1. Examinations 2009/16121[2]

2. Purpose of external examinations Provide independent measure of student achievement. Strengthen and add credibility to school-based assessment.

3. Use of external examinations Means of adjusting school assessments for comparability across schools. WACE score indicates student achievement against the standard for the stage and relative to other students state-wide. Enables scaling of course scores for tertiary selection purposes. Assists in the selection of students for exhibitions and awards.

4. School-based and external assessment: for and against See table summary on external assessment H/O (Pink)

5. Examination sample papers Stages 2 and 3 See Stages 2 and 3 final sample papers and marking keys for: English Career and Enterprise Materials Design and Technology Philosophy and Ethics Italian.

6. Workshop: Stages 2 and 3 examinations Select one course and consider the key differences between the Stage 2 and 3 examinations in terms of: nature of the questions structure of the sections use of stimulus material nature of expected responses.

7. Practical examinations (performance or production) The following courses have a practical examination in 2009: Aviation Chinese: Second Language Dance Drama English as an Additional Language or Dialect Italian Materials Design and Technology Media Production and Analysis Physical Education Studies

8. Online assessment 2009 Online marking TEE courses: Discrete Mathematics, Applicable and Calculus; Biology WACE courses: EAL/D, Stages 2 and 3 Online marks collection Electronic data entry by markers for all courses Curriculum Council Online_examinations_trial