Sac marks And exam HELP!

[TheEagle]

So I got my further maths sac mark for core and was not that happy with the score and ranking. I got b+ and ranked 7th out of 14. I have 3 more sac left. Can I redeem myself and get a higher ranking? How crucial is this

[Joseph41]

Hey TheEagle! Sorry to hear you weren't happy with your mark/ranking.

"Can I redeem myself and get a higher ranking?"
Honestly, I think you've answered this yourself in saying this: "I have 3 more sac left".

There are countless stories of students who started with a relatively low rank and then climbed their way to the top. This may not be easy, but with three SACs left, you certainly have the opportunity to do it. All hope is not lost.

"How crucial is this"
Depends on your perspective and what you're aiming for, I guess! Rankings are important in a sense but they're not the absolute end of world. What sort of study score are you aiming for if any?

[TheEagle]

Thanks.

I’m aiming for a score in the 40’s or a 50. The fact that the sacs at my school are made very open ended, it confuses me last minute. Like it doesn’t show the amount of marks worth and isn’t specific.

[Joseph41]

Like it doesn’t show the amount of marks worth and isn’t specific.

This seems pretty weird to me given number of marks can be a good indicator of how much working out you need to show etc. Is that the same across all subjects or just for Further?

EDIT: My ranking for Further wouldn't have been particularly high, btw, but I only dropped one mark across the two exams (worth quite a bit in Further), and ended up with a 45. Ranking isn't everything.

[TheEagle]

It’s only across further but I’ve heard methods has a similar approach but I’m doing methods 3/4 next year.

That’s tough. One mark cost you 5 study scores! Do you have an idea of your ranking, an approximate?

[Joseph41]

That’s tough. One mark cost you 5 study scores! Do you have an idea of your ranking, an approximate?

I wouldn't say one mark cost me five study score points. If I held rank one, that might have been the case, but I didn't. I reckon I would have been at like, the 75th percentile or something. Not really sure, but definitely not right at the very top.

[NomotivationF]

That’s tough. One mark cost you 5 study scores! Do you have an idea of your ranking, an approximate?

Yeah Further is rough in terms of marks dropped on the exam but from what I’ve heard it has improved a tiny bit over the past few years. I dropped 4 marks in 2018 across the two exams and ended up with a 44, whereas if I dropped 4 marks a few years back it would’ve cost a lot more marks.

[TheEagle]

Out of curiosity, what were you ranked?

[S_R_K]

The fact that the sacs at my school are made very open ended, it confuses me last minute. Like it doesn’t show the amount of marks worth and isn’t specific.

All schools (or at least, those attempting to satisfy VCAA's assessment guidelines) are writing SACs like this, for all maths subjects, so you are not being disadvantaged or treated unfairly by being given SACs of that format. SACs which are very prescriptive and include the amount of marks per question (ie. exam style tasks) have failed VCAA audits.

[NomotivationF]

Out of curiosity, what were you ranked?

I was ranked 33 out of a cohort of 158. I scored 93/100 in sacs which got scaled to 95/100

[TAN0054]

I got 68% on my first Further Sac which im pretty bumed about.
Does that mean i would need a 90% + on all other Sacs and exams to to even consider a 40 ss?

[Snow Leopard]

All schools (or at least, those attempting to satisfy VCAA's assessment guidelines) are writing SACs like this, for all maths subjects, so you are not being disadvantaged or treated unfairly by being given SACs of that format. SACs which are very prescriptive and include the amount of marks per question (ie. exam style tasks) have failed VCAA audits.

Sorry to bump an old thread but I was wondering if schools are actually expected to write Maths Sacs like this.

[colline]

Sorry to bump an old thread but I was wondering if schools are actually expected to write Maths Sacs like this.

Yes VCAA expects schools to write “wacky” questions that aren’t too straightforward and similar to the ones you’d get on exams, but most schools will still find their way around this and try to make SAC questions as similar to exam questions as possible. However there are still requirements for SACs to make it considerably different. For example, the first methods SAC span ~6 periods and would normally include one or two collaborative parts - clearly different to the structure of the exam.

However I’ve never heard of SAC questions not specifying how many marks a question is worth. That might differ from school to school.