Caching Score: https://tafeqld.edu.au/
Request flow
Summary
GradeC-
307/547
Requested URL checks
What is this check, and why should you care
Having a cache hit ensures the fastest possible delivery of content to end users.
The response header X-Cache had a value of HIT.
Fastly has documentation on how to interpret the X-Cache header.
Maximum possible points
100
What is this check, and why should you care
Using a CDN is extremely useful for caching purposes.
Maximum possible points
50
What is this check, and why should you care
The time that it takes for a user's browser to receive the first byte of page content.
The lower the TTFB, the faster your site will be perceived by the end user.
To get maximum points, your TTFB must be less than or equal to 30ms. If your TTFB is more than 1 second then you get no points here.
Maximum possible points
50
What is this check, and why should you care
Having tiered caching can help improve the cache hit ratio of your site because it provides an additional layer of caching in front of your origin.
Maximum possible points
25
What is this check, and why should you care
HTTP compression reduces the size of a response body by eliminating redundancy. The client advertises supported algorithms in the Accept-Encoding request header, and the server reports which one it used in the Content-Encoding response header — both are defined in RFC 9110 §8.4.
The four common encodings each have their own specification: gzip (RFC 1952), deflate (RFC 1951), br / Brotli (RFC 7932), and zstd / Zstandard (RFC 8878). Smaller responses load faster and use less bandwidth, which especially matters on mobile networks.
The response header Content-Encoding had a value of gzip.
Fastly has documentation on how to enable automatic compression.
See the Wikipedia page on HTTP compression for more background.
To get maximum points, you need to use Brotli or Zstandard compression.
Maximum possible points
20
What is this check, and why should you care
A cached response is reusable for the duration of its freshness lifetime, defined in RFC 9111 §4.2. The freshness lifetime is taken from Cache-Control: s-maxage or max-age (§5.2), and falls back to the Expires header (§5.3) or a heuristic if neither is set. The longer the freshness lifetime, the higher the cache hit ratio at any given traffic level.
To get maximum points, your cache lifetime must be greater than or equal to 4 weeks. If your cache lifetime is less, then you will get some proportion of the score based on how close to 4 weeks you are.
The current cache lifetime is 300 seconds (5 minutes).
You can read more about which headers Fastly uses to indicate the cache lifetime.
Maximum possible points
100
What is this check, and why should you care
An ETag is an opaque identifier for a specific version of a resource, defined in RFC 9110 §8.8.3. When a client revisits a URL it can send the previously-seen value back in an If-None-Match request header (RFC 9110 §13.1.2); if the server still considers the response current it returns an empty 304 Not Modified instead of the full body, saving bandwidth and origin work.
No ETag header was found in the response.
See the Wikipedia page on ETag for more background.
To get maximum points, you need to have ETag identifiers and an HTTP 304 response must be received when using a valid If-None-Match request header.
Maximum possible points
30
What is this check, and why should you care
The Last-Modified response header carries the date the resource was last changed, defined in RFC 9110 §8.8.2. When a client revisits the URL it can send the previously-seen value back in an If-Modified-Since request header (RFC 9110 §13.1.3); if the resource has not changed the server returns an empty 304 Not Modified instead of the full body, saving bandwidth and origin work.
No Last-Modified header was found in the response.
Maximum possible points
30
What is this check, and why should you care
HTTP 404 (Not Found) is one of the response status codes that RFC 9110 §15.1 marks as heuristically cacheable, and RFC 9111 §4.2.2 defines the heuristic-freshness rules a cache may apply when no explicit freshness is provided. Caching 404s — even briefly — offloads repeated probes (broken links, scanners, missing assets) from your origin.
To get maximum points, you need to have the ability to cache an HTTP 404 for any amount of time.
This check requested the URL https://tafeqld.edu.au/cachingscorebrokenurltest.
Maximum possible points
20
What is this check, and why should you care
You can increase the cache hit rate of your site by stripping certain query parameters from the cache key.
FBCLID is one such parameter that can be stripped by your caching server. This query parameter only really serves a purpose for Javascript to read, and Javascript can still read it from the browser URL.
You can add this VCL snippet to your Fastly service (in the recv subroutine). Fastly documentation on querystring.filter.
This check requested the URL https://tafeqld.edu.au/?fbclid=1781049783.
Maximum possible points
10
What is this check, and why should you care
You can increase the cache hit rate of your site by stripping certain query parameters from the cache key.
GCLID and GCLSRC are two such parameters that can be stripped by your caching server. These query parameters only really serve a purpose for Javascript to read, and Javascript can still read it from the browser URL.
You can add this VCL snippet to your Fastly service (in the recv subroutine). Fastly documentation on querystring.filter.
This check requested the URL https://tafeqld.edu.au/?gclsrc=1781049783&gclid=1781049783.
Maximum possible points
10
What is this check, and why should you care
You can increase the cache hit rate of your site by stripping certain query parameters from the cache key.
TTCLID is one such parameter that can be stripped by your caching server. This query parameter only really serves a purpose for Javascript to read, and Javascript can still read it from the browser URL.
You can add this VCL snippet to your Fastly service (in the recv subroutine). Fastly documentation on querystring.filter.
This check requested the URL https://tafeqld.edu.au/?ttclid=1781049783.
Maximum possible points
10
What is this check, and why should you care
You can increase the cache hit rate of your site by stripping certain query parameters from the cache key.
UTM is a collection of parameters that can be stripped by your caching server. These query parameters only really serve a purpose for Javascript to read, and Javascript can still read them from the browser URL.
You can add this VCL snippet to your Fastly service (in the recv subroutine). Fastly documentation on querystring.filter.
This check requested the URL https://tafeqld.edu.au/?utm_source=1781049783&utm_medium=1781049783&utm_campaign=1781049783&utm_id=1781049783.
Maximum possible points
10
Image checks
Performed on the asset: https://tafeqld.edu.au/content/dam/tafe/en/campaigns/fee-free/fft-2025-iris-web-1080x1080.jpg
See the HTTP headers for this image file.
What is this check, and why should you care
Having a cache hit ensures the fastest possible delivery of content to end users.
The response header X-Cache had a value of HIT.
Fastly has documentation on how to interpret the X-Cache header.
Maximum possible points
10
What is this check, and why should you care
An ETag is an opaque identifier for a specific version of a resource, defined in RFC 9110 §8.8.3. When a client revisits a URL it can send the previously-seen value back in an If-None-Match request header (RFC 9110 §13.1.2); if the server still considers the response current it returns an empty 304 Not Modified instead of the full body, saving bandwidth and origin work.
An HTTP request with the request header If-None-Match with a value of "0x8DDEA85026A46FB" was sent, and an HTTP 304 was responded with.
See the Wikipedia page on ETag for more background.
To get maximum points, you need to have ETag identifiers and an HTTP 304 response must be received when using a valid If-None-Match request header.
Maximum possible points
3
What is this check, and why should you care
The Last-Modified response header carries the date the resource was last changed, defined in RFC 9110 §8.8.2. When a client revisits the URL it can send the previously-seen value back in an If-Modified-Since request header (RFC 9110 §13.1.3); if the resource has not changed the server returns an empty 304 Not Modified instead of the full body, saving bandwidth and origin work.
An HTTP request with the request header If-Modified-Since with a value of was sent, and an HTTP 304 was responded with.
Maximum possible points
3
What is this check, and why should you care
A cached response is reusable for the duration of its freshness lifetime, defined in RFC 9111 §4.2. The freshness lifetime is taken from Cache-Control: s-maxage or max-age (§5.2), and falls back to the Expires header (§5.3) or a heuristic if neither is set. The longer the freshness lifetime, the higher the cache hit ratio at any given traffic level.
To get maximum points, your cache lifetime must be greater than or equal to 4 weeks. If your cache lifetime is less, then you will get some proportion of the score based on how close to 4 weeks you are.
The current cache lifetime is 3600 seconds (1 hour).
You can read more about which headers Fastly uses to indicate the cache lifetime.
Maximum possible points
10
CSS checks
Performed on the asset: https://tafeqld.edu.au/etc.clientlibs/tafe/clientlibs/clientlib-base.lc-0a8755ce88b135cdb32d8b16a982ad69-lc.min.css
See the HTTP headers for this CSS file.
What is this check, and why should you care
Having a cache hit ensures the fastest possible delivery of content to end users.
The response header X-Cache had a value of HIT.
Fastly has documentation on how to interpret the X-Cache header.
Maximum possible points
10
What is this check, and why should you care
A cached response is reusable for the duration of its freshness lifetime, defined in RFC 9111 §4.2. The freshness lifetime is taken from Cache-Control: s-maxage or max-age (§5.2), and falls back to the Expires header (§5.3) or a heuristic if neither is set. The longer the freshness lifetime, the higher the cache hit ratio at any given traffic level.
To get maximum points, your cache lifetime must be greater than or equal to 4 weeks. If your cache lifetime is less, then you will get some proportion of the score based on how close to 4 weeks you are.
The current cache lifetime is 2592000 seconds (1 month and 2 days).
You can read more about which headers Fastly uses to indicate the cache lifetime.
Maximum possible points
10
What is this check, and why should you care
An ETag is an opaque identifier for a specific version of a resource, defined in RFC 9110 §8.8.3. When a client revisits a URL it can send the previously-seen value back in an If-None-Match request header (RFC 9110 §13.1.2); if the server still considers the response current it returns an empty 304 Not Modified instead of the full body, saving bandwidth and origin work.
An HTTP request with the request header If-None-Match with a value of W/"1a935-2386f26fb1bdc0-gzip" was sent, and an HTTP 304 was responded with.
See the Wikipedia page on ETag for more background.
To get maximum points, you need to have ETag identifiers and an HTTP 304 response must be received when using a valid If-None-Match request header.
Maximum possible points
3
What is this check, and why should you care
The Last-Modified response header carries the date the resource was last changed, defined in RFC 9110 §8.8.2. When a client revisits the URL it can send the previously-seen value back in an If-Modified-Since request header (RFC 9110 §13.1.3); if the resource has not changed the server returns an empty 304 Not Modified instead of the full body, saving bandwidth and origin work.
An HTTP request with the request header If-Modified-Since with a value of was sent, and an HTTP 304 was responded with.
Maximum possible points
3
What is this check, and why should you care
HTTP compression reduces the size of a response body by eliminating redundancy. The client advertises supported algorithms in the Accept-Encoding request header, and the server reports which one it used in the Content-Encoding response header — both are defined in RFC 9110 §8.4.
The four common encodings each have their own specification: gzip (RFC 1952), deflate (RFC 1951), br / Brotli (RFC 7932), and zstd / Zstandard (RFC 8878). Smaller responses load faster and use less bandwidth, which especially matters on mobile networks.
The response header Content-Encoding had a value of gzip.
Fastly has documentation on how to enable automatic compression.
See the Wikipedia page on HTTP compression for more background.
To get maximum points, you need to use Brotli or Zstandard compression.
Maximum possible points
2
JavaScript checks
Performed on the asset: https://tafeqld.edu.au/.rum/@adobe/helix-rum-js@%5E2/dist/micro.js
See the HTTP headers for this JavaScript file.
What is this check, and why should you care
Having a cache hit ensures the fastest possible delivery of content to end users.
The response header X-Cache had a value of HIT.
Fastly has documentation on how to interpret the X-Cache header.
Maximum possible points
10
What is this check, and why should you care
An ETag is an opaque identifier for a specific version of a resource, defined in RFC 9110 §8.8.3. When a client revisits a URL it can send the previously-seen value back in an If-None-Match request header (RFC 9110 §13.1.2); if the server still considers the response current it returns an empty 304 Not Modified instead of the full body, saving bandwidth and origin work.
An HTTP request with the request header If-None-Match with a value of "894129f79587fb5b5b59bb12affa2c63" was sent, and an HTTP 304 was responded with.
See the Wikipedia page on ETag for more background.
To get maximum points, you need to have ETag identifiers and an HTTP 304 response must be received when using a valid If-None-Match request header.
Maximum possible points
3
What is this check, and why should you care
The Last-Modified response header carries the date the resource was last changed, defined in RFC 9110 §8.8.2. When a client revisits the URL it can send the previously-seen value back in an If-Modified-Since request header (RFC 9110 §13.1.3); if the resource has not changed the server returns an empty 304 Not Modified instead of the full body, saving bandwidth and origin work.
An HTTP request with the request header If-Modified-Since with a value of was sent, and an HTTP 304 was responded with.
Maximum possible points
3
What is this check, and why should you care
A cached response is reusable for the duration of its freshness lifetime, defined in RFC 9111 §4.2. The freshness lifetime is taken from Cache-Control: s-maxage or max-age (§5.2), and falls back to the Expires header (§5.3) or a heuristic if neither is set. The longer the freshness lifetime, the higher the cache hit ratio at any given traffic level.
To get maximum points, your cache lifetime must be greater than or equal to 4 weeks. If your cache lifetime is less, then you will get some proportion of the score based on how close to 4 weeks you are.
The current cache lifetime is 3600 seconds (1 hour).
You can read more about which headers Fastly uses to indicate the cache lifetime.
Maximum possible points
10
What is this check, and why should you care
HTTP compression reduces the size of a response body by eliminating redundancy. The client advertises supported algorithms in the Accept-Encoding request header, and the server reports which one it used in the Content-Encoding response header — both are defined in RFC 9110 §8.4.
The four common encodings each have their own specification: gzip (RFC 1952), deflate (RFC 1951), br / Brotli (RFC 7932), and zstd / Zstandard (RFC 8878). Smaller responses load faster and use less bandwidth, which especially matters on mobile networks.
The response header Content-Encoding had a value of gzip.
Fastly has documentation on how to enable automatic compression.
See the Wikipedia page on HTTP compression for more background.
To get maximum points, you need to use Brotli or Zstandard compression.
Maximum possible points
2
HTTP Response headers
| Name | Value |
|---|---|
| Status Code | HTTP 200 |
| Accept-Ranges | bytes |
| Age | 5 |
| Connection | keep-alive |
| Content-Encoding | gzip |
| Content-Length | 28733 |
| Date | Wed, 10 Jun 2026 00:03:03 GMT |
| Fastly-Debug-Digest | e6847e48cc88f5d368382a155fb6621b8ad972a1db9162b7dcec595921e53dd6 |
| Fastly-Debug-Path | (D cache-wsi-ysbk1060073-WSI 1781049784) (F cache-wsi-ysbk1060056-WSI 1781049778) (D cache-wsi-ysbk1060056-WSI 1781049778) (F cache-wsi-ysbk1060056-WSI 1781049778) |
| Fastly-Debug-TTL | (H cache-wsi-ysbk1060073-WSI 294.738 0.000 5) (M cache-wsi-ysbk1060056-WSI - - -) |
| Vary | Accept-Encoding |
| X-Cache | HIT |
| X-Served-By | cache-wsi-ysbk1060056-WSI, cache-wsi-ysbk1060056-WSI, cache-wsi-ysbk1060073-WSI |
| X-Timer | S1781049784.533954,VS0,VS0,VE1 |
| cache-control | max-age=300 |
| content-type | text/html;charset=utf-8 |
| expires | Wed, 10 Jun 2026 00:07:58 GMT |
| x-vhost | tafe-publish |
If you want to do this yourself
You can use the following cURL command:
curl -sLIXGET -H 'Fastly-Debug: 1' -H 'Accept-Encoding: br, zstd, gzip, deflate' 'https://tafeqld.edu.au/' | sort