Y10W19PA - The Gig Economy and Its Effects

This week you wrote a three-paragraph explanatory piece about the gig economy. Now you'll read another student's piece and judge how strong it is. Working through how assessors evaluate explanatory writing sharpens your ability to apply the same lens to your own work.

Part 1

The Assessor Scorecard for

Explanatory – Explanatory Piece

An effective explanatory piece selects accurate information, organises it clearly, and expresses it with precision so the reader gains genuine understanding. Assessors weigh how well each choice of content, structure and language serves the reader's need to know.

Ideas & Content

Accuracy and selection — the right information chosen and explained with enough depth. The reader understands not just what, but how and why. No vague or incomplete explanations, and no key concepts named but not explained.

  • Accurate selection: chooses the right information and explains how and why it matters.

Structure & Cohesion

Clear organisation that signals what each section covers and how ideas connect. A clear topic sentence in each paragraph. No topics bleeding across paragraphs or paragraphs the reader must decode.

  • Clear organisation: signals each section’s purpose so the reader can follow without effort.

Audience & Purpose

Pitched at the right level for its reader — neither over-simplified nor assuming too much. Jargon explained when it is used. A tone that is neither too casual nor too dense for the intended reader.

  • Ask whether a: reader unfamiliar with the topic would understand each explanation without needing to look anything up.

Language Choices

Precise, subject-specific vocabulary that builds credibility and clarity. No vague or informal language standing in for accurate terms. Technical terms used where ordinary words would blur meaning.

  • Subject vocabulary: uses accurate terms that build clarity, precision and trust.

Conventions

Accurate spelling and punctuation — especially with technical and proper nouns. Errors in factual content or terminology undermine the reader's trust. Sentence variety that supports clarity.

  • Technical accuracy: keeps terminology, spelling and sentence control reliable throughout.

Part 2

Today’s Marking Targets

Task in one sentence

Write a three-paragraph explanatory piece covering what the gig economy is, how it affects workers, and what the main debates about its regulation are.

Let’s Focus

Three strands matter most this week: Ideas & Content, Structure & Cohesion and Conventions. The depth of ideas decides whether the gig economy and its debates are genuinely explained with mechanism or only described. The organisation of the three paragraphs decides whether the reader can follow. Accurate conventions — especially economic and legal terms — decide whether the explanation is trustworthy.

Ideas & Content

Strong writing this week shows Ideas & Content applied consistently — not just in isolated moments. Assessors look for genuine depth that serves this task: explanations that show how and why the gig economy works, not only what it is.

What markers scan for

  • Ideas & Content applied consistently throughout — not only in isolated moments.
  • The specific task and topic visibly shaping how the strand is demonstrated.

Score Bands

  • Basic

    Ideas & Content is present but applied inconsistently or only at a surface level.

  • Strong

    Ideas & Content is applied consistently, with genuine understanding of what this task requires.

  • Excellent

    Ideas & Content is applied with sustained precision throughout, shaped by the specific demands of this task.

Structure & Cohesion

Strong writing this week shows Structure & Cohesion applied consistently — not just in isolated moments. Assessors look for organisation that serves this task: three clearly focused paragraphs the reader can follow without effort.

What markers scan for

  • Structure & Cohesion applied consistently throughout — not only in isolated moments.
  • The specific task and topic visibly shaping how the strand is demonstrated.

Score Bands

  • Basic

    Structure & Cohesion is present but applied inconsistently or only at a surface level.

  • Strong

    Structure & Cohesion is applied consistently, with genuine understanding of what this task requires.

  • Excellent

    Structure & Cohesion is applied with sustained precision throughout, shaped by the specific demands of this task.

Conventions

Strong writing this week shows Conventions applied consistently — not just in isolated moments. Assessors look for accuracy that serves this task: economic and legal terminology spelled and used correctly so the explanation reads as trustworthy.

What markers scan for

  • Conventions applied consistently throughout — not only in isolated moments.
  • The specific task and topic visibly shaping how the strand is demonstrated.

Score Bands

  • Basic

    Conventions is present but applied inconsistently or only at a surface level.

  • Strong

    Conventions is applied consistently, with genuine understanding of what this task requires.

  • Excellent

    Conventions is applied with sustained precision throughout, shaped by the specific demands of this task.

Now read · Student sample

The Gig Economy and Its Effects

Year 10 sample · \~300 words

Student sample for assessment

Written by a Year 10 student in Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia.

The gig economy refers to a labour market characterised by short-term, flexible and often digitally mediated work arrangements, in which workers are engaged as independent contractors rather than employees. Examples include delivery drivers who work through platforms such as Uber Eats and DoorDash, rideshare drivers, freelance designers and short-term tradespeople booked through online platforms. The defining feature of gig work is that the platform connects workers to tasks without employing them directly, which means workers bear the risks and costs that would otherwise fall on employers. The effects of the gig economy on workers are significant and contested. On one hand, flexible work arrangements allow workers to set their own hours and combine gig work with other commitments, which suits some workers in some circumstances. On the other hand, gig workers typically do not receive employee entitlements such as superannuation, paid leave, workers’ compensation or minimum wage guarantees. Because they are classified as contractors, the cost of periods without work, illness and workplace injury falls on the individual rather than the platform. Research indicates that when the costs of self-employment are accounted for, many gig workers earn less than minimum wage for the hours they actually work. The main debates about regulating the gig economy concern whether platforms should be required to reclassify some or all gig workers as employees and whether existing employment law frameworks are adequate to govern this new form of work. Some jurisdictions, including Spain and parts of the United Kingdom, have already introduced legislation requiring certain platforms to treat workers as employees. Proponents of regulation argue that the contractor classification is a legal fiction that allows platforms to capture the benefits of a workforce without accepting the responsibilities of an employer. Opponents argue that regulation would destroy the flexibility that makes gig work attractive and viable for both platforms and workers.