SAC scores do not match with GA 1&2

[LaurenRoth18]

Hi AN, I have a question regarding SAC marks and my final study score -

I did Chemistry this year and got a 33 raw. My GAs were B / B+ / B+. While I think GA3 reflects my exam performance GA 1 and 2 do not match with my SAC scores. I had gotten A’s in 3 SACs (2 of which were on the borderline of A+) and two B+’s. I go to a selective school so it’s a strong cohort and SACs are unlikely to be moderated down.

I’m just wondering if this is something worth checking up on? Has this happened before, and if so - what came out of it? Thank you!

[Joseph41]

I know you've said your SACs being moderated down is unlikely, but that seems to be the most likely explanation to me. Grade labels ("A", "B" and so on) can be pretty arbitrary. Like, an 85 at one school might be considered an A+, but a B+ at another.

I'd recommend chatting to your teachers, though, if you think the results aren't right. Mistakes aren't absolutely unheard of.

[ItsYaBoyd]

Hi AN, I have a question regarding SAC marks and my final study score -

I did Chemistry this year and got a 33 raw. My GAs were B / B+ / B+. While I think GA3 reflects my exam performance GA 1 and 2 do not match with my SAC scores. I had gotten A’s in 3 SACs (2 of which were on the borderline of A+) and two B+’s. I go to a selective school so it’s a strong cohort and SACs are unlikely to be moderated down.

I’m just wondering if this is something worth checking up on? Has this happened before, and if so - what came out of it? Thank you!

Hmm it is strange that your SACs would go down at a selective school. Is it possible that the more highly ranked students didn't perform as well as their SACs suggested? If ranks 1-3 for example got A+s (unmoderated) on their SACs but yet only got B+ to A on the exam, it is possible that the whole cohorts SAC scores would be moderated down as (according to VCAA) it suggests that your school's SACs were easier than the actual exam. Don't take my word for it though, but it is a possibility. Maybe check with the highly ranked students (if they are willing) and see how they went on the exam.

[Lear]

A common misconception is that the whole cohort is somehow scaled up or down by a factor. Rather, SACs can scale up for the top end whole scale down for the bottom. This is because SAC scores are dependent on the performance of the cohort externally.

Here’s an example with 4 people.
The top two are super strong while the bottom two are weak.

The top two ranks will likely do very well on the exam and their sacs will likely scale up as their own exam scores become their sac scores.
On the other hand, the bottom two may not have done so well so their SACs scale down to meet their exam scores. Hence, the top two will see an increase in SACs while the bottom two will see a decrease.

As a person of your exact cohort, I think our top end did quite well while our medium to low end may have not performed as well as expected. I also think our school decided to make our internal SACs slightly easier than last year and hence SACs may not have been truly reflective of abilities.

[DoctorTwo]

Hi, I didn’t want to start another thread for this, but this post got me thinking about when the grade distributions will be released. Does anyone know what date vcaa usually does this? Also, does anyone know when they should/usually upload this year’s exams?

[PhoenixxFire]

Hi, I didn’t want to start another thread for this, but this post got me thinking about when the grade distributions will be released. Does anyone know what date vcaa usually does this? Also, does anyone know when they should/usually upload this year’s exams?

Exams won't be out until early next year, not sure about grade distributions

[Sine]

Hi, I didn’t want to start another thread for this, but this post got me thinking about when the grade distributions will be released. Does anyone know what date vcaa usually does this? Also, does anyone know when they should/usually upload this year’s exams?

I think something lile Late february, early march

Hi AN, I have a question regarding SAC marks and my final study score -

I did Chemistry this year and got a 33 raw. My GAs were B / B+ / B+. While I think GA3 reflects my exam performance GA 1 and 2 do not match with my SAC scores. I had gotten A’s in 3 SACs (2 of which were on the borderline of A+) and two B+’s. I go to a selective school so it’s a strong cohort and SACs are unlikely to be moderated down.

I’m just wondering if this is something worth checking up on? Has this happened before, and if so - what came out of it? Thank you!

Lear hits a lot of the key points.

Also not all selective schools have that crazy scaling and it is also year dependent. What is important was your rank in your cohort if you were quite high I would be checking into it.