Contact

Melanie McKeaig (08) 9273 6320
spea@scsa.wa.edu.au

The School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) has reviewed the first  school-based practical external assessment (SPEA) held in 2025 and will implement some initiatives for the SPEA in 2026. These initiatives were communicated to schools on Thursday, 19 March 2026.

1. Early in Term 2, the Authority will publish written feedback from the lead assessor for each SPEA sport in 2025 to support preparation by teachers and students for the SPEA in 2026.
2. In Term 2, the Authority will conduct additional professional learning sessions for teachers on the application of the SPEA marking key. Details of the sessions, including dates and venues, will be communicated via the Authority’s 7to12 Circular and website.
3. The Authority will appoint two external assessors to each SPEA session, where the availability of external assessors supports this.
4. The Authority will allow the Principal of each school offering the Year 12 PES ATAR course to select which of the teachers at their school will assess each SPEA session. This is a change from the 2025 requirement that only the Year 12 PES ATAR classroom teacher can assess each SPEA session.

The Authority has updated its online support materials to reflect the above changes. The Authority notes that initiative four (4) may impact student sport selection and teacher details entered into the Student Information Records System (SIRS) by schools. In recognition of this, the Authority will extend the due date to change or upload this information to the end of Term 1, 2026 on Thursday, 2 April 2026.

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