Senior assessment general information
Queensland's system of externally moderated school-based assessment for senior subjects is unique. In Queensland, senior students are taught and assessed by their schools. They do not undertake any subject-specific public exams - unlike students in other states and territories.
A rigorous quality-assurance framework ensures reliable and comparable assessment of student achievement.
The quality-assurance framework
QSA syllabuses contain the criteria and standards that teachers use to make judgments about student achievements. Before schools offer any subject, they must submit programs of study to the QSA. These are reviewed to ensure they meet syllabus requirements.
Moderation then ensures that the syllabus criteria and standards are consistently implemented across the state. The moderation process differs across the range of subjects to reflect differences in the nature of learning and assessment.
Authority subjects are moderated by subject panels, which are staffed by experienced practising teachers. These panels provide advice to schools and review schools' implementation of the syllabus - including whether teachers are making comparable judgments about the standards being achieved by students. A panel's work includes reviewing sample student folios submitted by schools.
Authority-registered subjects are moderated through a combination of internal reviews, moderation meetings and QSA-conducted external reviews.
At the end of every year, the QSA checks its quality-assurance process by randomly sampling Year 12 student folios.
Benefits of moderated school-based assessment
Studies show that Queensland's system produces reliable and comparable assessment of student achievement - at significantly higher levels than typically found in the marking of standardised public exams. These are some of the added benefits:
- Teachers can write work programs that reflect the school's clientele in terms of interests and issues, and that make best use of school and local facilities.
- Teachers can use a range of assessment techniques - including group work, oral presentations and supervised exams - to cater for the varied learning styles found in any group of students.
- Continuous assessment provides more opportunities for teachers to give feedback to students about how they might improve their performance.
- Students are judged on their performance over 2 years rather than in a once-only exam.
- The external moderation process helps teachers improve their understanding of assessment and provides valuable professional development.
More information
See Forms and procedures for details of moderation processes.
State review panel reports and random sampling reports are available to download from this website.
Other languages