The school-based assessment system of the ACT allows for assessments that uniquely suit the cohort of students and their teacher while maintaining academic rigour and high standards. Working within the course Framework and Achievement Standards, the teacher has flexibility to design assessment of different types that take into account student interest, background knowledge and experience, leading to more student engagement and more validity of assessment results. The Quality Assessment Guidelines describe the principles behind constructing assessment that produces valid, reliable and fair results.
Assessment in the ACT is continuous school-based assessment. This means there are no external subject-based examinations. Courses are taught and assessed unit by unit. A unit of study is organised around a particular theme or skillset and has a value based on the time the unit took to deliver. A Standard Unit is 55 hours and is typically taught over one semester. Moderation is conducted every semester to ensure comparability of grades from different schools and the ACT Scaling Test (AST), a higher order thinking and problem solving examination, is used to compare scores from different schools and support calculation of the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR).
Schools make reasonable adjustments to assessment conditions to ensure that students with justified needs can still demonstrate the standards required to achieve the possible A-E grades for that unit of study. More information is in the Equitable Assessment and Special Consideration section of the website.
There is also a comprehensive process of reviews and appeals, based on principles of natural justice.