Assessment and reporting in CAFS
Assessment for Community and Family Studies 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 11
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 | 40% |
| Skills in critical thinking, research methodology, analysing and communicating | 60% |
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 Community and Family Studies includes:
- 3 assessment tasks, including:
- a formal written exam.
The recommended weighting for any individual task is 20% to 40%.
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 |
|---|---|
| Knowledge and understanding of course content | 40% |
| Skills in critical thinking, research methodology, analysing and communicating | 60% |
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 Community and Family Studies includes:
- 4 assessment tasks, including:
- a minimum weighting for an individual task of 10%
- a maximum weighting for an individual task of 40%
- a formal written exam with a maximum weighting of 30%
- an Independent Research Project with a maximum weighting of 20%.
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.
Independent Research Project (IRP)
As part of the HSC course, students are required to complete an Independent Research Project (IRP) in the context of the HSC core module – Research Methodology. The IRP may form part of the internal HSC assessment program.
The focus of the IRP should be related to the course content of one or more of the following areas:
- individuals
- groups
- families
- communities
- resource management.
The Independent Research Project consists of 3 parts:
The project plan provides an initial summary and outline of the complete research process.
The diary:
- is a record of an ongoing process
- records values, attitudes and feelings
- reflects honestly on problems encountered and their solutions
- records conversations, contacts, readings and sources of secondary data
- reflects the proposed timeline.
The product:
- is independent; that is, it is the student’s own work, based on an area of interest related to the course content
- is research based, meaning that the students should ‘find something out’ or add to their existing knowledge
- should reflect the time and commitment allocated to it in the overall context of the course.
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 100 marks.
Time allowed: 3 hours plus 5 minutes reading time.
The paper will consist of two sections.
Section I – Core (75 marks)
This section will consist of two parts.
Part A (20 marks)
- There will be objective response questions to the value of 20 marks.
Part B (55 marks)
- There will be approximately eight short-answer questions.
- Questions may contain parts.
- There will be approximately 10 items in total.
- At least two items will be worth from 6 to 8 marks.
Section II – Options (25 marks)
- There will be three questions, one for each of the options.
- Candidates will be required to answer the question on the option they have studied.
- Each question will consist of short-answer parts and an extended response part.
- The short-answer parts will have a total value of 10 marks.
- The extended response part will be worth 15 marks with an expected length of response of around four pages of an exam writing booklet (approximately 600 words).