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Retaining student work samples and assessment activities

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Updated 02 Apr 2025

NESA has made changes to Rule 2.4.1. These changes clarify the conditions under which schools can retain work samples from previous years (see paragraph 7). NESA has also provided a footnote with an additional example to support users (see footnote 2).

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NESA is authorised under section 20A of the Education Act 1990 (NSW) to prepare and distribute to schools information relating to the conduct of exams and other forms of assessment for the RoSA and HSC.

Retaining student work samples and corresponding assessment activities for grade monitoring

  1. NESA conducts grade monitoring for Year 10 and Preliminary courses (except courses based on Life Skills outcomes and content, and VET courses), and for Year 12 English Studies, Mathematics Standard 1, and Numeracy to ensure the awarding of grades by schools is consistent with state-wide standards.
  2. Work samples may be used by schools to strengthen the consistency of teacher professional judgements when allocating grades consistent with student achievement.
  3. Schools retain student work samples and the corresponding assessment activities to demonstrate how grades are awarded in accordance with state-wide standards. 
  4. NESA may request work samples and corresponding assessment activities from a school for review.
  5. For the purpose of retaining work samples, TAFE NSW delivering courses based on NESA syllabuses have a responsibility to retain work samples.

Categories

HSC (assessment)HSC (curriculum)K–10PreliminarySchools Online

Retaining work samples

  1. Schools must retain a minimum of 2 work samples that represent each grade (Loading ) that the school has awarded in a course. Work samples do not need to be from the current calendar year however do need to reflect the current syllabus.1
  2. For each year that a course is delivered, schools must retain work samples that represent the pattern of grades awarded in that year. Overtime, if the pattern of grades does not change, schools may choose to retain work samples from past years for Stage 5 and Preliminary courses only, provided the syllabus remains the same. However, schools may choose to retain new samples over time that best reflect the course delivery and capture any changes to the pattern of grades awarded.2
  3. The work samples must be:
    1. students’ original work, preferably without teachers’ comments on a performance or submitted work
    2. drawn from assessment activities conducted in the latter half of the course
    3. based on outcomes and content from the current syllabus for the course, and
    4. demonstrate performance towards the end of the course3 that is typical of students awarded a particular grade by the school.
  4. Work samples may be drawn from:
    1.  written or practical assessment activities4
    2.  the same assessment activity or from different assessment activities
    3.  the same student or different students, and
    4.  past years for Stage 5 and Preliminary courses only5.

Formatting criteria for work samples

  1. All retained work samples must:
    1. be in a format that can be uploaded electronically to Loading 
    2. identify the course and grade (A to E) which the sample represents
    3. have any student identifying information concealed or removed, and
    4. clearly indicate the corresponding assessment activities.

Online resources

Related ACE Rules

For further information

For enquiries about retaining and submitting work samples and corresponding assessment activities, contact Quality in Credentialling by email at grademonitoring@nesa.nsw.edu.au.

Footnotes

  1. Schools do not need to retain work samples that represent grades that were not awarded in the current calendar year. For example, should a school not submit a grade E for a course, they will not need to retain a work sample that represents an E grade.

  2. For example, if a school has work samples from previous years that represent A and B grades and in the current year awards A, B, and C grades, the school must retain 2 new work samples representing the C grade in addition to the work samples representing A and B grades from previous years.   

  3. The end of Stage 5 (Year 10), Preliminary, and Year 12 courses (English Studies, Mathematics Standard 1, and Numeracy) respectively. For Stage 5 courses that are delivered in Year 9 ie 100-hour courses, the work samples must demonstrate performance at the end of Year 9.

  4. In the case of performance tasks, recordings of the student work or images of student work for any practical project tasks, not the teacher’s description of how the student performed.

  5. Work samples may be drawn from past years provided the outcomes assessed are based on the current syllabus for the course and the pattern of grades awarded has not changed.

Categories

HSC (assessment)HSC (curriculum)K–10PreliminarySchools Online

Stage 5

Year 10

  1. Schools must retain student work samples and corresponding assessment tasks for all graded Stage 5 courses drawn from NESA syllabuses1, except for courses based on Life Skills outcomes and content, and VET courses.

Stage 6

Preliminary

  1. Schools must retain student work samples and corresponding assessment activities for all graded Preliminary courses drawn from NESA syllabuses, except for Life Skills and VET courses.

Year 12

  1. Schools must retain a minimum of 2 work samples that represent each grade awarded in Year 12 English Studies, Mathematics Standard 1, and Numeracy.
  2. Schools must submit work samples and corresponding assessment activities for Year 12 English Studies, Mathematics Standard 1, and Numeracy when entering grades for the relevant course.
  3. Work samples for Year 12 English Studies, Mathematics Standard 1, and Numeracy must:
    1. represent grades awarded in the current year and drawn from the current cohort, and
    2. be submitted in Loading  before the due date outlined in the Loading .

Online resources

Related ACE Rules

For further information

For enquiries about retaining and submitting work samples and corresponding assessment activities, contact Quality in Credentialling by email at grademonitoring@nesa.nsw.edu.au. 

Footnotes

  1. For 100-hour courses that are delivered in Year 9, schools must provide a grade, retain work samples and the corresponding assessment activities. Schools may be required to provide work samples to NESA upon request.

assessment activities

The varied types of activities that enable a student to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding so that a teacher can gather evidence on student performance relative to the syllabus outcomes.

work sample

Any item of work completed by the student and graded by the teacher.