All from Years 11 and 12
TASC Level 3 and Level 4 courses include an externally assessed component which is managed by TASC. The external assessment may be a written exam, oral assessment, practical assessment, a folio or project assessment.
2024 external assessment timetables:
If you are sitting exams, your school will receive a printed copy of the Student Exam Guide to give to you at the start of Term 4.
An electronic copy of the 2024 Student Exam Guide is available for reference. The Exam Guide covers the essential information you need to prepare for your end-of-year exams and assessments.
Use the new resource about How to answer written exam questions and understand exam marking. It explains the type of response you need to provide to receive any marks and how you should respond if you think there is an exam error.
You can also use the Exam-Ready Study Tips and study plan template to prepare for your exams.
Previous Exam Papers
Previous exam papers for all current TASC Courses have been collated on a single webpage to help with revision and practise.
Reading Time is now Preparation Time
During the 15 minutes of preparation time at the start of an exam, you can highlight and take notes on the provided notepaper, but you should not start writing any answers in your exam paper/booklets until the Supervisor announces that working time has started.
Use the allocated preparation time as intended to benefit you in correctly understanding questions and having well-structured answers that can be awarded the highest marks. The exam paper is designed to be comfortably completed during the allocated working time (either 2 or 3 hours depending on the exam).
DO:
DON’T:
Improved Exam Paper Accessibility for Everyone
From 2023, written exam papers are easier to read, with minor changes to font size, spacing and alignment to meet accessibility requirements. Having optimal layout of the content in exam papers benefits everyone sitting exams, as it easier to see and take in what the questions are asking.
The main visible changes are the larger font (12-point font), increased line spacing (1.5 lines) and the criterion/criteria being assessed moving from the front cover to the first page (below the Guide to Exam Structure).
Adjustments and supports are available to assist students in particular circumstances. See:
Handling end-of-year pressure
The infosheet Managing Exam Stress links to key resources to assist you in managing the very normal feelings of pre-exam nerves. As well as being able to tell if it’s becoming too much and you need more help. The Student Exam Guide also includes Tips for staying CALM during exams to help you stay focused.
Importantly, talk with your teachers about your assessments and how you can prepare. Your teachers help prepare students for their exams every year and can provide expert advice.
Have you seen REACHOUT.com’s exam stress toolkit? It has stories and practical tips from recent students, checklists, action plans and tips and articles about handling end-of-year pressure and stress in ways that work for you, and secrets to study success.
What if I need some support?
Don’t hesitate to ask for help. There are people who can assist you. Reach out to family, friends and your teachers or others at your school, about how you are feeling and if you need a hand.
If you don’t feel like you can talk to someone you know, call or chat with one of these great agencies that are set up to support you:
Everyone participating in external assessments and exams must follow the same rules. See the External Assessment Rules and the student factsheet Exam Rules – A Student Guide (PDF, 2.3MB). Revisions have been made to the formatting, wording and layout of the exam rules to make them easier to understand and clarify how they apply to different assessment formats (such as written exams and folios). The content and intent of the rules has not changed.
The Academic integrity page and Academic integrity guide both provide information about:
All students are expected to observe the highest standards of honesty and integrity in the work they submit for assessment.
It is fine to use other people’s information, images, ideas or words (including material you get from the internet) in your own work but you must be clear and open about what you have used, whose material it was and where you got it from.
The use of a wide range of sources of information shows that you have undertaken good preparation and study. External markers reading or viewing your work must be able to clearly see what parts of it are your own work, and what parts you have used from other people’s work, and where you got the information.
If you hand in work that is not all your own work and you do not reference it appropriately, this is called plagiarism, which is a form of cheating.
If you are caught cheating, you risk the cancellation of your external results and possibly all of your results for the year, for both internally and externally assessed subjects.
When you submit your Student Declaration you are agreeing to comply with the TASC academic integrity requirements.
A Student Declaration must be completed by all students who are undertaking one or more TASC courses.
When you complete the Student Declaration you are:
TASC is committed to protecting information collected through this process and the handling of data in accordance with the Personal Information Protection Act 2004. See how TASC manages information protection and access.
More information about the Student Declaration and the online declaration form is available on the TASC Student Declaration page.
Notice of External Assessment:
You will receive a Notice of External Assessment (NoE), sometimes called a ‘pink slip’ (printed on pink paper), in mid-October with information about where you will sit your external assessment for Level 3 or 4 Courses, including written, oral and practical exams.
Usually, you will sit exams at your school or another exam centre nearby. You MUST bring your Notice of External Assessment to every exam.
If you misplace your Notice of External Assessment, contact your school immediately to have another one printed. If you do not have your Notice of External Assessment with you on the day of an exam, you will need to contact your TASC Liaison Officer (unless otherwise directed by your school) who will print a new one. You will not be given extra time for your exam to compensate for the time spent getting a new Notice of External Assessment.
If you have an exam timetable clash, your Notice of External Assessment will advise of your individual exam timetable changes. If you do not have a correct Notice of External Assessment before your exams, you will need to speak with your school’s TASC Liaison Officer who will print you a new one.
TASC ID:
You are given a TASC ID when you register with TASC. Your TASC ID will have two numbers, one letter, followed by five numbers. For example, 16K18367.
Your TASC ID and your exam papers are on your allocated desk for each written exam. You can also see your TASC ID on your Notice of External Assessment.
Your TASC ID is the only identification which is allowed on your external assessment material. Your name or school must not appear on any exam paper, folio, display or other work you submit for external assessment.
In the lead up to exams:
Practising with past exam papers:
What to take into your exam:
What can’t you take into your exam:
You must turn off and leave items you are not allowed to have during your exam in the area provided. Exam Supervisors have the right to check any material brought into the exam room and remove any unauthorised material.
See the External Assessment Rules for the full list of items not allowed and the penalties applied.
You are expected to be ready to attend the scheduled exams for Level 3 and 4 courses as they are a necessary part of your assessment for that particular course.
The 2024 written exam period is from Monday 11 November to Thursday 21 November 2024.
If you are planning to travel interstate or overseas at the time of your exams to participate in a recognised National or International sporting, academic, or cultural event or for another exceptional circumstance, you need to make an application for a special exam centre to complete your exam.
You must apply before 1 July and be prepared to cover the cost associated with having a special exam centre. TASC will look at whether it is possible to set up a special exam centre where you will be and any risks to the integrity of the exam paper. For more information, talk to your school about Requesting a special exam centre.
If you unexpectedly can’t attend your exam because:
For more information and the required timeframes, see Illness & emergency during exams.
Derived exam ratings will be applied to determine your results, if it is accepted that you are sick or experience an emergency and can’t attend your exam (in whole or in part).
Derived exam ratings are restricted to students experiencing unfortunate and unplanned circumstances, such as being sick, an emergency or other exceptional unexpected circumstances.
For more information, see Derived Exam Ratings.
For some courses, you must submit a folio or project as part of your external assessment.
See Folio assessment.
Term 3 is when students start thinking about how best to prepare for the external assessments at the end of year. TASC has developed student resources with the information students most wanted to know (based on what they told us in the 2021 TASC Student Survey):
TASC’s Previous exam papers page is a helpful revision resource. This page includes links to past written exam papers for all current Level 3 and 4 courses. The exam audio files are also included for language and EAL/D exams.