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Students Will No Longer Get Penalised For Spelling Errors In Year 12 Final English Exams

Students Will No Longer Get Penalised For Spelling Errors In Year 12 Final English Exams

Adjudicators will also turn a blind eye to issues with grammar and punctuation

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

English probably ranks highest among the high school subjects that require you to get your spelling, grammar and punctuation bang on.

But New South Wales students in Year 12 won't have to worry about those necessities when they sit down for the HSC exams this year.

The Daily Telegraph reports students won't be penalised if they have any spelling errors, or issues with grammar and punctuation in their essays.

The NSW Education Standards Authority is instead more concerned that the student understands the texts that are a part of the HSC syllabus.

PA

A spokeswoman for the authority told the newspaper: "Students are not penalised for errors that may be due to writing under exam conditions, with little time to review or edit their work. The emphasis is always on students showing markers their understanding of texts."

The reason why there's a more lax attitude towards spelling, grammar and punctuation is because students who are sitting their HSC will have already achieved a 'minimum standard'.

But there are fears this could entrench bad behaviour in students and let them get away with silly mistakes.

University of Technology literacy expert Dr Don Carter believes teachers would be forced to ensure students understood spelling, grammar and punctuation well before Year 12 if they knew it would count in their final year.

He is worried the rise of technology like smartphones means students aren't used to writing out words without spellcheck or autocorrect.

"To me, clear and quality communication depends on a number of things including accurate spelling - a mathematician would not get away with sloppy calculations and a writer should not get away with sloppy spelling," he said.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Australia