Scoring Guide
NSW Selective Writing Marking Criteria & Rubric (Parent Guide)
Most parents read the score and try to reverse-engineer what the marker wanted. Easier to start from the other side, what the marker is actually doing as they read. A parent-friendly guide to the NSW Selective writing marking criteria: the six dimensions, the 25-mark total, and what each band looks like.
Before any dimension matters: the writing test is 30 minutes from prompt-reveal to pens-down, and your child doesn't know the genre going in, NSW reveals the prompt (narrative, persuasive, or informative) on the day. A Band-6 script is what a strong Year 6 writer produces in 30 minutes under prompt surprise, not what a teacher would write at the kitchen table. For broader test context, see our NSW Selective Writing guide.
The NSW Selective Writing Rubric: 25 Marks Across 6 Dimensions
Set A (15 marks) covers content, structure, and style. Set B is smaller, 10 marks, handling the mechanics: sentences, punctuation, spelling. The split exists because what was written and how cleanly it's written fail differently. A child can have an original idea but no idea where commas go; another can have spotless mechanics but nothing to say.
| Set | Dimension | Range | What it looks at (our words) |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Content & Detail | 0–5 | Ideas on-task, specific, developed, and bringing something fresh |
| A | Structure & Cohesion | 0–5 | Piece is shaped, paragraphs, sequencing, a real opening and ending |
| A | Style, Vocabulary & Register | 0–5 | Words chosen well, tone suited to the task |
| A | Task/Form Fit (our label) | 0 / -0.5 / -1 | Deduction if the piece is the wrong form for the prompt |
| B | Sentence Variety & Control | 0–4 | Sentences vary in length and shape, held together when long |
| B | Punctuation | 0–3 | Which marks are used, and whether they're right |
| B | Spelling | 0–3 | Everyday words right, homophones handled, harder words landed |
The 25-mark total sits inside an overall band from 1 to 6. For simplicity, this guide describes the band at the script level, what parents see on the result. Markers may form band-shaped impressions per dimension along the way. See the narrative, persuasive, and informative guides for what each form looks like under exam time.
Set A: Content, Structure, Style (15 of 25 marks)
This is where most of the score lives. If you only have time for one set, focus here.
Content & Detail (5 marks)
The marker's internal checklist: on-task first, specificity second, then whether each paragraph develops the idea rather than restating it. Originality matters but lower, a marker has seen the dragon story forty times that morning.
Most mid-band scripts lose marks on specificity. Ideas are fine; examples are generic. "She was nice. She helped me. I liked her." reads Band-3. "She always sat on the left side of the bus and saved me the seat by the heater" reads Band-5 on the same idea.
Structure & Cohesion (5 marks)
A piece with five paragraph breaks isn't structured. Plenty of mid-band scripts have visible paragraphing and still feel shapeless, new paragraph every three sentences regardless of topic shift. The marker question is whether each paragraph has a job.
In 30 minutes, well-shaped scripts typically run three to five paragraphs. The common mid-band ending is "and then we went home", a piece that runs out of time rather than closing the idea it set up.
Style, Vocabulary & Register (5 marks)
Mid-band scripts reach for the longest word. Markers don't reward that. A precise word in a story might be "shuffled" instead of "walked", the right word, not the showy one. High-band scripts use ordinary words with care.
Stylistic features (imagery, varied openings, deliberate rhythm) only count if they fit the sentence around them. A simile dropped in for the sake of having one reads pasted-on. Register is tone fit, a persuasive piece on phone policy shouldn't sound like a fairytale. Mid-band scripts wobble between formal and casual ("anyway") and a careful reader catches it.
Task/Form Fit: the adjustment, not a fourth dimension
Task/Form Fit is our shorthand for the deduction when the piece is the wrong form for the task. Values are zero, -0.5, or -1.
- -0.5 when the form is mostly right but missing expected features, an advice piece without an address-to-the-reader stance; a persuasive piece without a clear position.
- -1 when the form is plainly wrong, a narrative written when an advice piece was asked for.
It sits inside Set A because form is part of what was written, not the mechanics, a small fix, not a fourth dimension. ("Audience awareness" isn't separate either; it folds into Style & Register and the Task/Form Fit adjustment when it goes wrong.)
Set B: Sentence Control, Punctuation, Spelling (10 of 25 marks)
Set B is the mechanical layer. Markers tend to form a Set B impression early and refine it across the script.
Sentence Variety & Control (4 marks)
Two things at once: variety in length and shape, and the control to hold the longer ones together grammatically. Low-band pattern: every sentence the same length. Mid-band pattern: good variety, but the longer sentences fall apart (comma splices, lost subjects, direction-changes mid-sentence. Top-mark scripts handle the longer ones cleanly and use length for effect at least once) a short sharp sentence after three flowing ones, a deliberate fragment.
Punctuation (3 marks)
Markers want the basics nailed first, capitals, full stops, apostrophes. After that they're looking for commas inside sentences and clean dialogue punctuation. The top mark goes to writers who go further again: a dash or a colon used because it fit the sentence, not because they were showing off.
The classic mid-band gap is commas in compound sentences ("I went to the shop and I bought bread and I came home" wants a comma somewhere). Dialogue punctuation is the other repeat offender. Kids who handle these consistently are usually scoring 3.
Spelling (3 marks)
Homophones are the tell. A child confident on their/there/they're under pressure is almost always scoring 3; one who slips on them, almost always 2, even when the rest is clean.
The top mark goes to scripts where stretch words have been attempted and landed. A child who reaches for "reluctant" and gets it on the page scores higher than the child who plays safe with "didn't want to." Three things, roughly in order: spell what you'd expect a Year 6 to spell, handle the obvious homophone traps, and land the harder words when reached for. The fix isn't a spelling list, it's reading widely enough that the right spelling looks right.
What Each NSW Selective Writing Band Looks Like (Band 1 to Band 6)
Bands describe the script as a whole. Two scripts with the same total can sit in the same band and still feel quite different on the page.
| Band | What the script feels like (our framing) |
|---|---|
| 6 | Reads like a young writer with their own voice. Mechanics are clean enough that you stop noticing them. Sounds older than twelve. |
| 5 | Strong and well-shaped, the kind of script a reader finishes and then re-reads a paragraph of. |
| 4 | Competent and on-task. The kind of script most prepared students produce, perfectly fine, doesn't haunt the marker. |
| 3 | The idea comes through. Something's thin underneath, usually either content depth or mechanics. |
| 2 | Either off-task drift, or a mechanical breakdown that makes parts hard to read. |
| 1 | Brief, unclear, or off the brief entirely. Not much for the marker to reward. |
Writing isn't a tiebreaker, it's a quarter of the total. NSW Education weights Writing at 25% of the SHSPT score, equal to each of Reading, Mathematical Reasoning, and Thinking Skills. Strong writing won't win an offer alone, but a Band-4 writing score still pulls weight when paired with strong scores elsewhere. Band 5 is common among offers at top-demand schools but isn't a hard threshold. See what counts as a competitive Selective writing score and the most common mistakes we see in Selective writing.
How NSW Selective Writing Is Marked: Inside the Marker's Process
Markers don't tick boxes one dimension at a time. From what tutors and former markers describe: read the script once at reading speed, form a holistic impression of band, then check against the descriptors and adjust.
Each script is seen by more than one marker as a quality-control measure. We won't claim exact knowledge of NSW Education's internal protocol (moderation procedures aren't published in detail) but the working assumption is that no single marker's morning tips a result. Two careful markers can score the same script slightly differently and both be defensible.
Length isn't on the rubric, but parents ask. In 30 minutes, strong Year 6 scripts usually land between 250 and 400 words. A 600-word script isn't a higher-scoring one, usually it's one with weaker control. Markers reward density, not volume.
Our scoring engine mirrors this logic where it can: each dimension scored separately, six numbers reported, with the system required to quote your child's actual writing for every comment. Not the same as a NSW marker, but it pulls feedback away from the generic-praise direction LLM scoring otherwise drifts into. See a worked sample with feedback.
How to Use the NSW Selective Rubric for Prep (Without Drilling)
Genre is revealed on the day. Your child won't know going in whether they're writing narrative, persuasive, or informative, which is why drilling to one form doesn't work, and why building broad dimensional strength is the only prep that survives prompt surprise.
- Don't have your child memorise the descriptors. A child drilled on "include a stylistic device per paragraph" produces pieces that read drilled, markers often see a feature that doesn't fit its sentence and read it as inserted rather than written. The dimensions are diagnostics for parents, not checklists for kids.
- Use the dimensions as a diagnostic. Read your child's last piece. Which of the six is weakest? Spend the next two or three weeks on that, not all six. Trying to lift all six at once usually lifts none.
- Get a faster read. Drop a sample into EurekaWrite. The breakdown shows which dimensions are sitting at 3 and which at 5, with feedback pointing to the lines that earned each score.
For at-home practice, see how to improve Selective writing at home. The genre guides (narrative, persuasive, informative) cover form-fit, where the Task/Form Fit deduction usually bites.
Rubric understanding is for parents, not kids. Your child should be writing, not studying the marking criteria.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this the official NSW Department of Education rubric?
No. This is EurekaWrite's parent-friendly description of the publicly observable structure, dimensions, total marks, general categories. The descriptor wording is our own. For the official rubric and sample scripts with examiner comments, see NSW Education's selective high schools placement test page.
How is Band 5 different from Band 6?
A Band-5 script is strong and well-shaped, the reader finishes it and feels the writer knew what they were doing. A Band-6 script does that and has a recognisable voice, with mechanics clean enough that the reader stops noticing them. Band 6 is the script you'd remember after marking forty.
Can two markers give different scores on the same essay?
Yes, and it's normal. NSW Selective uses more than one marker per script precisely so small variance doesn't tip a result.
Does EurekaWrite score on the same rubric as NSW Education?
We use a rubric with the same structure (two sets, six dimensions, 25 marks) because that mirrors what your child will be marked against on the day. The descriptor wording is original to EurekaWrite, not NSW Education's. We can't reproduce the official rubric. For how this differs from scholarship scoring, see the ACER Scholarship Writing Guide.
Where do I find the official NSW Education rubric document?
Through NSW Education's selective high schools placement test page. The criteria and sample scripts are published there. Anyone selling a "leaked" rubric is selling something publicly available.
Should my child practise to the rubric?
No. Markers often see writing that's been written to a checklist and read it as drilled rather than thought-through, and drilled writing usually scores lower. The rubric is for you to use as a diagnostic, not for your child to memorise.
How long is the NSW Selective writing test, and is the genre known in advance?
30 minutes from prompt-reveal to pens-down. Genre (narrative, persuasive, or informative) is revealed on the day. That's why broad dimensional preparation holds up better than drilling a single form.
A closing note for the parent
The rubric is a diagnostic for the parent, not a syllabus for the kid. Use it to find the soft one or two dimensions in your child's writing. Then put the rubric away. You'll save a lot of weekends.
For a faster diagnostic than reading the piece yourself, drop a sample into EurekaWrite. You'll get the six numbers and the lines that earned them, in about a minute. Not a marker, but enough to tell you which two dimensions to nudge before the test.
Free first essay. 6-dimension breakdown in 30 seconds.