Understanding the NSW Achievement Scale (A-E)

The NSW Five-Level Achievement Scale

Since 2014, NSW public schools have used a standardised five-level achievement scale (A-E) for reporting student progress in Years 1-10. This system, mandated by the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA), provides consistency across all NSW schools and helps parents understand their child's achievement relative to syllabus expectations.

Understanding Each Achievement Level

A - Outstanding

The student demonstrates extensive knowledge and understanding of content, and applies highly developed skills and processes in a wide variety of contexts. The student consistently produces work of exceptional quality that shows synthesis and evaluation of ideas, and applies sophisticated critical analysis.

B - High

The student demonstrates thorough knowledge and understanding of content, and applies well-developed skills and processes in most contexts. Work is consistently of high quality, showing depth of understanding with effective analysis and evaluation.

C - Sound

The student demonstrates sound knowledge and understanding of the main areas of content, and applies skills and processes in familiar contexts. Work is generally of good quality, meeting syllabus expectations and showing satisfactory understanding.

D - Basic

The student demonstrates basic knowledge and understanding of content, and applies skills and processes in routine contexts. Work meets minimum syllabus requirements but shows limited depth of understanding or application.

E - Elementary

The student demonstrates elementary knowledge and understanding of content, and applies skills and processes with teacher guidance. Work partially meets syllabus requirements and shows emerging understanding of fundamental concepts.

Special Cases and Exceptions

Kindergarten Reporting

Kindergarten students are not assessed using the A-E scale. Instead, reports describe progress using descriptive statements aligned with Early Stage 1 outcomes. See our Kindergarten reporting guide for more information.

Students with Disability

Students working towards outcomes below their year level may be assessed using the Personalised Learning and Support (PL&S) scale (P4 to P1). This approach recognises progress in relation to individualised goals rather than year-level expectations.

Year 11-12 HSC Reporting

Senior secondary reporting uses numerical scores (0-100) and rankings rather than the A-E scale, reflecting the HSC assessment framework and ATAR calculations.

Writing Comments Aligned with Achievement Levels

Your written comments should clearly reflect and justify the grade awarded. An 'A' grade comment should describe sophisticated understanding and application, while a 'C' grade comment should describe sound, age-appropriate achievement.

Many teachers struggle with this alignment, particularly when trying to write personalised comments for 30+ students across multiple subjects. This is where AI tools trained on NSW standards can help maintain consistency and alignment while preserving your teacher judgement about each student's actual achievement.

Common Misconceptions

• "Most students should get C": While C represents sound achievement meeting syllabus expectations, the distribution of grades should reflect actual student performance, not a forced curve.
• "Grades should match effort": Achievement grades reflect syllabus outcomes, not effort. Effort is reported separately on NSW reports.
• "A grades are rare": If students consistently demonstrate outstanding achievement, they should receive A grades regardless of class distribution.

For practical examples of comments at each achievement level, visit our comment library or review our best practices guide.