By Anders Furze
VCE exams can be intimidating, but they are deliberately designed to offer students multiple entry points that give them the chance to show off their learning.
“Every student deserves the right to be able to demonstrate their learning knowledge and skills and be assessed on these,” says Helen Billett, the English chief assessor.
Year 12 students at Strathcona Girls Grammar School.Credit: Joe Armao
“That is what it means to create a fair paper. That’s not to say that every student finds the exam straightforward, but a well-prepared student should find an accessible invitation in each section to show their skills and knowledge.”
An English sequence is the only compulsory part of the VCE curriculum, and most students will study unit 3/4 English. When these have been finished, a pool of teachers from across the state will mark the students’ responses.
“It is important that we have representation from the government, Catholic and independent sectors in the exam-marking process,” Billett says. “We aim to introduce 10 per cent new markers each year. Bringing in new teachers ensures that we are constantly refreshing the team.”
However, she notes they also retain 90 per cent of existing markers to “improve accuracy and precision in assessment”.
Strathcona Girls Grammar students: exams are a chance to show you understand complex ideas. Credit: Joe Armao
As for what markers are looking for, Billett says they read every written word, give each essay due consideration and look to reward skills and knowledge. Each paper is read carefully, and the assessor uses the assessment criteria, as well as their skills and knowledge, to assign the paper a rank out of 10 based on ″expected qualities″ – the descriptors used to assign marks.
All responses are independently marked at least twice, and assessors don’t see another assessor’s marks. Markers will also only mark one of the three essays the student writes in the exam, ensuring that “separate professional judgments” are made about the student’s responses.
“It’s a very thorough process,” Billett says.
Even the most well-prepared students can stumble if they don’t address the question or task before them.
“It is vital to answer the question in Section A,″ Billett says. ″The markers are looking to see if students can distinguish between relevant and irrelevant material. They are also looking to see the degree to which the student understands the complexity of the ideas they are presenting.”
It can be confusing when students are told that there is “no one right answer” to English questions. But markers are assessing the students’ skills, Billet notes – from their knowledge of how to create a reading, to how authors achieve a purpose with a text, and analytical thinking.
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