VCE Behind the Scenes: Moderation, Rankings, Scaling, Aggregates

SnekiSnek

Thank you for this very informative post! Even if you're not ranked number one in your cohort, can you still get the highest study score?

Sine

SnekiSnek

Yes definitely that is possible. In larger cohorts that are quite strong in the top end it is common for someone not ranked 1 to get the highest study score.

Gabe-iitch05

what happens if half of your cohort is strong and the other half isn't and there is a gap in between the average percentages, is that going to affect sac moderation at the end of the day?

Sine

Gabe-iitch05

Not really, the only issues arise when someone is in the bottom half but on the exam scores in the top half (or the opposite) as a result of someone either being incorrectly ranked too high or too low

chemistry1111

what sac scores do you need to be getting a 40 plus atar in biology. Thanks

Sine

chemistry1111

Sac scores arent that important what is important is your rank in your cohort.

It is a bit hard to say what rank you need since we need to know about other students in your cohort and the strength of your cohort.

God

A question I've always struggled with is with the Unit 3 mark and the Unit 4 mark.

On the statement of marks (for bio), there was two different scores....

Does this mean there is a rank for unit 3 (seperate to unit 4)

If so - does anyone know they split unit-3 and unit-4 concepts on the exam? So that ur unit 3 SAC score is based on how u perform on the unit-3 questions (presuming sac rank = exam rank)

Thanks!

Sine

God

Unit 3 sacs and unit 4 sacs are separate so you get two different ranks. Cohort exam results therefore may scale them differently if you have different ranks.

On the exam units are not separated

chemistry1111

so it really depends on your ranking. Also do our sac scores get adjusted by VCAA or do they stay the same?

schoolstudent115

chemistry1111 Your SAC rankings are preserved, but then to get your final Unit 3 and Unit 4 scores, they allegedly (this is the 'consensus') use your cohort's exam scores and then use your ranking to find the corresponding exam score. E.g. If you are rank 2 in Unit 3 sacs, then your Unit 3 final score will be equal to the 2nd highest exam score in your cohort. Now there seems to be other significant adjustment made after that, as I ordered a statement of marks and the result was nonsensical under this interpretation.

There are sometimes (small) statistical moderations after that if you happen to be on the border of a quartile in your class, but this is not really important.

santasia33

hi, I just have a quick question because I’m still a bit confused,
if the top rank in ur school for sacs gets the second highest exam rank
and say you’re the second rank for sacs but you get the highest exam rank

who would have the higher study score?

because I understand that the top rank would then take your exam score for their sac, and then keep their exam score for the other half of their study score, and the same would happen for you as you would take their exam score for ur sac but keep ur score, so would it just be the same or would they have a higher one?

James385

santasia33

It depends on how heavily the exams are weighted. For example Methods is 2/3 exam score whereas English is only half. Also depends on how much better the student did on their exam.

Ultimately, no one truly knows how scaling / scoring works precisely. And I would argue knowing that doesn't change anything you do. You're still going to try your best no matter what.

Good luck for the rest of the year! Focus on what you can control and the rest will sort itself out 😃

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