Internal Assessment Marks or Exam Score Which has more importance (1 Viewer)

[richaabatra]

Hi
I am new to this country and still getting my head around the marking system. Can someone please help me understand is internal school assessment more important than HSC exam score or vice versa.
Also how are internal rankings associated with school assessment score so does the internal assessment score determine the internal ranking or vice versa. Thanks

 

[specificagent1]

your school assessment mark decides your internal ranking. Your final internal mark will be moderated in accordance with your ranking and your cohort's performance in the hsc exam. Have a look at this nesa example. In short your internal rank and external mark is what is the most important. Your external marks are more important than your internal marks. Your internal ranks are what is important.

 

[jimmysmith560]

Your internal school assessment (technical name is Assessment Mark) contributes 50% towards your final mark for a subject. Your HSC exam score (technical name is Examination Mark) also contributes 50% towards your final mark for a subject. This means that they are both equally important as they weigh the same. Your final mark for a subject determines your ATAR, and is obtained by calculating the average of your Assessment Mark and Examination Mark in each subject.

In terms of your Assessment Mark, your rank relative to your cohort is the main focus. The relationship between your ranks and internal assessment marks is positive, meaning the higher your internal marks, the higher you will be ranked within your school cohort. You receive a rank for each subject and once you complete all of your school-based assessment task and exams, you will receive a final rank for each of your subjects. The goal here is to rank as high as possible to benefit from a process called moderation. Assessment Marks are moderated, meaning they are adjusted to equal the highest Examination Mark depending on the student's final rank within their cohort. For example, if your final rank is 1 for one of your subjects, your Assessment Mark will be adjusted to equal the highest Examination Mark of any student in your school group, meaning you will receive the highest mark someone achieved in the HSC exam as your Assessment Mark for that subject. Therefore, the higher your rank, the better the Assessment Mark you can expect.

Regarding your Examination Mark, this is determined solely by your own performance in the HSC exam for each of your subjects, and is not affected by factors such as your rank relative to your cohort or your school rank. HSC exams are usually a great opportunity for students to make a difference in the event where their final ranks for their respective subjects are not as high as they wanted them to be mainly because, as I mentioned, they are worth 50% of the student's final mark, constituting a great opportunity for students to bounce back and eventually obtain favourable final marks, resulting in a good ATAR.

I hope this helps!

 

[richaabatra]

Your internal school assessment (technical name is Assessment Mark) contributes 50% towards your final mark for a subject. Your HSC exam score (technical name is Examination Mark) also contributes 50% towards your final mark for a subject. This means that they are both equally important as they weigh the same. Your final mark for a subject determines your ATAR, and is obtained by calculating the average of your Assessment Mark and Examination Mark in each subject.

In terms of your Assessment Mark, your rank relative to your cohort is the main focus. The relationship between your ranks and internal assessment marks is positive, meaning the higher your internal marks, the higher you will be ranked within your school cohort. You receive a rank for each subject and once you complete all of your school-based assessment task and exams, you will receive a final rank for each of your subjects. The goal here is to rank as high as possible to benefit from a process called moderation. Assessment Marks are moderated, meaning they are adjusted to equal the highest Examination Mark depending on the student's final rank within their cohort. For example, if your final rank is 1 for one of your subjects, your Assessment Mark will be adjusted to equal the highest Examination Mark of any student in your school group, meaning you will receive the highest mark someone achieved in the HSC exam as your Assessment Mark for that subject. Therefore, the higher your rank, the better the Assessment Mark you can expect.

Regarding your Examination Mark, this is determined solely by your own performance in the HSC exam for each of your subjects, and is not affected by factors such as your rank relative to your cohort or your school rank. HSC exams are usually a great opportunity for students to make a difference in the event where their final ranks for their respective subjects are not as high as they wanted them to be mainly because, as I mentioned, they are worth 50% of the student's final mark, constituting a great opportunity for students to bounce back and eventually obtain favourable final marks, resulting in a good ATAR.

I hope this helps!

Thanks loads, am changing schools so should i go to non selective stream of higher ranked school at chatswood or selective stream of lower ranked school 130 at Ryde. Both are partially selective. I have received mixed opinions on which one i should picl and not sure if studying in selective in Ryde for few years uptil year 10 adds any edge coz later the cohort is usually lower performing (here i am not sure if a lower performing cohort will impact me if I continue in year 11-12 in Ryde and hope that i will be above average performer if not the top) or should i continue in Chatswood in mainstream which is next to my home and reduces travel but maybe puts me at risk of learning lesser than selective kids till year 10 hence impacting my school rank in 11-12 and here i will hope that i will gain due to a better cohort but not sure how I will rank considering i am not from selective classes till year 10. What’s your advise?

 

[joe mama]

Thanks loads, am changing schools so should i go to non selective stream of higher ranked school at chatswood or selective stream of lower ranked school 130 at Ryde. Both are partially selective. I have received mixed opinions on which one i should picl and not sure if studying in selective in Ryde for few years uptil year 10 adds any edge coz later the cohort is usually lower performing (here i am not sure if a lower performing cohort will impact me if I continue in year 11-12 in Ryde and hope that i will be above average performer if not the top) or should i continue in Chatswood in mainstream which is next to my home and reduces travel but maybe puts me at risk of learning lesser than selective kids till year 10 hence impacting my school rank in 11-12 and here i will hope that i will gain due to a better cohort but not sure how I will rank considering i am not from selective classes till year 10. What’s your advise?

hi, you should also keep in mind that all partially selective high schools combine their mainstream and selective students from the start of year 11-->12.
and as for the quality of education that mainstream classes provide, it is usually quite similar to the selective students' content. i used to go to a prtially selective hs and across every subject all the content and teaching was the same, the only difference was the selective classes had more engagement & focus, less sidetracking due to noisiness
just because you are in the mainstream of chatswood does not mean you are at a disadvantage to the selective students you have year 11 to tune your performance in subjects and get a taste of where your ranking sits in accordance w the selective students

if you went to ryde, the cohort's lower performance would not impact you as much as long as you are a top student

 

[jimmysmith560]

Thanks loads, am changing schools so should i go to non selective stream of higher ranked school at chatswood or selective stream of lower ranked school 130 at Ryde. Both are partially selective. I have received mixed opinions on which one i should picl and not sure if studying in selective in Ryde for few years uptil year 10 adds any edge coz later the cohort is usually lower performing (here i am not sure if a lower performing cohort will impact me if I continue in year 11-12 in Ryde and hope that i will be above average performer if not the top) or should i continue in Chatswood in mainstream which is next to my home and reduces travel but maybe puts me at risk of learning lesser than selective kids till year 10 hence impacting my school rank in 11-12 and here i will hope that i will gain due to a better cohort but not sure how I will rank considering i am not from selective classes till year 10. What’s your advise?

No worries. As far as I know, mainstream and selective classes will be both combined in Stage 6, meaning that choosing either school will lead to the same outcome in terms of delivery.

The more important consideration is the school rank, as that is an indicator of how academically capable a school's cohort is. Since Chatswood High School is ranked higher than Ryde Secondary College, it would likely be the better option overall. With respect to your Assessment Mark, you can expect a significant percentage of students at CHS to perform well in their HSC exams, meaning that you likely won't need to rank extremely high (although that is still recommended regardless of the school you attend) in order to achieve a good Assessment Mark as you would in a lower-ranked school. Of course, the situation is similar with RSC, as you can still perform extremely well at a school ranked 130th, the main difference being that you may need to obtain higher final ranks at RSC if you wish to receive high Assessment Marks.

Regarding selective vs mainstream, while selective classes allow you to experience a more study-focused and intense environment (allowing you to develop a good study mentality and effective study methods, which will be extremely important as selective and mainstream classes become combined and more importantly when you're in year 12), this does not necessarily guarantee good performance. While selective students may outperform their mainstream counterparts, the opposite is also true, i.e. mainstream students may also outperform some of their selective counterparts. You can develop and implement effective strategies to make positive contributions to your academic performance (particularly in year 12) even if you're not part of your school's selective stream.

In conclusion, if being part of your school's selective stream is a priority to you (which of course has benefits such as those I highlighted), then you should consider RSC. Otherwise, CHS is likely the better option overall.

I hope this helps!

 

[richaabatra]

No worries. As far as I know, mainstream and selective classes will be both combined in Stage 6, meaning that choosing either school will lead to the same outcome in terms of delivery.

The more important consideration is the school rank, as that is an indicator of how academically capable a school's cohort is. Since Chatswood High School is ranked higher than Ryde Secondary College, it would likely be the better option overall. With respect to your Assessment Mark, you can expect a significant percentage of students at CHS to perform well in their HSC exams, meaning that you likely won't need to rank extremely high (although that is still recommended regardless of the school you attend) in order to achieve a good Assessment Mark as you would in a lower-ranked school. Of course, the situation is similar with RSC, as you can still perform extremely well at a school ranked 130th, the main difference being that you may need to obtain higher final ranks at RSC if you wish to receive high Assessment Marks.

Regarding selective vs mainstream, while selective classes allow you to experience a more study-focused and intense environment (allowing you to develop a good study mentality and effective study methods, which will be extremely important as selective and mainstream classes become combined and more importantly when you're in year 12), this does not necessarily guarantee good performance. While selective students may outperform their mainstream counterparts, the opposite is also true, i.e. mainstream students may also outperform some of their selective counterparts. You can develop and implement effective strategies to make positive contributions to your academic performance (particularly in year 12) even if you're not part of your school's selective stream.

In conclusion, if being part of your school's selective stream is a priority to you (which of course has benefits such as those I highlighted), then you should consider RSC. Otherwise, CHS is likely the better option overall.

I hope this helps!

Thanks this clarifies a lot. However how will i develop and learn better learning strategies in non selective class. Would it not be important for 11 and 12. Another question what do you mean when you say higher ranks at RSC. Wont being in selective help me get higher rankin Ryde if i do well there compared to doing well in mainstream Chatswood. Can you help guide what determines the ranks (sorry if this is a repeat question) Thanks for your time on this.

 

[jimmysmith560]

Thanks this clarifies a lot. However how will i develop and learn better learning strategies in non selective class. Would it not be important for 11 and 12. Another question what do you mean when you say higher ranks at RSC. Wont being in selective help me get higher rankin Ryde if i do well there compared to doing well in mainstream Chatswood. Can you help guide what determines the ranks (sorry if this is a repeat question) Thanks for your time on this.

No worries. It's about yourself as a student rather than your class and the people around you. The selective environment, while potentially beneficial in terms of allowing you to develop as a student (academically and otherwise) by being surrounded by students who want to achieve the best possible results, may not always be so, meaning the selective environment may not be for everyone, not to mention the fact that you are able to succeed in a mainstream environment just as you would in a selective one, because the manner in which you approach your own studies is more important than the type of classes you attend.

Regarding ranks, as I mentioned in my initial post, you receive ranks for your respective subjects according to your performance in your internal assessment tasks/exams in year 12. To maximise your Assessment Mark, you must ensure you rank as high as possible across your subjects within your cohort. My perspective is that you would rather choose a higher ranked school because the mode of teaching will be the same in Stage 6, i.e. selective and mainstream classes will be combined. I personally don't think that sacrificing school rank in order to be part of a school's selective stream is a good idea. You would rather attend a higher ranked school (where the mentality of mainstream students may likely be similar to that of selective students, so that's also an important possibility to consider). While you may be able to rank higher relative to your cohort at Ryde Secondary College, the overall performance of Chatswood High School's cohort will likely be superior, meaning that aiming to rank high at CHS, and succeeding at doing so will likely be more rewarding than at RSC.

No problem, you should keep asking questions until you fully understand. Ranks are determined based on your marks in your school-based (internal) assessment tasks and exams. The higher the marks you achieve, the higher the rank you will receive in each of your subjects. Let's look at an example:

You're in year 12 and you're taking English Advanced. For one of your assessments, which was an in-class essay, the highest mark achieved in your cohort was 95%. This means that the student (and in some cases more than one student) who achieved 95% will be ranked 1st. If we assume the second-highest mark was 90%, the student who received 90% will be ranked second, and so on.

You will likely be given a rank for each internal assessment you complete. When you complete all of your school-based assessments, i.e. when the only remaining task becomes the HSC exam, you will be given final ranks for each of your subjects. This is an example of my own final ranks when I did my HSC:



Final ranks are used in the moderation process, which is explained in the NESA video specificagent1 included above. You should definitely watch it if you haven't already.

I hope this helps!

 

[iwanttodogoodinschool]

Hey! So for internals, my final rank is first for a few subjects. Although I'm completely losing motivation to study for HSC. I've heard that whoever is first internally is given whatever the highest external mark is for that subject in your school. Is this true?