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ATAR and Scaling (https://www.matrix.edu.au/atar-and-scaling/)

All About ATAR & Scaling Part 2 (Moderation of HSC

Assessment Marks)
Posted on April 10, 2017 by DJ Kim
 In our ATAR and scaling seminar, many students and parents ask:

1. Does the performance of myschool in HSC exams affect my HSCmarks?

Matrix
COURSES TEACHERS
2. If so, how does PRICING
it affect CAMPUS
my HSC BLOG
marks and ATAR? MORE

Yes, your schools performance in the HSC exam of a subject does affect your nal HSC assessment marks, and henceyour HSC
mark as well (the HSC mark is the average of the nal HSC assessment mark and HSC exam mark). As ATAR is a rank determined
by the sum of scaled marks (HSC marks are converted into scaled marks), it is important that students obtain the highest possible
HSC mark for each course they undertake.Letsexplain howyour HSC mark for each subject is affectedthrough a process known
as moderation of assessment marks.

What is moderation of HSC assessment marks?

Moderation of your assessment marksis a process of adjustingall of the school assessment marks in each course to the HSC
examination.

Why is moderation of HSC assessment marks required?

All schools use different programs of assessment tasks and these are marked slightly differently. Some schools assessment
programs may be more demanding than others, which means thatstudentsfrom different schools experience different
assessment conditions and results. Hence all nal HSC assessment marks submitted by schools are adjusted to ensure that
marks are awarded appropriately and consistently.

How does the moderation of HSC assessment marks work?

So, how does moderation of nal HSC assessment marks work? The moderation process involves complex statistical modelling
and analysis.

Lets use the following example to understand how this process can affect your HSC Mark. The table below lists the HSC English
assessment marks and HSC English exam marks of students at a hypotheticalschool.

(https://www.matrix.edu.au/wp-
content/uploads/2017/02/Assessment-Mark-Moderation-Table-
1.png)

(https://www.matrix.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/HSC-
Mark-Peter.png)

Peters HSC Mark

Peter was ranked rstin English at his school and therefore his nal HSC assessment mark is adjusted to equal to the highest HSC
English exam mark in his school. Hence his nal assessment markof 94 is adjusted to 97!

Peters HSC Mark is calculated as:

Note that Peters nal assessmenthas been adjusted upwards, yielding a higher HSC mark.

Sallys HSC Mark

Sally was ranked second in English at her school and therefore her nal HSC assessment mark is adjusted to equal to the second
highest HSC English exam mark in her school. Hence her nal HSC assessment markof 93is adjusted to 96 (thanks to Linda).

Sallys HSC mark is calculated as:

(https://www.matrix.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/HSC-Mark-Sally.png)


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Marks
HSC Mark

Mark was ranked fourth in English at his school and therefore his nal HSC assessment is adjusted to equal to the fourth highest
HSC English exam mark in his school. Hence his nal HSC assessment markof 94 is adjusted to 91.

Marks HSC mark is calculated as:

(https://www.matrix.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/HSC-Mark-Mark.png)

Andrews HSC Mark

Andrew was ranked sixthin English at his school and therefore his nal HSC assessment mark is adjusted to equal to the
sixthhighest HSC English exam mark in his school. Hence his nal HSC assessment markof 88 is adjusted to 86.

Andrews HSC mark is calculated as:

(https://www.matrix.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/HSC-Mark-Andrew.png)

The BOSTES overview for how this example of assessment mark moderation works is as follows:

1. The mean of the school groups assessments is adjusted to equal to the mean of the examination marks obtained by the
students in that group.
2. The top HSC assessment mark is adjusted to equal to the highest examination mark obtained by any student in the group.
3. Where possible, the bottom moderated HSC assessment mark is equal to the lowest HSC examination mark obtained by any
student in the group. Note, however, that this is not possible when the distributions of the school HSC assessments and the
examination marks have very different shapes. In such cases the bottom moderated assessment mark may need to be
moved up or down.
4. The sum of HSC exam marks must equal to the sum of the nal HSC assessment marks of a coursein a school.

How does my school performance affect my HSC assessment marks?

The performanceof your school in a course(e.g. in English Advanced, or Chemistry) in the HSC exam determines how your nal
HSC assessment marks are moderated. For example, if your Year 12 English Advanced cohortperform poorly in their HSC exam
and the sum of their HSC English Advanced exam marks is less than the sum of their HSC English Advanced nal assessment
marks submitted to BOSTES, then most students nal assessment marks are likelyto be adjusted down.

Please note that this is not the same as scaling of subjects. You can learn more about scaling of different subjects in the article
All About ATAR & Scaling Part 1 (https://www.matrix.edu.au/all-about-atar-scaling/).

How to minimise the impact of moderation of HSC assessment marks

If your school is performing poorly academically and you areconcerned about how this might affect your HSC mark, you can
minimise the negative effectof your schools performance in a course by:

1. Ranking rst in your overall school HSC assessment and in the HSC exam for eachcourse. In such cases, your HSC
exam mark will determine your assessment mark just like Peter in the example above.
2. Taking a collaborative learning approach with your peers by forming a small study group and sharing resources such as
study notes and exam papers. This will increase the overall performance standard of your cohort in the HSC exam and
will result in your cohortacquiring a greater sum of HSC exam marks. If the sum of HSC exam marks fora course by
your cohort is greater than the sum of assessment marks submitted to BOSTES, then your assessment mark is likely to
be adjusted higher as thereis a greaterdistribution of assessment marks available towards each individual student.

 If you missed Part 1 of this ATAR & Scalingguide visit:All About ATAR & Scaling Part 1 (https://www.matrix.edu.au/all-about-atar-
scaling/)
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Want to achieve an ATAR of 99.95?

Read My Secrets to HSC Successs and Scoring 99.95 (https://www.matrix.edu.au/my-secrets-to-hsc-success-and-scoring-
99-95-steven-paredes/) by Steven Paredes.
Check out an exemplar essay: HSC English Band 6 Discovery Essay (https://www.matrix.edu.au/hsc-english-band-6-
discovery-essay-free-essay/)
View a list of free upcoming events (https://www.matrix.edu.au/events/).

Matrix Education and www.matrix.edu.au, 2017. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and
written permission from this sites author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and
clear credit is given to Matrix Educationand www.matrix.edu.auwith appropriate and specic direction to the original content.

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