification and Examination rules and requirements) for further information.
Assessment programs must reflect course components and weightings
The course components and component weightings for Year 12 are mandatory.
| Course component | Weighting |
|---|---|
| Knowledge and understanding of course content | 50% |
| Skills in responding to texts and communication of ideas appropriate to audience, purpose and context across all modes | 50% |
Schools may determine specific elements of their assessment program
Schools have authority to determine the number, type of task and the weighting allocated to an assessment task. Schools may also follow the sample assessment programs provided by NESA.
Sample assessment program
NESA’s sample Year 12 formal school-based assessment program for English EAL/D includes:
- 4 assessment tasks, including:
- a minimum weighting for an individual task of 10%
- a maximum weighting for an individual task of 40%
- one task that is a formal written exam with a maximum weighting of 30%
- one task that is a multimodal presentation enabling students to demonstrate their knowledge, understanding and skills across a range of modes, one of which is listening
- one task that focuses on the concurrent module, Module D – Focus on Writing with a minimum weighting of 25%.
Formal written exam
This task may assess a broad range of course content and outcomes. Schools may choose to replicate the timing and structure of the HSC exam.
Multimodal presentation
The multimodal presentation is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge, understanding and skills across all of the modes. A multimodal presentation includes at least one mode other than reading and writing. One of these should be listening but the task may also include speaking and/or viewing and representing.
No specific weightings have been allocated to the modes to allow flexibility in task design and to meet the needs and interests of students in a range of contexts.
Focus on Writing
Assessment in this module provides students with the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge, understanding and skills in writing that have been developed across all of the modules studied. It must give students the opportunity to write in forms not limited to analytical or critical responses to literature.
The submitted task may be assessed in a variety of ways such as on more than one short piece of writing and through a range of modes. A portfolio of work is not a requirement for this task.
HSC exam specifications
The external HSC exam measures student achievement in a range of syllabus outcomes.
The external exam and its marking relate to the syllabus by:
- providing clear links to syllabus outcomes
- enabling students to demonstrate the levels of achievement outlined in the performance band descriptions
- applying marking guidelines based on criteria that relate to the quality of the response
- aligning performance in the exam each year to the standards established for the course.
Exam questions may require candidates to integrate knowledge, understanding and skills developed through studying the course.
The specifications will apply to the English EAL/D Stage 6 Syllabus commencing with the 2019 HSC exam program. Exam questions may require candidates to integrate knowledge, understanding and skills developed through studying the course.
The exam will consist of two written papers worth 85 marks and a listening paper worth 15 marks.
The time allowed is 1 hour and 30 minutes plus 10 minutes reading time.
The paper will consist of two sections.
Section I: Module A – Texts and Human Experiences (30 marks)
This section consists of two parts.
Part A (15 marks)
There will be three or four questions based on stimulus and/or unseen texts related to Module A.
Questions may contain parts.
Part B (15 marks)
There will be one question based on the candidate’s prescribed text.
This question may include a stimulus.
Section II: Focus on Writing (15 marks)
There will be one question which may contain parts.
The question will require an imaginative, discursive, persuasive or informative response.
This question may include a stimulus and/or an unseen text.
The time allowed is 1 hour plus 5 minutes reading time.
The paper will consist of two sections.
Section I: Module B – Language, Identity and Culture (20 marks)
There will be one question.
The question will require a sustained response based on the candidate’s prescribed text.
This question may include a stimulus.
Section II: Module C – Close Study of Text (20 marks)
There will be one question.
The question will require a sustained response based on the candidate’s prescribed text.
This question may include a stimulus.
The time allowed is 30 minutes including listening time.
There will be four to six questions.
Questions may require an objective or short-answer response.
Listening material will relate to content explored in Module A and/or Module B.
Questions will assess the ability of candidates to listen with understanding and to respond to a range of verbal cues.