Judging standards is a tool to support teachers when reporting against the achievement standards for each year of schooling; when giving assessment feedback; and when explaining the differences between one student's achievement and another's. The achievement standard describes an expected level that the majority of students are achieving or working towards by the end of that year of schooling. Some students will have progressed beyond the achievement standard; others will need additional support. The expected standard for each year is described as 'C' or Satisfactory.

‘As reporting student achievement in terms of grades is a broad classification of performance, each grade represents a wide range of student ability. Many students will be given the same grade in semester 1 and semester 2, even though their teachers will have observed growth in learning. Bearing in mind that work in Semester 2 builds on Semester 1, maintaining a grade indicates students have held their own in the face of more advanced material and in this way have grown in their learning’ (Western Australian Curriculum and Assessment Outline, Assessment Principle 5-Assessment should lead to informative reporting).