11–12Geography 11–12 Syllabus (2022)

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 of task and the weighting allocated to an assessment task. Schools may also follow the sample assessment programs provided by NESA.

Sample assessment program

NESA's sample Year 11 formal school-based assessment program for Geography is:

• 3 assessment tasks, including:
  • a Geographical Investigation with a weighting of 30–40%
  • a formal written examination
  • a weighting for any individual task of 20% to 40%.

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

Information about the Geographical Investigation

The Geographical Investigation task provides students with the opportunity to select and research a geographical issue, which relates to the Year 11 course.

This task may be presented in a range of forms, eg written, oral, graphical or multimodal (a multimodal response uses 2 or more forms of communication).

The task should:

• be based in an area that is accessible for the purpose of primary data collection
• include a research focus, active inquiry methodologies, analysis of data, and communication of findings.

Further information relating to the Geographical Investigation is in the Geography Stage 6 Syllabus.

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 of task and the weighting allocated to an assessment task. Schools may also follow the sample assessment programs provided by NESA.

Sample assessment program

NESA's sample Year 12 formal school-based assessment program for Geography is:

• 4 assessment tasks, including:
  • a task based on a fieldwork activity with a maximum weighting of 20-30%
  • a formal written examination
  • a weighting for any individual task of 10% to 40%.

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

Information about the task based on a fieldwork activity

This task provides students with the opportunity to investigate geographical characteristics, processes and/or impacts at a local scale, and their management. It should relate to a focus area(s) studied in the Year 12 course.

This task may be presented in a range of forms, eg written, oral, graphical or multimodal. A multimodal response uses 2 or more forms of communication.

The task should:

• include a range of fieldwork methods
• use a variety of relevant geographical tools to represent fieldwork data and findings
• include the application of fieldwork data and findings to evaluate management and/or propose alternative action(s).

Further information relating to mandatory fieldwork is in the Geographical tools section of the Geography Stage 6 Syllabus.

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