11–12Modern History 11–12 Syllabus (2024)

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 Modern History is: 

• 3 assessment tasks, including: 
  • a Historical Investigation 
  • 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 Historical Investigation

The Historical Investigation may be undertaken as a standalone investigation or integrated into any focus area in the Year 11 course.

The investigation must not overlap with, or duplicate significantly, any option in the Modern History or History Extension courses.

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 Modern History is: 

• 4 assessment tasks, including: 
  • a Historical Analysis with a weighting of 20% to 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.

Historical Analysis

The Historical Analysis provides students with the opportunity to focus on a historical question, issue or controversy of interest, and to develop a reasoned argument, supported by evidence. It may occur in or across any of the Year 12 options selected for study.

The Historical Analysis may be presented in written, oral or multimodal form, and should:

• be completed individually
• be a maximum of 1200 words, 6 minutes duration or equivalent in multimodal form
• address relevant syllabus outcomes
• relate to a Year 12 option(s) studied in the Modern History 11–12 Syllabus.

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