Assessment
Course standards
Course standards are comprised of syllabus standards and performance standards. Syllabus outcomes and content form the syllabus standards that describe what students are expected to know, understand and do. Performance standards, including the Common Grade Scale for Preliminary courses, HSC Performance Band Descriptions and Achievement Level Descriptions (for HSC courses with grades only) describe how well students have achieved in relation to syllabus standards. Performance standards are used to report student achievement on NESA credentials.
Performance Band Descriptions for Mathematics Extension 2
HSC performance band descriptions summarise the knowledge, understanding and skills typically demonstrated by students at each band level in a particular course. NESA uses these holistic descriptions to report a student's overall level of achievement in an HSC course.
Band E4
A student who performs at this level typically:
demonstrates extensive knowledge, understanding and skills appropriate to the course
creatively synthesises mathematical concepts, techniques and results to efficiently solve problems
demonstrates sophisticated multi-step logic and mathematical insight to solve problems and prove results in familiar and unfamiliar situations
constructs, analyses and applies mathematical models effectively to solve problems in a wide variety of situations
communicates complex reasoning, justification and arguments effectively, using appropriate mathematical language, concise notation, diagrams, and algebraic and graphical techniques.
Band E3
A student who performs at this level typically:
demonstrates thorough knowledge, understanding and skills appropriate to the course
synthesises mathematical concepts, techniques and results to solve problems
demonstrates complex multi-step logic to solve problems and prove results in familiar and unfamiliar situations
constructs, analyses and applies mathematical models to solve problems in a variety of situations
communicates reasoning and justification effectively, using appropriate mathematical language, notation, diagrams, and algebraic and graphical techniques.
Band E2
A student who performs at this level typically:
demonstrates sound knowledge, understanding and skills appropriate to the course
uses mathematical concepts, techniques and results to solve problems
constructs and applies mathematical models to solve problems in a range of situations
communicates reasoning and justification effectively, using mathematical language, notation, diagrams and graphs.
Band E1
Performance reported as Band E1 indicates that the minimum standard expected was not demonstrated.
School-based assessment
Schools are required to develop an assessment program for each Year 11 and Year 12 course. NESA provides information about the responsibilities of schools in developing assessment programs in course-specific assessment requirements and in the Assessment Certification Examination (ACE) rules and requirements.
Year 12 Mathematics Extension 2 school-based assessment
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.
Assessment programs must reflect course components and weightings
The course components and component weightings for Year 12 are mandatory.
| Course component | Weighting % |
|---|---|
| Knowledge and understanding of course content | 50 |
| Skills in Working mathematically | 50 |
Schools may determine specific elements of their assessment program
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 Mathematics Extension 2 is:
- 4 assessment tasks, including:
- 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.
Formal school-based assessment in this course should focus on the Year 12 outcomes. The Year 11 course is assumed knowledge and may be assessed.
Sample assessment schedules
Sample assessment task notifications
HSC examinations
The external HSC examination measures student achievement in a range of syllabus outcomes.
The external examination and its marking relate to the syllabus by:
- providing clear links to syllabus outcomes
- enabling students to demonstrate the levels of achievement outlined in the Performance Band Descriptions
- applying marking guidelines based on criteria that relate to the quality of the response
- aligning performance in the examination each year to the standards established for the course.
Examination questions may require students to integrate knowledge, understanding and skills developed through studying the course.
Some students with disability may be eligible for disability provisions when completing the HSC examination.
The examination will be based on the Mathematics Extension 2 Year 12 course and will focus on the course outcomes. The Mathematics Advanced and Mathematics Extension 1 courses will be assumed knowledge for this examination.
Students will also be required to complete the Mathematics Extension 1 paper in addition to the Mathematics Extension 2 paper.
Mathematics Extension 2 HSC examination specifications
The examination will consist of a written paper worth 100 marks.
Time allowed: 3 hours plus 10 minutes reading time.
A reference sheet will be provided.
NESA-approved calculators may be used.
The paper will consist of two sections.
Section I (10 marks)
- There will be objective-response questions to the value of 10 marks.
Section II (90 marks)
- Questions may contain parts.
- There will be 37 to 42 items.
- At least two items will be worth 4 or 5 marks.