How to write a rubric or marking guide with the 4Cs

A marking guide helps you and your students see what the task is looking for. Start with the learning. Decide what students will do to show it. Then describe the differences you will look for in their work.

TeaCheese uses the 4Cs to help you shape those descriptions: Curriculum, Cognition, Complexity and Context. Below, real screens show how the suggestions work and how a saved guide connects to an assessment.

Start with the learning and the task

ACARA explains how curriculum and assessment work together. Choose the part of the achievement standard you want to assess. Then check that the task gives students a way to show that learning.

Use the content descriptions to add the topic detail. ACARA’s planning guidance explains how teachers use both content descriptions and achievement standards. Check the curriculum and assessment rules used by your school. See the curriculum choices in TeaCheese.

1. Choose the learning you want to assess.
2. Read the selected C wording in the guide.
3. Use the 4Cs to shape A, then build and review the other bands.
4. Compare the guide with the work students will actually submit.
5. Check the completed guide before locking it and downloading Word.

Keep C as your starting point

In the TeaCheese builder, C keeps the selected curriculum wording. You shape A, B, D and E around that learning. You do not need to rewrite C to make the guide sound more impressive.

QCAA’s marking guide blueprint is a Queensland example. It starts with the relevant learning at C and describes clear differences across the other levels. Follow your school’s own scale and marking process.

Look for a real difference in the work. Words such as “excellent” or “good” do not tell students what to do. Clearer descriptions might explain how well students use evidence, connect ideas or apply a skill.

What do the four Cs mean?

The 4Cs are how TeaCheese organises its suggestions. They are not a separate curriculum or an official grading scale. Use them to ask four useful questions about the same learning.

A real Year 5 Mathematics example

This example starts with converting between time shown in 12 or 24 hours. The drawer shows related curriculum content and possible details for A. Read the linked content description AC9M5M03 to see the topic behind the suggestions.

A timetable can give time conversion a useful setting. Comparing the two time systems can add detail to the thinking. Before keeping either suggestion, check that students have learned it and that the task asks them to use it.

Extra words do not automatically make a stronger band. If the task only asks students to convert a time, a guide should not expect evidence from a timetable problem that students never receive.

What does Auto Assign do?

Auto Assign 4Cs Modifiers uses AI to suggest details for the selected sentences and draft the A band. It uses related curriculum content where available. It does not finish every band or approve the guide for you.

1. Find a theme. AI looks at the related curriculum content and suggests a theme for the criteria.
2. Pick possible details. It suggests 4Cs details for each sentence. These are suggestions to check, not proof that the wording fits.
3. Draft the A band. Auto Assign adds those details to A. You build B, D and E in later steps.
4. Keep, change or undo. Use Show Changes to read each edit. Undo anything you disagree with, then finish the other bands and checks before locking.

Read what was added and removed. In this example, the suggestion adds comparison and practical problems. Keep it only if that describes the work you want students to show. You can change the suggestion or undo it.

Then build B, D and E and use the guide checks. Auto Assign drafts A only. Check that the other bands describe useful differences without changing the learning or the intended year level.

See how one guide links to an assessment

Now look at a separate Year 6 HASS plan in the Planning Wizard. Students compare water use in two fictional communities. One chosen achievement standard sentence is:

Read the full Year 6 HASS achievement standard. ACARA’s curriculum files provide the source wording. The guide and assessment should keep this same learning in view.

You can follow this same plan from curriculum to lessons and coverage. When you check your own task, ask: where will students show each criterion? If there is no clear answer, adjust the task or the guide before using it.

Choose the path that suits your work

• In Lite, make a guide, review it and use it for a related assessment. Lite resources do not automatically become Planning Wizard records.
• In the Planning Wizard, the guide stays with its curriculum map and linked assessment. The HASS example above shows this path.

Both paths leave the final review with you. See the marking guide builder or see the assessment builder for the next step.

A quick check before you use the guide

• Does every criterion match the learning you chose?
• Does the task let students show each criterion?
• Do the bands describe differences you can see in student work?
• Have you removed suggestions that add unrelated demands?
• Have students had the right practice and feedback?
• Does the guide follow your school’s marking and reporting rules?

ACARA’s formative assessment guidance explains how evidence gathered during teaching helps you decide what students need next. Give students practice with the skills the final task will assess.

Try the guide on a few sample responses with a colleague. Compare the evidence you noticed and clarify any confusing wording. The Australian Professional Standards for Teachers include assessment, feedback and moderation.

A result on one task is not automatically a report grade. See the guide to A to E reporting for that separate decision. A clear marking guide helps you explain what you saw in the work and what the student can do next.