Assessment and reporting in Engineering Studies
Assessment for Engineering 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.
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 program requirements
The course components and component weightings for Year 11 are mandatory.
| Course component | Weighting |
|---|---|
| Knowledge and understanding of course content | 60% |
| Knowledge and skills in research, problem solving and communication related to engineering practice | 40% |
Schools have authority to determine the number, type and weighting of assessment tasks, subject to a limit of one take-home task worth no more than 15%. See ACE 2.1 for more information.
Assessment program guidance
When developing assessment programs, schools should:
- use a variety of assessment tasks across the year to give students opportunities to demonstrate their knowledge, skills and understanding in different ways
- give individual assessment tasks a weighting between 10% and 40%.
See Assessment in Stage 6 for more information about developing school-based assessment programs.
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 program requirements
The course components and component weightings for Year 12 are mandatory.
| Course component | Weighting |
|---|---|
| Knowledge and understanding of course content | 60% |
| Knowledge and skills in research, problem solving and communication related to engineering practice | 40% |
Schools have authority to determine the number, type and weighting of assessment tasks, subject to a limit of one take-home task worth no more than 15%. See ACE 2.1 for more information.
Assessment program guidance
When developing assessment programs, schools should:
- use a variety of assessment tasks across the year to give students opportunities to demonstrate their knowledge, skills and understanding in different ways
- give individual assessment tasks a weighting between 10% and 40%.
See Assessment in Stage 6 for more information about developing school-based assessment programs.
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 include a formulae sheet.
The paper will consist of two sections.
There will be approximately equal weighting of each of the four modules across the exam as a whole. Questions may require students to integrate knowledge, understanding and skills developed through studying the entire course, rather than focusing on a particular module.
Section I (20 marks)
- There will be objective response questions to the value of 20 marks.
Section II (80 marks)
- There will be approximately seven short-answer questions.
- Questions will contain parts.
- There will be approximately 25 items in total.
- At least two items will be worth from 6 to 8 marks.