Scored assessment: External assessment

External assessment

VCE external assessments are any centrally set tasks assessed by the VCAA, including written, oral, electronic/digital, aural and performance tasks conducted according to the requirements of accredited study designs and VCE VET programs.

The home school is the school responsible for the administration of all student data and course enrolments on VASS and for making sure all their students have been allocated to an examination centre or room. A student can have only one home school at any given time.

VCE examinations

VCE examinations are set by VCAA-appointed panels. VCE examination specifications and sample material (by study), as well as an archive of past examinations and external assessment reports, are available on the VCE assessment page.

Integrity of VCE written examinations and VCE examination administration

At the beginning of the academic year, schools must make sure students are made aware of the VCAA examination rules to ensure the integrity of VCE external assessments. By completing and signing the annual VCAA Student Personal details and Declarations form, students declare they will abide by and observe the rules and instructions relating to VCE external assessments.

To uphold the integrity of VCE external assessments, students are expected to provide responses that are authentic and relevant to the questions asked, rather than rely on pre-prepared responses that are not their own.

VCE providers with students enrolled in one or more VCE or scored VCE VET Unit 3–4 sequences must meet the VCAA requirements for the conduct and administration of VCE examinations, as outlined in the Agreement to conduct and administer VCE external assessments.

Principals need to complete and sign this agreement each year, certifying they will comply with all VCAA requirements for conducting and administering VCE external assessments. Principals must make sure school personnel associated with the administration of VCE external assessments are aware of VCAA requirements.

Principals are reminded of the serious consequences that may result from non-compliance. If a serious breach of this agreement occurs, a school’s capacity to host VCE external assessments will be subject to review.

VCAA examination rules

Students are required to observe VCAA rules for the conduct of VCE external assessments conducted by or on behalf of the VCAA, as well as the day-to-day rules of the institution hosting the external assessment. VCAA rules apply with appropriate and reasonable modifications for students who have disabilities or other impairments.

Eligibility to undertake VCE external assessments outside Victoria

Students who sit VCE examinations must be resident in Victoria and enrolled at a school or institution permitted by the VCAA as a VCE provider, except if a student:

is a bona fide resident of Victoria but is temporarily interstate or overseas
is on an exchange program overseas
is a student on exchange in Victoria and is returning home immediately before or during the VCE external assessment period
is representing Australia in an official capacity, for example at a sporting, academic, military or cultural event
has a parent or guardian who has been asked to work interstate or overseas
has completed a substantial part of their course of study in Victoria and has moved temporarily or permanently interstate or overseas.

Schools must submit an Application to sit VCE external assessments interstate or overseas form to the VCAA.

Evidence of eligibility must be submitted with the application form.

Events such as family holidays, birthdays and weddings are not considered valid grounds for an application to sit VCE external assessments interstate or overseas.

VCE external assessment periods and timetable

The VCAA determines the timing of VCE external assessments. Schools must issue each student with an individual student Examination/Assessment Timetable after the release date for each VCE external assessment period. For VCE Languages oral and performance examinations and Extended Investigation oral presentation, schools must issue each student with their advice slips and, where relevant, Performance Program Sheets/Performer’s Statement, Statements of Intention, Industry Statements, Interpretation Statements and Information Booklets. These documents are available on the relevant study webpage and on VASS.

The VCAA develops the VCE examination timetable using enrolments to:

minimise the number of students required to sit more than 2 examinations on a given day
minimise the number of clashes of 2 examinations in the same session
avoid scheduling another examination on the same day as English and English as an Additional Language (EAL)
allow sufficient time to complete marking within the available timeframe.

The VCE examination dates are published on the VCE examination timetable page after it has been approved by the VCAA Board.

The VCE examination timetable is also printed in the VCE Exams Navigator, which must be issued to students by their home school.

Students with three examinations timetabled on one day

The VCAA will notify schools of the arrangements made for students with 3 examinations timetabled in a single day during an examination period.

The VCAA will allow students who have 3 examinations timetabled on a single day to have an additional 10 minutes per hour for the final examination on that day. This can be taken as extra working time or as supervised rest breaks. Students are not obliged to use the extra time entitlement and can leave the examination before their revised finish time.

Students who complete 3 examinations in a single day are entitled to receive a Derived Examination Score (DES) for the third examination. These students will not be required to apply for a DES.

To be eligible for additional time and the DES, students must attend all 3 examinations on the day and attempt the questions on the paper to the best of their ability.

To be eligible for the calculation of a DES, students need to have completed the course of study leading to the examination and have a result for at least one other graded assessment in the same study.

The DES should be seen as a safety net – not a substitute examination score. Many students will, if they apply themselves diligently, exceed or equal their predicted DES in their third examination completed on that day. The VCAA will compare each student’s actual examination score and their calculated DES and award the student the higher of the 2.

Timetable clashes

If a student has two examinations timetabled for the same session, one of the examinations will be moved to another session on the same day. Principals may consult the student and, on behalf of the student, request which examination is to be moved to a different session.

While all attempts will be made to work around timetable clashes, VCE Languages examinations, Music written examinations and VET Creative and Digital Media examinations cannot be moved to a different session.

Early starts

Principals can apply to the VCAA (with supporting evidence) for permission to begin VCE written external assessments up to 30 minutes earlier than stated in the official timetable. The VCAA will confirm approval in writing to the principal to begin at the earlier time. The principal must notify students and their parent(s) or guardian(s) in writing of the new start and end times.

Late arrivals

Each VCE written external assessment begins with a reading period that is included in the times shown in the VCE examination timetable. Students must check the starting time of each VCE written external assessment, arrive before the commencement time and familiarise themselves with the rules about late admission. If a student is late, the VCAA reserves the right to determine if their response materials will be accepted.

The procedure for admitting late students is outlined on the Examination rules page and is also published in the VCE Examination Manual and VCE Exams Navigator.

Student identification requirements for VCE external assessments

All students undertaking a performance, Languages oral examination or the Extended Investigation oral presentation will need to provide personal identification at the registration point for their assessment. The personal identification must consist of a clear photograph of the student and their full name. Most existing student identification cards or personal documents (for example, a school ID card, a public transport ID card, a passport or a driver’s licence) are sufficient. Students undertaking the oral component of the VCE Languages examination will need to identify themselves by stating, in English, their VCAA student number.

Students completing the GAT or a VCE written examination must write their VCAA student number on the response materials. Students attending a location other than their home school may also need to provide personal identification before entering the examination room.

A student’s home school provides them their VCAA student number.

Materials and equipment authorised for use in the GAT and VCE written examinations

Refer to Materials authorised by the VCAA for use in the GAT and VCE written examinations. This information can also be found in the VCE Examination Manual, the GAT brochure and VCE Exams Navigator.

Irregularities

Irregularities are events that significantly interrupt and adversely affect a student’s performance immediately before or during a VCE external assessment that are outside their control. Examples of events that can occur and be classified as an irregularity include:

power failures, emergency evacuations and other disruptive events
printing or collating errors or both in examination question or answer books
excessive noise or interference
incorrect interpretation of examination conditions or rules by supervisors
procedural issues with the conduct of Languages oral or performance examinations, or the Extended Investigation oral presentation

If reasonably possible and practical, minor disruptions will be rectified and remedied at the time of the external assessment by the supervisor, for example, replacing faulty books.

In the event of major disruptions to the conduct or administration of an external assessment, the supervisor should refer the matter to an authorised person at the school.

For more information refer to the requirements for making an application, the VCE Examination Manual and VCE Exams Navigator.

Marking external assessments

VCE external assessments will be subject to independent marking by VCAA-appointed assessors. If necessary, there will be discrepancy marking by an additional assessor who will assess the task without knowledge of the previous assessments.

Indicative grades and the anomalous grades check

Indicative grades for all VCE external assessments, except the Music Composition and Music Inquiry externally assessed tasks, must be submitted before the relevant external assessment period. The primary purpose of collecting these indicative grades is to support the quality assurance procedures for marking external assessments. They help to identify possible anomalous marking of individual student responses. Indicative grades will also be used in the calculation of the DES.

The indicative grade is the school’s prediction of a student’s actual level of achievement on the examination. Indicative grades are a letter grade, from A+ to E/UG (ungraded) or NA (not assessed). Schools should note that plus (+) can be used, but minus (-) is not available for input. Class teachers of the same study at the school should discuss and compare the indicative grades given to their students.

The rank order and level of spread of the indicative grades for the school cohort in the study are extremely important. The VCAA moderates the indicative grades for the school cohort to make sure they are statistically reliable. If they are not, they will not be used.

Strategies for arriving at an indicative grade

The VCAA has no preferred position on how a school arrives at a set of indicative grades, except to advise that the process should be coherent. The principal should advise all teachers at the school on the definition and purpose of the indicative grade, and how to arrive at a set of indicative grades for the school cohort.

Examples of strategies used by schools include:

setting practice examinations that must be held at a time that allows entry of the indicative grade on VASS by the due date
ranking the students by performance in school-based assessment and then applying an appropriate grade
basing the grade on prior knowledge of the relative ability of the student in the study.

The VCAA recommends schools use the indicative grades feedback report on VASS to help determine indicative grades. This report shows if the school’s indicative grades for the previous year were generally aligned with the final grades. The indicative grades feedback report is available on VASS by selecting the School Admin tab and following the sequence: School Admin > School Statistics > Indicative Grades Feedback.

Anomalous grades check process

For all external assessments, except for General Mathematics Examination 1 and the Music Composition and Music Inquiry externally assessed tasks, an anomalous grade check is undertaken before issuing final results. Indicative grades provided by the school, if they are statistically reliable, are used to identify student assessments with anomalous grades. The relevant chief assessor’s panel reconsiders these students’ assessments.

The anomalous grades check highlights where the student’s examination outcome is substantially different from that predicted from one or more of the:

school’s indicative grade
student’s GAT component scores
other examination assessment in the study for studies with more than one external assessment.

In each case, the differences must be statistically significant.

In the interests of students, teachers should be as accurate as possible in estimating an indicative grade. If the teacher is accurate (that is, they allocate indicative grades with a similar order and spread to external assessment performance of their students), any possible anomalous marking will be detected, and the assessment referred to the chief assessor for checking. If the teacher allocates indicative grades that are different in order and spread to the external assessment performance of their students, some anomalous assessments might not be detected. If the teacher consistently under or over assesses indicative grades for all students, anomalous performance from the pattern given by the school can still be detected. Therefore, a school need not be overly concerned about submitting indicative grades with exactly the correct level within the constraints of the grade structure. However, teachers should try to order and spread students’ grades as accurately as possible.

Schools can run a report through VASS that lists those students whose scripts or recordings were forwarded to the chief assessor’s panel for final determination.

Externally assessed tasks

Externally assessed tasks assess a student’s level of achievement in accordance with the study design and published assessment criteria. These tasks are marked by assessors appointed by the VCAA.

All student work is submitted to the VCAA electronically in accordance with the specifications and guidelines provided for each study and on the dates published in the Important administrative dates. Teachers are required to make an initial assessment of a student’s work against the published criteria using the marking sheet provided. These initial teacher scores are entered on VASS and are used by the VCAA for quality assurance when marking external assessments.

All externally assessed tasks are independently marked by at least 2 assessors and are subject to discrepancy marking if required. Anomalous grade marking programs are not applied to all EATs, however additional checks are conducted for quality of marking and, where applicable, compliance issues and authentication of student work. Student work may be reassessed as a result of these processes.

For more detailed information about the Music Composition, Music Inquiry or Extended Investigation externally assessed task, refer to the relevant study pages on the VCAA website.

Student breach of VCAA rules for the conduct of VCE external assessments

Students are required to observe all VCAA examination rules for the conduct of VCE external assessments conducted by or on behalf of the VCAA, as well as the day-to-day rules of the school or institution providing the venue for the external assessment.

Principals and chief supervisors are responsible to the VCAA for the conduct of VCE external assessments. Any alleged breach of the VCAA examination rules or any allegation that a student’s assessment has been obtained by fraudulent, illegal or unfair means must be reported to the VCAA. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO), VCAA, may refer serious cases to a review committee, which will conduct a hearing to consider the circumstances of the alleged breach and, if applicable, determine any appropriate penalty. Further information about the role of principals and other school personnel in investigations is set out in the following parts of this section.

All supervisors of VCE external assessments are issued with directions for the administration of the external assessment and are required to report all alleged breaches of rules to the VCAA.

Identification of an alleged breach of VCAA rules

If an alleged breach of rules relating to the conduct of a VCE external assessment is detected, the student must be permitted to complete the external assessment, and any discussion considered necessary must be conducted when the external assessment has finished. Unless there are exceptional circumstances, the student must be informed by the supervisor or the school that an incident report is being forwarded to the VCAA.

Supervisors must complete an incident report immediately after the external assessment, providing as much information as possible about any alleged breach, including any relevant circumstances leading up to it, and details of what occurred afterwards. It is important to include all matters associated with the incident, no matter how insignificant they may have appeared at the time. The VCAA may contact supervisors for additional information during an investigation into the alleged breach of rules.

Confiscated electronic devices, including mobile phones

Under VCAA examination rules students are required to surrender electronic devices for investigation. Schools should retain any confiscated electronic device. Devices should not be returned to students without the VCAA’s prior approval. Schools can contact Legal Services for further advice.

As part of its investigation into alleged breaches of rules involving the possession of electronic devices, the VCAA may ask the student’s school to inspect the device with the consent of the student. If the student is interviewed by the VCAA, the device can also be inspected during the interview in the presence of the student, with the student’s consent.

Electronic devices are inspected to check whether the device contains material or activity that indicates it was used to cheat during the student’s external assessment. If no suspicious material exists, the device can be returned to the student upon VCAA’s instruction. If illegal or other material requiring mandatory reporting is discovered, this must be reported. Students should be informed of this before the inspection.

Students are required by the VCAA examination rules to cooperate with investigations. A student can withhold consent to inspection of their phone, which will then be treated as a separate breach of the rules.

Initial investigation

When the VCAA receives reports about incidents during external assessments, it may investigate:

a suspected breach of VCAA examination rules
an allegation that a student’s assessment was obtained by fraudulent, illegal or unfair means.

The VCAA will contact schools to request additional information about the student and the incident. The VCAA considers this information to determine whether a formal investigation is required. The VCE coordinator, subject teacher or year coordinator is usually best placed to provide this information.

In its investigation, the VCAA may nominate a person on its behalf to interview the student and any other person who may have information regarding the alleged breach.

A person nominated to interview a student must give them no less than 24 hours’ notice, which:

need not be in writing
may nominate a time and place for the interview
must give particulars of the matter under investigation.

The student must be informed of the matter to be discussed at the interview and any possible further action by the VCAA and their consequences to them.
The person who conducts the interview must submit a written report of the interview to the CEO, VCAA, after the interview as soon as practicable.

Decision to proceed to hearing or issue a written reprimand

The CEO, VCAA, after considering the interview report, may issue the student a written reprimand, request that a review committee conduct a hearing into the matter under investigation or decide that no further action is required.

The VCAA will notify the school if a student’s case has been referred to a review committee and will request that it sends a representative to the hearing as support for the student is important. The Review Committee will ask the school representative to speak about the student’s character and school experience.

Review Committee

Review Committees consists of 3 people who are either VCAA Board members or VCAA staff. The Review Committee Chair must be a VCAA Board member.

Assessment may be withheld pending a decision

The VCAA may withhold the assessment of a student who is required to attend a hearing before a review committee until whichever of the following is later:

the decision of the Review Committee and the expiry of the period of 14 days after the day on which the Review Committee gave its decision verbally at the hearing
if the student applies to an appeals committee for review of the decision, notification to the VCAA by the Appeals Committee of its determination of the application.

The VCAA will advise the school if a student’s results have been withheld. The VCAA aims to finalise all investigations and hearings before the Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC) cut-off date for students to submit changes of preference to VTAC wherever possible.

Notice of hearing

The CEO, VCAA, must give a student who is required to attend a hearing before a Review Committee:

written notice of the hearing no less than 7 working days before the hearing is due to commence
copies of the information and documents the VCAA will refer to at the hearing, no less than 5 working days before the hearing is due to commence.

Procedure of the Review Committee

Review Committees may be assisted by a person nominated by the VCAA who:

is entitled to be present during the proceedings
must make sure all relevant information is put before the Review Committee, however must not act as prosecutor
must advise the Review Committee on any matter it requests, however must not adjudicate on the matter.

Cross-examination of witnesses

The cross-examination of witnesses in a hearing before a Review Committee is at its discretion. Any exercise of this discretion must be consistent with the rules of natural justice.

Legal representation for the student

A student may be represented by a legal practitioner at a hearing before a Review Committee.

Person assisting the Review Committee

Review Committees may be assisted by a person nominated by the VCAA. A person assisting the Review Committee under this section:

is entitled to be present during the proceedings
must make sure that all relevant information is put before the Review Committee, however, must not act as prosecutor
must advise the Review Committee on any matter on which it seeks to be advised, however must not adjudicate on the matter.

Decision of the Review Committee

If the Review Committee is satisfied on the balance of probabilities that a student has contravened the VCAA examination rules or obtained a VCAA assessment by fraudulent, illegal or unfair means, the Review Committee may do one of the following:

reprimand the student
amend or cancel the student’s grade for the external assessment where the contravention occurred
amend or cancel the student’s grade for the external assessment where the contravention occurred, and also amend or cancel any or all of the student’s assessments in the same study, including cancellation of satisfactory completion of the study
amend or cancel the student’s grades for external assessments or other assessments in one or more other studies, including cancellation of satisfactory completion of the study
cancel all the student’s grades for external assessments and other assessments conducted by the VCAA during the year where the contravention occurred or the assessment was obtained, including cancellation of satisfactory completion of the certificate.

Notification of decision

The Review Committee must give its decision:

verbally at the hearing
in writing to the student no later than 7 days after the hearing.

The Review Committee must set out in its written decision:

the reasons for its decision
the findings on material questions of fact that led to the decision.

The Review Committee must notify the VCAA immediately of its decision.

Principals are advised in writing of the outcome of review committee hearings.

Review by an appeals committee

A student affected by a decision of a review committee may apply for review of the decision by an appeals committee on one or both of the following grounds:

the decision was unreasonable
the penalty imposed was too harsh.

An application must be made by notice in writing to the CEO, VCAA, no later than 14 days after the day the Review Committee gave its decision verbally at the hearing. The CEO, VCAA, must refer an application to an appeals committee for determination.

A student may make a written submission to the Appeals Committee, however, is not entitled to be heard in support of the written submission or to appear before the Appeals Committee.

The Appeals Committee must review a decision made by a review committee having regard to all the documents before it, the Review Committee’s written decision, and any written submission made by the student.

In determining an application for review of a decision made by a review committee, an appeals committee may:

affirm the decision under review
vary the decision under review
set aside the decision under review.

An appeals committee must notify the VCAA immediately of its determination of an application for review under this section.

Appointment of an appeals committee

An appeals committee consists of 3 members appointed by the Minister for Education to determine applications for review. The Minister may appoint more than one appeals committee at any time.

A member of an appeals committee must not be a member of the VCAA, a member of a VCAA committee or a VCAA employee. Collectively, the members must have knowledge of the assessment programs of the VCAA, the Education and Training Reform Act and the field of secondary education.

Notification of alteration of record of student assessment

If a student’s assessment is amended or cancelled, the VCAA:

must give written notice to the student concerned
may give written notice to any other person to whom a copy of the student’s record has previously been provided.