How to Write a Marking Guide for the Australian Curriculum v9

A strong marking guide helps teachers assess student work consistently, clearly, and in a way that aligns with the Australian Curriculum v9.

If you are writing a marking guide for an assessment task, the most important place to start is the achievement standard. That is the end point. It tells you what students should be able to demonstrate by the end of the year level or band. Your marking guide should show what quality looks like in relation to that standard.

Content descriptions still matter, but they are not the main outcome. They help you decide what to teach and what evidence students should be able to produce. In other words, the achievement standard is the destination, and the content descriptions help shape the path.

Start with the achievement standard

The first step is to identify the relevant achievement standard for your year level and learning area or subject.

Before writing any criteria, ask:

• What does this task actually assess?
• Which parts of the achievement standard do I want students to demonstrate?
• What would meeting the standard look like in this task?

This matters because not every task assesses the whole achievement standard. A good marking guide targets the aspects that are most relevant to the task, rather than trying to assess everything at once.

Use assessable elements, not a long list of curriculum codes

One of the most common mistakes teachers make is turning a string of content descriptions into the marking criteria.

That usually creates a marking guide that is too crowded, too hard to use, and not very clear for students.

A better approach is to identify a small number of assessable elements. These are the key things students need to show in the task. Depending on the task, these might include things like:

• Understanding and use of key knowledge
• Analysis or explanation
• Communication or construction of a response
• Use of evidence or examples
• Control of text structures, conventions, or disciplinary processes

The content descriptions still sit behind those decisions, but the criteria should be written in a way that reflects the task and the targeted achievement standard.

Keep the marking guide focused

A marking guide works best when it is manageable.

In most cases, fewer criteria lead to better judgements. If you try to assess too many things at once, the guide becomes difficult to apply consistently and students are less clear on what matters most.

A practical approach is to focus on the most important assessable elements in the task and make sure each one has a clear connection to the achievement standard.

Write the C standard first

One of the simplest ways to build a strong marking guide is to write the C standard first.

Why? Because the C standard represents the expected standard of achievement. It acts as the central reference point for judging quality.

Once that is clear, you can build the rest of the scale around it:

• A shows performance well above the expected standard
• B shows strong performance above the expected standard
• C shows sound achievement at the expected standard
• D shows partial achievement of the expected standard
• E shows very limited achievement of the expected standard

This makes the progression much clearer and helps avoid overlap between levels.

Make each descriptor observable

A good marking guide uses language that points to things a teacher can actually see in student work.

That means avoiding vague statements like:

• Good effort
• Satisfactory work
• Basic understanding
• Limited detail

Instead, describe what performance looks like. Use specific language tied to the task. For example:

• Explains relevant ideas clearly
• Selects appropriate evidence
• Analyses relationships between concepts
• Organises ideas for purpose and audience
• Uses subject-specific terminology accurately

The clearer the wording, the easier it is to apply the marking guide consistently across a class or teaching team.

Show clear progression across A to E

The difference between levels should be meaningful.

A strong marking guide does not just swap one adjective for another. It shows a real change in the quality of student performance.

For example, progression might look like this:

• E identifies isolated or minimal ideas
• D describes some relevant ideas
• C explains relevant ideas in a generally clear way
• B explains and connects ideas effectively
• A analyses or evaluates ideas with precision and insight

That kind of progression is much easier for teachers to apply and much easier for students to understand.

Use content descriptions to support alignment

Content descriptions still play an important role when writing a marking guide.

They help you check that:

• The task is teaching and assessing the intended curriculum
• Students have had the opportunity to learn what is being assessed
• The marking guide reflects the knowledge, understanding, and skills taught during the unit

So while the criteria should not just be a list of content descriptions, the content descriptions should absolutely inform the design of the task and the language of the guide.

Check the guide against the task

A marking guide should match the actual demands of the assessment.

Before finalising it, ask:

• Does this guide assess what the task actually asks students to do?
• Are the criteria weighted towards the most important learning?
• Would another teacher apply this guide in a similar way?
• Would a student understand what quality looks like from reading it?

If the answer is no, the guide probably needs refining.

Moderate with colleagues and use work samples

One of the best ways to improve a marking guide is to test it against real or sample student responses.

This helps you see whether:

• The criteria are clear
• The levels are distinct
• The guide produces consistent judgements
• The language is fair and usable

Moderation is especially valuable when several teachers are teaching the same year level or subject.

Remember that requirements vary across Australia

The Australian Curriculum provides the national curriculum framework, but assessment and reporting requirements are shaped by states, territories, sectors, and schools.

That means your school may use:

• An A to E scale
• An equivalent five-point scale
• Common grade descriptors
• Task-specific standards
• Rubrics or marking guides with local templates

So the best approach is to write marking guides that are aligned to the achievement standard and then apply your local or sector requirements to the format.

A simple process for writing a marking guide

If you want a practical workflow, use this:

• Identify the relevant achievement standard.
• Decide which aspects of the standard the task will assess.
• Select the most important assessable elements.
• Draft the C standard first.
• Build A and B above it, then D and E below it.
• Make sure each descriptor is observable and task-specific.
• Check alignment with the content descriptions taught in the unit.
• Review the guide with colleagues or against sample responses.

This process is much more reliable than starting with random criteria or writing levels based on gut feel.

How TeaCheese helps teachers create marking guides

TeaCheese helps teachers create marking guides using the 4Cs marking guide creation approach.

This approach is built around four core elements:

• Curriculum
• Cognitive verbs
• Context
• Complexity

In practice, this means TeaCheese starts with the targeted achievement standard, identifies the curriculum evidence that matters most, analyses the cognitive demand of the task, accounts for the learning context, and then builds clear performance descriptors that show increasing complexity across the A to E scale.

This helps teachers create marking guides that are:

• Aligned to the achievement standard
• Grounded in the curriculum
• Clear for students and families
• Easier to apply consistently
• More defensible during moderation

Rather than forcing teachers to build every descriptor from scratch, TeaCheese uses the 4Cs framework to generate an editable marking guide that teachers can refine for their class, subject, and task.

Final thoughts

A good marking guide for Australian Curriculum v9 starts with the achievement standard, not with a long list of curriculum codes.

From there, the goal is to identify the most important assessable elements, describe clear levels of quality, and make sure the guide reflects the task students are actually completing.

When that happens, marking becomes more consistent, feedback becomes more meaningful, and students get a much clearer picture of what success looks like.

With TeaCheese, that process becomes faster and more consistent because the platform uses the 4Cs marking guide creation approach to turn curriculum expectations into practical, classroom-ready marking guides.

Frequently asked questions

What is the first step in writing a marking guide for Australian Curriculum v9?

Start with the achievement standard. Identify the aspects of learning the task is meant to assess, then build the marking guide around those targeted outcomes.

Should I use content descriptions as the criteria in a marking guide?

Not usually. Content descriptions should inform the task and the learning, but the criteria are usually clearer when written as assessable elements linked to the achievement standard.

How many criteria should a marking guide have?

A focused marking guide is usually easier to apply consistently than an overloaded one. The exact number depends on the task, but clarity and manageability matter.

Should I write the C standard first?

Yes. Writing the C standard first helps anchor the expected level of achievement, then the other levels can be built above and below it.

How does TeaCheese create marking guides?

TeaCheese uses the 4Cs marking guide creation approach, focusing on Curriculum, Cognitive verbs, Context, and Complexity to generate clear, editable, curriculum-aligned marking guides.