13 Aug 2021
Dear HSC Students,
In the last week, there has been a lot of conflicting information about the HSC Oral examination. This can be really unsettling and distracting. I will attempt to answer some of your questions.
The Oral exams have been cancelled by NESA and schools have been asked to provide an Oral mark which will be moderated against the rest of the written HSC paper in October. NESA has data to show how oral and written marks tend to compare - they can see patterns of performance and have the means to do the moderation with the marks we send.
Here are the main points of the plan that we have made at NSW School of Languages. We have 900 HSC students from over 400 schools across the state, so we have made decisions that will apply to whatever your situation may be.
- NSL will not be holding another Speaking Examination
- NSL will submit to NESA a moderated estimate mark based on each student’s recent achievement in their course. As experienced professionals, our teachers have proven every year that the marks we send to NESA are consistently close to the final HSC results
- As is normal practice, students will not be given their ranking for the mark submitted to NESA
- All students are automatically included in the COVID 19 Special Consideration category
- NSL will do everything possible to ensure that our students are not unduly disadvantaged by the COVID changes.
- Students should continue to study for the upcoming assessment and work with their teacher.
Take some deep breaths, think some happy thoughts and know that you have the resilience to find your way through these rocky times. Here are some ideas to help you. Reach out for support if you need it.
Wishing you well with your studies.
Hilary Hughes
Principal