Mercurio (2008) considers a mixture of internal and external assessment as a way that strongly promotes fairness. However, in most states in Australia there is a stronger focus on external assessment (INCA Australia, 2008, QSA, 2010). The distribution of responsibilities for assessment in upper secondary education also tends to depend on the subject. In many systems, including Austria and several German Lander, central institutions hold responsibility for designing assessments in core subjects such as mathematics, the language of instruction and foreign languages, while teachers hold the sole responsibility for other subjects. There is, however, a general trend for central agencies to take on assessment responsibilities in an increasingly broader range of subjects. In terms of transparency, it is argued that externally processed assessment for qualification and certification allows a clearer communication of students’ achievements (Cedefop, 2010, OECD, 2010a).