It’s a warm, sunny day, and inside a dark industrial shed at Sydney Olympic Park, dozens of teachers are sitting under fluorescent lighting, staring at banks of computers.

They’re engrossed in phase one of marking roughly 67,000 English essays, a process which starts with a small group reading about 10 per cent to get a sense of the full spectrum of responses. There are the students who triumphed, the ones who regurgitated a memorised essay, and those with handwriting requiring patient interpretation.

“We’re in the phase of reading a very large number of scripts to see how students respond to our particular questions,” says Laura Craven.

Craven is a supervisor of marking who oversees those marking a single essay questions about texts and human experiences. She is on the hunt for students who answered the question perfectly and scored 20 out of 20.

“We are trying to find different types of 20s, I suppose, and different types of 19s and different types of 18s, so that when the markers do arrive for their briefing of the standards, they can see different ways into the question and the different ways students can respond.”

A “standard kit” is used to educate markers how students should be answering questions.

Essays are checked, double-marked, sometimes triple-marked.

Teachers marking, usually from home, are sent what is known as dummy scripts which test them to ensure they are scoring those essays in line with the guidelines. Those who fail to grade it correctly are locked out. They are only permitted re-entry after “a conversation” with the senior marker about standards.

For students who might have trouble remembering a quote from a text, supervisor of marking Andrew Mitchell said teachers are sympathetic.

“There’s a difference between a made-up quote and a kid, 40 minutes in exam conditions, getting a quote a little bit wrong,” he said.

While some students might imagine HSC markers are stern and constantly irritated by students’ responses, the opposite is true, says marker Mika Rodic.

“You never lose marks. You’re awarded for what you do. It’s positive,” she said.

Supervisor of marking Geoffrey Kemmis is overseeing a section of the English advanced exam, in which students were asked to write a piece of creative writing in response to a picture of a large clock with Roman numerals, and human figures in the foreground. Kemmis said those who write creatively, but do not engage with the picture, do not score well.

“They will miss the guidelines, they will miss the question, and therefore they don’t get the marks,” he said.

Better responses this year homed in on specifics, such as the student who focused on a barely noticeable small child.

His section is at the end of the page so he tends to notice when the handwriting gives an impression of haste before the finish time.

“You can always tell if they suddenly run out of time. They can see their ideas just spilling onto the page,” he said.

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.