Writing more than given space (1 Viewer)

[Jojofelyx]

Just wondering if markers will penalise you if you write over the lines or liek "stretch" the lines by writing a word extra either side of the lines. I often do this for all of my short ans responses, and tend to write like 2-3 extra lines for most questions that are above 3 marks. And if they do what is a "safe" amount to over-write by?
I'm comfortably able to write more and do the s/a in about 50-60 minutes so writing more and sacrificing time in other sections is not really an issue for me.

Nesa says this:
Responses that exceed stated parameters may be penalised
Students who write overly long responses to exam questions have penalised themselves by limiting their time for answering other questions.
Some exams limit students’ work to a certain size, length of time or number of words. Responses that exceed these limits may receive a mark penalty.

 

[AKONS]

They won't penalise you as long as you write within the page borders.

However, if you consistently write more than what questions recommend it might be hurting you more than helping. It could mean you're not writing concisely meaning you put in more effort for the same amount of marks while taking away marks from your other sections.

 

[jimmysmith560]

Some exams limit students’ work to a certain size, length of time or number of words. Responses that exceed these limits may receive a mark penalty.​

This is particularly relevant to the HSC exams of language subjects. Let's take French as an example:

• French Beginners - The highest word limit in a question is 125 words.
• French Continuers - The highest word limit in a question is 200 words.
• French Extension - The highest word limit in a question is 300 words.

Of course, students are not expected to write exactly 125/200/300 words, but rather provide a response with a word count that is approximately the same as the stated word limits, meaning that the response may have a slightly higher/lower word count.

I had an Italian friend who, at the time was still new in Australia. In year 11 he took Italian Continuers and for one of his exams he went over the stated word limit quite substantially. Despite him being a native Italian (implying that his writing would be of a high standard when considering the nature of Stage 6 language courses), he still lost marks due to the excessively lengthy response he provided.

 

[nourished.]

Just wondering if markers will penalise you if you write over the lines or liek "stretch" the lines by writing a word extra either side of the lines. I often do this for all of my short ans responses, and tend to write like 2-3 extra lines for most questions that are above 3 marks. And if they do what is a "safe" amount to over-write by?
I'm comfortably able to write more and do the s/a in about 50-60 minutes so writing more and sacrificing time in other sections is not really an issue for me.

Nesa says this:
Responses that exceed stated parameters may be penalised
Students who write overly long responses to exam questions have penalised themselves by limiting their time for answering other questions.
Some exams limit students’ work to a certain size, length of time or number of words. Responses that exceed these limits may receive a mark penalty.

Protip: aim not to cross out whatever you've already written. As a guess, though, I'd say they'd start penalising you if you wrote your response in twice the amount of lines given. There has to be some level of leniency because not all students have the same sized handwriting.