Examination committees
An Examination Committee is appointed to develop the examination paper. Examination committees are structured to have, as far as possible, equal numbers of tertiary and secondary members, representation from non-metropolitan areas, gender balance and representation from both government and non-government schools. Examination Committee members are nominated by a selection panel and are approved by the Chief Executive on behalf of the Board.
Examination Committee members are provided with training to support them in their work to develop examinations and marking guidelines. The Chief Examiner and committee members, as well as being given opportunities to familiarise themselves with the course syllabus and previous examination papers, are provided with training in the nature of assessment in a standards-referenced framework; the standards-setting process in the Higher School Certificate; the examination-setting process and the roles and responsibilities of the people involved; and elements of examination setting (the examination brief, marking guidelines, rubrics, the Board’s principles, achievement bands, glossary of terms).
All members of the Examination Committee, including the Chief Examiner, are provided with a booklet of guidelines on the writing of examination questions and take part in training sessions covering: the outcomes-based approach of HSC syllabuses; principles and processes for setting examinations and developing marking guidelines; roles and responsibilities; and item design.
Adapted from Masters, G.N. (2002) Fair and Meaningful Measures? A review of examination procedures in the NSW Higher School Certificate, p15.
How exam committees work
Chief Examiner
For each HSC course, the Chief Examiner (CE) chairs the Examination Committee.
The process by which CEs are appointed includes a call for expressions of interest circulated to current chairs, members of examination committees and academics. Nominations of appropriate people also are sought from Board Inspectors. Senior Assessment Officers of the Board evaluate applicants against a set of criteria, and the appointment is made on the recommendation of a selection panel chaired by the President of the Board and including representatives of school systems, the university sector and senior Board officers.
The CE provides leadership to the committee in the preparation of the examination paper and the guidelines for marking the examination. It is the CE’s responsibility to ensure that the final examination is accurate and error-free, conforms to the examination specifications, and addresses an appropriate range of content and intended learning outcomes in the course syllabus. The CE also responds to any issues raised about the examination and is a spokesperson, when required, for the Examination Committee.
Following the sitting of the examination, the CE participates in the standards-setting process for the examination and provides a report to the Board’s Consultative Committee.
Examination development
The Examination Committee meets over a number of days between October and April. The CE leads the committee in the drafting of questions and guidelines consistent with the examination brief and the Board’s operational requirements.
The Board Assessment Officer, as project manager, works with the CE to plan meetings of the committee to ensure that the draft paper is prepared by the due date and provides guidance to committee members in the writing of questions and marking guidelines.
Board Inspectors or, where appropriate, the Curriculum Officer review drafts at various stages of development to ensure that questions are interpreting the syllabus correctly and that marking guidelines describe standards of performance consistent with the intentions of the syllabus.
Assessment officers ensure that the draft paper is consistent with the examination specifications, complies with the Board’s principles, uses key terms in accordance with the Board’s glossary, and is formatted in accordance with Board style.
Review and evaluation
Once the draft examination paper and accompanying marking guidelines have been developed, they are subjected to a variety of reviews.
Multiple-Choice Review – An independent expert reviews all multiple-choice questions on the examination and provides feedback and suggestions to the Examination Committee.
Assessor Review – A practising teacher (in some cases more than one) provides answers/worked solutions to all questions except extended-response questions. For extended-response questions, the assessor is asked to indicate the characteristics they would expect a high-quality response to have. They also are asked to comment on such features as the wording of questions, clarity of instructions, accuracy of content, level of difficulty, space provided for answers, and the extent to which the paper is likely to be accessible to candidates at all levels of ability.
Curriculum Review – The Board Inspector or delegate reviews each examination paper to verify its appropriateness to the syllabus, including whether the examination tests a representative sampling of content and outcomes, whether the level of difficulty is such that it allows students to demonstrate performance at all levels on the achievement scale, and to verify that all questions have been correctly mapped against syllabus outcomes, content and band descriptions. In addition to these three major reviews, the examination paper is subjected to a number of other reviews including:
Copy Editor Review – An independent professional copy editor checks the paper against the Test Development Style manual, checking spelling, punctuation, grammar and clarity of expression.
Vision/Hearing Impairment Review – Specialists in visual and hearing impairment provide advice on amendments to questions to assist candidates with visual and/or hearing loss.
Examination Operations Branch Review – The Examination Operations Branch reviews instructions and layout for clarity and ease of use for candidates, presiding officers and markers.
The Supervisor of Marking reviews the draft marking guidelines for consistency with the Board’s principles for marking guidelines and to ensure that they are appropriate for the marking operation. The Supervisor of Marking signs-off that the final guidelines are consistent with the Board’s requirements for effective and efficient marking.
The Examination Committee considers and responds to issues raised through this set of reviews, making changes to questions and marking guidelines where necessary. A review group checks that all issues raised in the review phase have been adequately addressed by the Examination Committee. Any unresolved issues at this stage are referred to the Head of the Test Development Unit for negotiation and resolution. The Assessment Officer ensures that all agreed changes are made.
The examination paper is then proofread by the CE and the Assessment Officer. The final examination is signed off by the CE and countersigned by one other committee member. The marking guidelines are signed off by the CE and countersigned by the Supervisor of Marking.
The final stage is to evaluate each year’s paper following the examination and to forward all feedback on the paper to the CE for consideration in developing the following year’s paper.
Adapted from Masters, G.N. (2002) Fair and Meaningful Measures? A review of examination procedures in the NSW Higher School Certificate, p14–16.