11–12Drama 11–12 Syllabus (2025)

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 Assessment Certification Examination (ACE) rules and requirements for further information.

The course components and component weightings for Year 11 are mandatory.

Schools have authority to determine the number, type and weighting of assessment tasks. See ACE 2.1 for more information.

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 Loading  for more information about developing school-based assessment programs.

Some students with disability may require adjustments in order to access assessment opportunities and demonstrate achievement of outcomes.

NESA requires schools to submit a school-based assessment mark for each Year 12 student who completes this 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 Assessment Certification Examination (ACE) rules and requirements for further information.

The course components and component weightings for Year 12 are mandatory.

Schools have authority to determine the number, type and weighting of assessment tasks. See ACE 2.1 for more information.

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 Loading  for more information about developing school-based assessment programs.

Some students with disability may require adjustments in order to access assessment opportunities and demonstrate achievement of outcomes.

School-based assessment of the development of HSC practical examinations

The following information applies to schools who choose to assess the development of the Ensemble performance and/or Individual project as part of the school-based assessment program.

The development of the HSC practical examinations may be assessed as follows:

• one or more stages in the development of the Individual project, such as early justification of creative intent or reflection regarding ongoing refinement of progress
• the making process for the Ensemble performance, including how the prescribed practitioner has been used as inspiration
• the documentation of dramatic processes that students have maintained for the Individual project and/or Ensemble performance.

Further information relating to documenting dramatic processes can be found in the Drama 11–12 Syllabus.

For schools that formally assess the development of the Ensemble performance and/or Individual project, appropriate school-based marking guidelines should be developed. Schools should not use the external HSC marking guidelines that have been developed by NESA. Assessment of the development of HSC practical examinations should focus on students engaging in the making process rather than their presentation of a complete product.

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• Adjustments to assessment for students with disability
• Life Skills
• Assessment Certification Examination (ACE)