That means it will require the same standard of work to achieve an A in English at a school in Tuggeranong as it will at a school in Gungahlin.

And it also offers the hope that when the other jurisdictions come on board, a grade earned in the ACT will be exactly the same as a grade in the other states or territory.

ACT Education Minister Joy Burch said it was probably more ''urban myth than fact'' that some schools could mark students harder than others or that there were great inconsistencies in the way in which grades were handed down in particular schools within Canberra.

''We don't have a lot of movement between schools. But it's really important for families to have absolute confidence that their children are assessed at that same quality level as others and that they understand the report,'' she said.

Ms Burch said the reforms were also important for families who changed schools, particularly if they moved interstate.

The adoption of a national curriculum in English, maths, history and science would be accompanied by a move to consistent assessment across the country.

The ACT is leading the way, this year having implemented the Australian Curriculum Achievement Standards and referenced annotated work samples from year 1 to year 9.

The standards will be extended to year 10 next year.

Years 11 and 12 students are already moderated using the comprehensive ACT Scaling Test.

South Australia and Tasmania are also close to implementing the national curriculum and assessment standards across government schools. Catholic and independent schools are at various stages.

Ms Burch said she was keen to see children and parents ''put at the centre of the education system'' and she had heard from parents that they sometimes received different report formats from different schools. ''They rightly want a very clear picture of where their children are at. They want a simple A, B, C, D, E format that they can understand and they want it to be consistent.

''Parents expect that all children have the same report, all learn the same thing and all children are assessed the same way.''

But she stressed that reports were just a starting point for the conversation teachers had with parents about their children. ''Reports will continue to provide the personalised details of each child and they still receive individualised attention.''

Leanne Wright, acting executive director of education strategy in the ACT Education Directorate, said the new system provided high levels of transparency. ''Parents are able to hop on the Australian Curriculum and Assessment and Reporting Authority website, have a look at the curriculum, have a look at the curriculum achievement standards and then look at actual work samples,'' she said.

Australian Education Union ACT branch secretary Glenn Fowler said the transition to the new standards had ''required some adjustment by teachers. But so far teacher professionalism has seen the process go quite smoothly.''