This week you wrote a practical guide for incoming Year 7 students. Now you'll read another student's guide and judge how strong it is. Working through how assessors evaluate practical guides sharpens your ability to apply the same lens to your own work.
Part 1
The Assessor Scorecard for
Practical – Guide
A guide gives readers useful information in a clear, accessible structure. Check each strand below to see what strong work looks like.
Ideas & Content
Select the information that most matters and explain it with specificity and honesty.
'Teachers give detentions for late homework — five minutes late and you lose lunch' beats 'Teachers are strict.'
Weak guides include detail that doesn't matter or skip the crucial parts.
Ask: when readers finish, do they actually know what to do?
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Useful selection: gives incoming students honest information they can actually use.
Structure & Cohesion
Use headings, numbered lists and paragraph breaks so readers can find and link information.
Organise by topic (classes, lunch, friends) or by time (first week, first term).
Make transitions between sections clear.
Weak guides force readers to hunt for the point.
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Navigable layout: uses headings and breaks to make advice easy to follow.
Audience & Purpose
Write for the specific audience with a specific purpose.
A guide for Year 7 students should sound like someone who remembers being nervous — honest, direct, not condescending.
Keep the tone helpful and credible.
Weak guides sound like an adult lecturing or too casual to trust.
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Audience focus: speaks directly to Year 7 needs and likely concerns.
Language Choices
Language should be clear and direct.
Use short sentences, strong verbs and 'you' to address readers.
Avoid jargon unless you explain it.
Weak guides use vague language ('lots of stuff'), hedging ('might be', 'maybe') or language so formal it feels distant.
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Direct wording: turns guidance into clear, practical action.
Conventions
Readers rely on structure to navigate.
Consistent formatting, correct spelling and punctuation, and clear use of headings all support readability.
Spelling errors or inconsistent formatting confuse readers and make the guide look untrustworthy.
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Readable formatting: makes the guide trustworthy, organised and easy to use.
Part 2
Today’s Marking Targets
Task in one sentence
Write a 320-word honest, practical guide for incoming Year 7 students explaining what secondary school is actually like socially and academically, with no promotional spin.
Let’s Focus
Three strands matter most this week: Structure & Cohesion, Language Choices and Conventions. Structure & Cohesion decides whether readers can find what they need. Language Choices decides whether you sound like a real student, not an adult. Conventions decide whether the guide looks trustworthy.
Structure & Cohesion
Assessors reward guides that are visibly well-organised. Divide the piece into clear sections with headings (Classes, Friends, Workload, Lunch) that tell readers what's there. Give each section enough detail to be useful without rambling. Make transitions feel natural. Weak guides have no clear structure or sections too vague to scan.
What markers scan for
- Are there clear headings or sections that help readers find information they need?
- Does each section focus on one topic and provide practical detail, or do sections ramble?
- Do transitions between sections feel natural?
Score Bands
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Basic
Attempts organisation but structure is unclear; reader struggles to find information.
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Strong
Clear sections with headings; each covers one topic with useful practical detail.
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Excellent
Well-structured guide with clear headings; information is accessible and well-proportioned.
Language Choices
Language must be direct and credible. Use 'you' to address readers. Avoid hedging ('might be', 'sort of'). Be specific: 'Most teachers collect homework in class' beats 'teachers care about homework.' Sound like a real student who lived through the transition — not an adult or marketing brochure.
What markers scan for
- Does the writer use direct language and address readers as 'you'?
- Does the tone sound like a credible Year 9 student sharing real experience?
- Is hedging language avoided in favour of specific claims?
Score Bands
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Basic
Vague language; tone is unclear or doesn't match audience; reader unsure if writer is credible.
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Strong
Direct language with specific detail; tone sounds like a real student sharing honest experience.
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Excellent
Precise, direct language throughout; credible tone that shows genuine understanding of reader fears.
Conventions
Conventions support readability and credibility. Consistent heading formatting, accurate spelling and punctuation, and clear paragraph breaks all matter. If the guide looks sloppy, readers assume the information is sloppy too. Weak guides have spelling errors, inconsistent heading styles or poor paragraph breaks.
What markers scan for
- Are headings and sections formatted consistently?
- Is spelling and punctuation accurate, with no errors that distract from the content?
- Do paragraph breaks help the reader scan the guide?
Score Bands
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Basic
Formatting is inconsistent; spelling or punctuation errors are present; guide looks unpolished.
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Strong
Consistent formatting; accurate spelling and punctuation; guide looks credible and easy to use.
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Excellent
Professional formatting and flawless conventions; guide looks polished and trustworthy.
Now read · Student sample
Year 7: What You Actually Need to Know
Year 9 sample · \~350 words
Student sample for assessment
Written by a Year 9 student in Ringwood, Victoria, Australia.
Classes and Teachers You'll have different teachers for most subjects, not one classroom all day. This feels weird at first but you get used to it. Teachers vary a lot: some are strict about homework, some don't care; some talk at you for 45 minutes, some do activities. The key is paying attention in class. If you do that, you'll understand the work and won't get buried in homework. Also: arrive on time. Being late five times gets you detention, and detention is annoying and ruins your day. Friends and Social Stuff Friends shift a bit in secondary school. You'll probably keep some primary school friends and make new ones. Don't panic if your primary best friend is in different classes—you'll still see them and stay friends. The first few weeks, people are looking for friendship groups, so just be friendly to people. You don't have to be best friends with everyone; you just need to be decent. Avoid being the person who eats lunch alone; sit with anyone, chat, and you'll fit in fast. Lunch is loud and chaotic at first but becomes normal. The Workload and Organisation Year 7 isn't that hard academically, but you do get homework from multiple classes. It's not overwhelming if you actually keep track. Get a diary or use your phone—just write down when homework is due. Teachers announce it but it's easy to forget. If you forget to do homework, just tell your teacher the next day. Most aren't out to get you; they just want you to do the work. The teachers who are genuinely strict (there are a few) will tell you on day one what they expect, so listen. One more thing: if you're confused about something, ask. Teachers respect you more when you ask questions than when you pretend to understand and get it wrong. Getting There and Getting Around Secondary school is bigger. Your first week is confusing—you'll get lost finding classrooms. That's fine. Everyone gets lost. Older students are usually nice if you ask where a classroom is. Find where you need to go in your first week and you'll know where to go from then on.
