NAPLAN marking criteria VELS level

Audience

Shows basic awareness of audience
expectations by providing
information to support stated
position.
Meets the needs of
audiences by including
appropriate background
information. (3)
Adapts writing to suit the
audience and purpose. (3)
Text structure

A list of statements the only
identifiable component is a
conclusion.
Writes short texts that
include several related
ideas in sequence. (2)
Uses appropriate structures
to achieve some
organisation of the subject
matter. (2)
Ideas

Ideas are few and related, but not
elaborated.
Writes short sequenced
texts that convey some
related ideas about familiar
topics. (2)

Persuasive
devices

A short script, but uses three or
more instances of persuasive
devices that support position,
including: a statement of personal
opinion and modal verb (I belive
that animals should); the
conditional mood (if animals are
not weak), and questioning (how
will your pet escape?).
Selects content, form and
vocabulary depending on
the purpose for writing. (2)

Vocabulary

Uses simple content words with
several precise words (freedom,
habitat).
Uses suitable vocabulary
for the subject matter,
including nouns, verbs,
adjectives and adverbs. (3)
Cohesion

A short script, using a range of
cohesive devices, including:
correct noun pronoun referencing
(animals / they / their), use of
simple conjunctions, and some
cohesion through word association
(mussels / hart; animals / others of
their kind).
Experiments with more
complex grammatical
features, such as ways of
linking ideas in sentences
using pronouns,
conjunctions and adverbial
phrases indicating time and
place. (2)

Paragraphing

Ideas are organised into paragraphs
that are mainly focused on one
idea.
Uses appropriate structures
to achieve some
organisation of the subject
matter. (2)

Sentence
structure
Two complex sentences are correct
and one is incorrect. Subject verb
Experiments with more
complex grammatical

agreement error in second
paragraph.
Meaning is predominantly clear.
features, such as ways of
linking ideas in sentences.
(2)
Writes a variety of simple
and compound sentences
and uses verb tenses
correctly. (3)
Punctuation

Two accurately punctuated
sentences.
Uses contractions correctly, but
some punctuation errors: missing
capital at the beginning of one
sentence, missing question mark,
and misuse of exclamation marks
at the beginning of the heading.
Uses capital letters, full
stops and question marks
correctly. (2)

Spelling

Correct spelling of most simple
words. Fewer than 20 common
words - many correct though some
errors - (thier, hart, belive) and
difficult words (habbitat, mussles,
excising, excape).
Accurately spells
frequently used words, and
make use of known
spelling patterns to make
plausible attempts at
spelling unfamiliar words.
(2)