arkon

I've just found out from a reliable source just how easy it is to get a pass on the HSC exams. Wait for it..... If the candidate shows up and attempts to answer all questions they get 50% and a pass!! The don't need to get ANY question right nor do they even have to write anything relevent to the actual question, just write anything for each question and pass!

Not sure if this is just a regional thing, as it might be because there is no standard of marking or subsequent auditing to make sure every school marks the same way. Wish it was this easy when I was at school.

wanderingwombat

Saves the teachers having to do the GCSE coursework for the students!

WW

arkon

Saves them having to teach anything too!

NickyC

The HSC is not a case of 'passing' or 'failing' but what specific mark you get. The marking guidelines are very detailed and available on the Board of Studies website (here, along with the previous years papers for anyone who's interested).

All HSC marks range from 50 to 100 (so a mark of 50 means zero percent - not 50 percent). They're used to calculate a student's UAI (or ranking within the state) - and it's the student's UAI that determines whether they can enter Uni. University entrance has nothing to do with 'passing' the HSC.

Someone who gets an HSC mark of 50 has achieved nothing.

GinaUK

LOL! Me thinks, your reliable source is pulling your leg (and it seems you fell for it). Maybe you should do a bit more research? Don't know which state you live in (NSW?), but you may want to have a look at their "Board of Studies" website.

Gina

arkon

Well it was a teacher that told me, and he was certain 50% was a pass, so if you both are right what does that say about what the teachers know. And no I don't think he was joking.

sunbather

arkon

Ok, this might sound daft but why is a mark of 50 meaning zero percent? I've had a look at the site you mentioned and one of the papers and it doesn't mention anything about it. Basically the teacher was right to a degree, just turning up gets you 50 points.

NickyC

As I said - if you fulfil only the basic minimum requirements for the HSC, you will get a mark (not a percentage) a mark of 50. A mark of 50 is the lowest you can get so it really equates to zero percent.

You also get an HSC Certificate if you fulfil the basic requirements and a Record of Achievement which details the performance bands your marks fell into. So, sure, you can get a Certificate for basically just attending school and achieving the minimum - but it's totally meaningless unless your marks are decent.

Students are not judged on whether they 'pass' the HSC - but on how well they did in it.

NickyC

From 'Rules and Procedures for 2006 Higher School Certificate Candidates' (Page 16)
http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au...cedures_06.pdf

"Your assessment mark and examination mark will be averaged to give an HSC mark. For 2 unit courses, the mark will be on an achievement scale from 0–100, with all students who reach the minimum standard expected in a course awarded at least 50. A mark of 50 or more will be accompanied by a description, in a performance band, of the standard the mark represents."

I have been to countless HSC information evenings at my sons' school, seen endless presentations on the topic by experienced teachers, and had two children go through these exams.

arkon

Without sounding pedantic, I've just re-read my original post and I think we are both arguing the same thing. I said by attempting all questions you get 50% and as the score is 0-100 then 50% is indeed 50 which is a PASS just like I said it was. I'm not sure what in my 1st post riled you up so much as you are just confirming what I said originally.

Also because there are no audited standards each school can interpret what it deems to be 'meeting the minimum requirement'. So like I said a dumpling school could choose to give anyone 'Having a go' and able to work a pen, fill in their name correctly 50 points and so pass. What good in later life it will do them I don’t know but the reason I was interested was because a neighbour was telling me how good a particular school was as her child passed her HSC, I just wanted to know what exactly constituted a pass out here. (The reason I was sceptical was the particular school mentioned is about as academic as a bunion on my big toe!)

NickyC

I wasn't particularly riled - just wanted to clarify really. Your post implied that a student who did no work would get 50% automatically and that's not case.

And there are audited standards. The school assessment marks (50% of the total mark) are calibrated and standardised (whatever that means) via an extremely complicated procedure to ensure that no student is advantaged or disadvantaged by the fact that their school might mark differently to another school. I do have documentation on what they actually do but you almost need a degree in statistics to understand it.

The HSC exams (the other 50% of the total) are all marked externally (twice) and according to the marking guidlines on the BOS site, so they are definitely marked to a standard.

As for your neighbour's child - I can only say that having the certificate means nothing. You need to know their specific marks to really know how well they did - and a mark of 75 (which sounds quite good) is actually very average!

thebears

I was going to say attend a catholic school


Thank goodness I now will not have to afford all those bribes my parents had to pay

OzTennis

Correct, and in Victoria (VCE rather than HSC) for university entrance purposes they get an entrance score eg if your score is 84.2% you have achieved higher marks than 84.2% of those sitting and you are in the top 15.8% of candidates. Some courses in Victoria have an entrance score in the high 60's, others have a score of 99.5% (eg Medicine at Melb Uni). Pupils also get an individual mark in each subject as well as this overall entrance score. A proportion of the final mark is for coursework so the notion that you can enter a subject and just turn up for an exam giving you a measure of 'success' is wrong. Using Arkon's example, an employer, parents, tertiary institutions and fellow pupils are going to know what the mark assigned to the 'I had my bum on the seat pupil' means.

I suspect this is another of Arkon's how bad is it in Australia posts. As the way these threads go, let's just see what happens in the UK. Well, 94/95% pass rates in A levels (gee they must be really bright those pupils in E & W and really good teachers!) and at GCSE they are going to cut out a lot of coursework because of plagiarism and parents and teachers doing pupils work. eg need to do an assignment or homework in the Business Studies/Accounting/Economics area, try here:

http://www.tutor2U.net

All subject areas have similar sites.

I suspect that most people in the know will realise that subjects have been dumbed down (like entertainment and other walks of life), examinations have become easier over time, pass marks have been adjusted accordingly so that pass rates continue to climb. This means in turn that governments can't be accused of under-funding education because they can always point to how 'successful' the latest pupils have been.

I'm not suggesting of course that many of the current generation of pupils don't work hard, don't deserve success etc. The UK government for example has a target to significantly increase the % of over 18's who attend tertiary institutions. You can only achieve this by 'lowering the bar' because generations do not become more intelligent.

An excellent resource for NSW HSC incidentally is provided by Charles Sturt University:

http://hsc.csu.edu.au/

The same institution provides a treasure trove of information on Australia:

http://www.csu.edu.au/australia/

and on Australian education:

http://www.csu.edu.au/australia/education.html

OzTennis

BadgeIsBack

reminds me exactly of GCSE back in the 90s. You supposedly never failed that - unless you got a U - ungraded.. But everyone knew that only a C or above actually meant anything as it was equivalent to an old O level - (which frankly it wasn't - but that's another story).

It's also a sort of indication to indicate you attended a modern secondary school system and got an education of sorts.