Assessment and reporting in Classical Hebrew Extension
Assessment for Classical Hebrew Extension 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.
Year 12
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 |
|---|---|
| Skills in understanding, analysing and translating complex prescribed texts | 70% |
| Skills in understanding, analysing and translating complex non-prescribed texts | 30% |
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 Classical Hebrew Extension includes:
- 3 assessment tasks, including:
- a minimum weighting for an individual task is 20%
- a maximum weighting for an individual task is 40%
- a formal written exam with a maximum weighting of 30%.
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.
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 exam will consist of a written paper worth 50 marks.
Written paper (50 marks)
Time allowed: 1 hour and 50 minutes plus 10 minutes reading time.
The paper will consist of 2 sections.
This section will consist of 2 parts:
- Part A: short answer questions, and
- Part B: extended response question.
Part A (20 marks)
- There will be short-answer questions to the value of 20 marks.
- Questions will be based on extracts from the prescribed biblical and Talmud texts.
- Questions on the prescribed biblical text will relate to specified linguistic and/or contextual features.
- Questions on the prescribed Talmud text will relate to content including historical and social contexts. Questions on grammar will not be asked unless relevant to an understanding of a text.
Part B (10 marks)
- There will be one extended response question worth 10 marks.
- The extended response question will be based on an extract or extracts from the prescribed text/s and may call for comment on the text/s as a whole.
- The expected length of the extended response will be around three pages of an examination writing booklet (approximately 400 words).
- There will be short-answer questions based on non-prescribed text drawn from Psalms in the original Classical Hebrew.
- The total number of verses to be examined will be approximately 20.
- Questions will relate to content, grammatical, literary and linguistic features of this text.
- Some vocabulary may be provided.