Assessment and reporting in Mathematics Advanced
Assessment for Mathematics Advanced 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 exam 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 |
|---|---|
| Understanding, Fluency and Communication | 50% |
| Problem Solving, Reasoning and Justification | 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 Mathematics Advanced includes:
- 3 assessment tasks, including:
- a formal written exam
- an assignment or investigation-style task.
The recommended weighting for any individual task is 20% to 40%.
Assignment or investigation-style task
The length and scheduling of the assignment or investigation-style task is at the discretion of the school. The task should provide opportunities to gather evidence about the:
- achievement of a range of outcomes
- application of Working Mathematically components
- demonstration of knowledge and skills in different ways to the HSC exams.
The task provides application and modelling opportunities.
Outcomes that are content specific should be assessed and should include the following:
MA11-8: uses appropriate technology to investigate, organise, model and interpret information in a range of contexts
MA11-9: provides reasoning to support conclusions which are appropriate to the context
The following examples provide some approaches to task types:
- an investigative project or assignment involving presentation of work in class
- an independently chosen project or investigation
- scaffolded learning tasks culminating in an open-ended or modelling-style problem
- a guided investigation or research task involving collection of data and analysis.
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 exam 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 |
|---|---|
| Understanding, Fluency and Communication | 50% |
| Problem Solving, Reasoning and Justification | 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 Mathematics Advanced includes:
- 4 assessment tasks, including:
- a minimum weighting for an individual task of 10%
- a maximum weighting for an individual task of 40%.
Formal school-based assessment
Formal school-based assessment in this course should focus on the course objectives and the Year 12 outcomes. The Year 11 course is assumed knowledge and may be assessed.
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.
Assignment or investigation-style task
The length and scheduling of the assignment or investigation-style task is at the discretion of the school. The task should provide opportunities to gather evidence about the:
- achievement of a range of outcomes
- application of Working Mathematically components
- demonstration of knowledge and skills in different ways to the HSC exams.
The task provides application and modelling opportunities.
Outcomes that are content specific should be assessed and should include the following:
MA12-9: chooses and uses appropriate technology effectively in a range of contexts, models and applies critical thinking to recognise appropriate times for such use
MA12-10: constructs arguments to prove and justify results and provides reasoning to support conclusions which are appropriate to the context
The following examples provide some approaches to task types:
- an investigative project or assignment involving presentation of work in class
- an independently chosen project or investigation
- scaffolded learning tasks culminating in an open-ended or modelling-style problem
- a guided investigation or research task involving collection of data and analysis.
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 Mathematics Advanced Stage 6 Syllabus commencing with the 2020 HSC exam program.
The exam will be based on the Mathematics Advanced Year 12 course and will focus on the course objectives and Year 12 outcomes. The Mathematics Advanced Year 11 course will be assumed knowledge for this exam and may be examined.
This exam will consist of a written paper worth 100 marks.
The time allowed is 3 hours plus 10 minutes reading time.
The Mathematics Advanced, Mathematics Extension 1 and Mathematics Extension 2 Reference Sheet will be provided.
Students may bring NESA-approved calculators for use during the exam.
The paper will consist of two sections.
Section I (10 marks)
- There will be objective-response questions to the value of 10 marks.
Section II (90 marks)
- Questions may contain parts.
- There will be 37 to 42 items.
- At least two items will be worth 4 or 5 marks.
- The Mathematics Advanced exam will include items that are common with the Mathematics Standard 2 HSC exam. Common items will be worth 20 to 25 marks and will be distributed throughout Sections I and II.
- Common exam questions may be standalone or form part of a larger question.