Internal assessment

In the QCE system, schools set internal assessments for General and Extension subjects and Essential English and Essential Mathematics.

But before schools can use an assessment in class with students, the QCAA checks it is suitable by following an annual process called endorsement.

Schools must develop three summative internal assessment instruments per subject. Summative means that the assessment will count towards a student’s final grade.

The QCAA supports teachers with online training, assessment templates and other resources that help them to design quality assessments.

Each year 1000 QCAA assessors review about 30,000 assessments. The assessors are teachers training in endorsement procedures and their job is to decide if a school’s assessment instrument meets the criteria for endorsement.

They look at the degree to which an assessment has two of the QCAA’s attributes of quality assessment. These are validity and accessibility.

Validity asks whether the assessment will accurately measure what it’s intended to measure. A valid assessment will align with what is taught and learnt in class.

Accessibility is the extent to which the assessment will provide all students with a clear understanding of how to demonstrate what they’ve learnt.

Once an assessment is endorsed, it can be used in class.

If an assessment is not endorsed, the QCAA advises the school of the changes needed and the process and timeline to resubmit it.

We encourage schools to consult with the lead endorser during this process.

The QCAA’s assessors will then review and re-evaluate the reworked assessment.

As before, if endorsed, the assessment can be used in class.

Endorsement gives schools confidence that their assessment will let students show what they know and can do in a subject.

The process also supports teachers to develop quality assessments to a standard that’s comparable across Queensland schools.

Each year, thousands of senior students do three internal assessments in General and General (Extension) subjects.

The QCAA endorses them before use in class.

Teachers mark students’ responses using the instrument-specific marking guide in the subject syllabus and provide a provisional mark.

Schools then submit these provisional student marks for each assessment to the QCAA.

To ensure these results are fair, reliable and comparable across schools, the QCAA uses a process called confirmation.

We select the student samples to review, ensuring a range of marks are considered.

The number of samples varies depending on the size of the cohort, the provisional marks and the assessment.

After the samples are identified, schools upload the student work along with the ISMG showing how teachers made provisional mark judgements.

About 3000 experienced teachers from schools all over Queensland work as assessors to review these samples of work.

We review about 150,000 student assessment responses from schools per year.

Lead and chief confirmers review the assessors’ work as the final quality assurance step.

These review decisions are then analysed to determine the level of agreement with the school’s provisional marks. If a cohort pattern can’t be determined, we review more student responses from the school before the results are confirmed.

Once a clear pattern is identified, students’ results in that assessment are finalised.

Confirmation outcomes show teachers in Queensland mark students’ work with a high level of consistency and accuracy.

The QCAA gives schools a report showing each student’s confirmed result before it is published in a student’s learning account in the Student Portal. This lets teachers consider any mark movements and seek further advice from the QCAA, if needed.

A school may request a review of a confirmed result after talking with the student and their parent or carer. An additional independent review then takes place and marks may be adjusted or stay the same. The outcome is final.

At the end of the school year, the QCAA combines a student’s confirmed results in each summative internal assessment with their external assessment result to give a final subject result out of 100 and a grade from A to E.

When access to assessment is adversely affected, schools may apply access arrangements and reasonable adjustments, otherwise known as AARA, so students can demonstrate what they have learned during their studies, on the same basis as their peers. AARA can help students with:

• long-term and chronic conditions, such as vision impairment, intellectual disability, physical impairment, a specific learning disorder, attention deficit disorder, autism spectrum disorder or diabetes
• short-term conditions and temporary injuries, such as a broken limb, a cold or mild concussion
• mental health conditions, such as anxiety and depression
• illness and misadventure, such as measles, flu or other unexpected events such as flooding or the loss of a loved one during the exam period.

Decisions about AARA are based on a student’s individual circumstances and the impact of those circumstances on their assessment. So, AARA may be different for students with the same diagnosis, condition, circumstance or subject enrolment.

Students should talk to their school about the likely impact of their circumstances on their assessment and the adjustments they might need. This could be:

• different exam conditions, such as extra time, rest breaks or a separate supervised room
• different format papers
• use of a computer and assistive technology such as a screen reader, speech recognition or magnification software
• or rescheduling of internal assessment.

Schools will discuss the student’s circumstances with them and their parents or carers, confirm what documentation, if any, is required, and submit an AARA application to the QCAA on the student’s behalf if needed.