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NSW Education Standards Authority
ACE Rules

NESA has published clarified ACE Rules on the NSW Curriculum website. Stay up to date with the clarified ACE Rules by visiting this website. 

The clarified rules come into effect from 14 October 2024. Schools must not implement the clarified rules before this date. Schools must use the current ACE Rules on Loading... until 14 October 2024.

To learn more about how NESA has clarified the ACE Rules, refer to the information sheets.

Retaining student work samples and assessment activities

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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 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...) awarded in a course. Work samples do not need to be from the current calendar year however do need to reflect the current syllabus.
  2. Schools must retain work samples for the duration that the course is being delivered at the school. 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.
  3. The work samples must be:
    1. students’ original work, 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 course that is typical of students awarded a particular grade by the school.
  4. Work samples may be drawn from:
    1.  written or practical assessment activities1
    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 only2.

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 submitting work samples in Schools Online, contact Student Records on (02) 9367 8001 or by email at records@nesa.nsw.edu.au.

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

Footnotes

  1. 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.

  2. 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 significantly.

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 syllabuses that contribute to the completion of Year 101, 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 submitting work samples and corresponding assessment activities in Schools Online, contact Student Records on (02) 9367 8001 or by email at records@nesa.nsw.edu.au. 

For enquiries about retaining 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. Schools may be required to provide work samples to NESA upon request.