Years 11 and 12 ATAR Drama, Geography and Media Production and Analysis Syllabus Review Consultation Surveys – Closing Date

Contact
John Newman (08) 9273 6757
john.newman@scsa.wa.edu.au

Consultation is an important part of the School Curriculum and Standards Authority’s (the Authority) curriculum and assessment development and review process.

The Authority is seeking feedback on the proposed draft Years 11 and 12 syllabuses for:

• Drama
• Geography
• Media Production and Analysis.

After reviewing the relevant course syllabus, please provide feedback by completing the consultation survey by 26 May 2021. Follow the link below to access the consultation survey:

https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-support-materials/syllabus-review.

Policy for setting the written ATAR course examination dates

Contact
Barclay Jones (08) 9273 6309
barclay.jones@scsa.wa.edu.au

In August 2019, the Board of the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) amended the principles for setting the dates of the Year 12 ATAR course written examinations.

• Written examinations will commence on Monday of the week in which November 1 falls on a weekday; and Monday of the following week, when November 1 falls on a weekend.
• The written examination period will be for a period of approximately 15 weekdays.
• Large candidature examinations will be scheduled, where possible, in the first 10 days of the examination period.
• No practical examinations will be scheduled on the weekend immediately prior to the commencement of the written examinations.

It should be noted that the scheduled date range of Year 12 ATAR course written and practical examinations from year to year will not always fall in the same cycle of weeks of school terms.

The 2021 Year 12 ATAR course written examinations are scheduled from Monday, 1 November to Friday,
19 November 2021. The 2021 Year 12 ATAR course written examination timetable will be published on Wednesday, 9 June 2021 on the Examination Timetables webpage of the Authority website at:
https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/assessment/examinations/examination-timetables.

No information regarding the date of specific examinations is available prior to this date. The scheduled date range for the Year 12 ATAR course written examinations for the next three years is also available on this webpage.

The 2021 Year 12 ATAR course practical examinations are scheduled from Saturday, 25 September to Sunday, 17 October 2021. See the schedule on the Examination Timetables webpage.

From Thursday, 9 September 2021 students will be able to download their Personalised written examination timetable and Personalised practical examination timetable from the student portal at https://studentportal.scsa.wa.edu.au. opens in new window

The written examination timetable will contain the date, time and examination centre for the student’s written examination. The practical examination timetable will contain the date, time, venue and location of the student’s practical examination.

Marker applications for 2021 ATAR course examinations

Contact for practical marker applications

Dianne Rogers (08) 9273 6772
dianne.rogers@scsa.wa.edu.au

Tim Chiew (08) 9273 6377
tim.chiew@scsa.wa.edu.au

Contact for written marker applications

Melanie Jasper (08) 9273 6732
melanie.jasper@scsa.wa.edu.au

Cristina Caruso (08) 9273 6317
cristina.caruso@scsa.wa.edu.au

The School Curriculum and Standards Authority is seeking applications from qualified people interested in marking the 2021 ATAR course written and/or practical examinations.

Please note - there are changes to the process for marking English. See the details in the information document at the point of application.

For information regarding marker applications or to apply, please refer to https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/about-us/employment.

Applications open on Thursday, 29 April 2021. Applications close on Monday, 21 June 2021.

Materials Design and Technology ATAR course Practical (portfolio) examination requirements 2021 documents updated

Contact
Mark Leigh (08) 9273 6795
mark.leigh@scsa.wa.edu.au

The submission requirements outlined in the Materials Design and Technology ATAR course Practical (portfolio) examination requirements 2021 document have been updated. The updated information is outlined below.

An A5 clear plastic document wallet with the candidate’s Western Australia Student Number (WASN) label attached will be provided by the School Curriculum and Standards Authority for each candidate for the practical (portfolio) examination submission. The USB must be placed in the A5 clear plastic document wallet. The candidate’s WASN label must be placed on the USB. A permanent felt-tipped pen must be used to write the WASN on the USB if the labels are too large or you can attach the label to the USB using string.

Final dates for Year 12 students to withdraw from courses, 2021

Contact
Jenny Offer (08) 9273 6313
jenny.offer@scsa.wa.edu.au

Schools are reminded of the final dates to withdraw Year 12 students from courses:

• Thursday, 22 July 2021 – final date for withdrawing students from ATAR courses with practical examination components. No changes will be made to student enrolments in these courses after this date.
• Monday, 9 August 2021 – final date for withdrawing students from ATAR courses which do not have practical examination components. No changes will be made to student enrolments in these courses after this date.
• Monday, 9 August 2021 – final date for withdrawing students from General, Foundation, Preliminary and Vocational Education and Training (VET) industry specific courses. No changes will be made to student enrolments in these courses after this date.

As withdrawing from a course is a significant decision, the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) strongly encourages students and their schools to use the Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) checker to test the possible impact of their decision. The WACE checker is available on the Authority website at https://wacechecker2021.scsa.wa.edu.au/.

Schools are reminded that students who are enrolled in a Year 12 ATAR course must sit the external examination in that course. For ATAR courses with practical components, students must sit both the written and practical examinations. Students who do not sit an ATAR course examination and do not have an approved sickness/misadventure application for that course, will not have the grades for the pair of units completed in that year contribute to the calculation of the WACE.

As a consequence, a student may not meet the requirements to receive a WACE.

Student Marks for Externally Set Tasks 2021

Contact
Kerry Tarrant (08) 9273 6770
kerry.tarrant@scsa.wa.edu.au

Schools are reminded that all students enrolled in a Year 12 General course and/or a Year 12 Foundation course are required to complete the externally set task (EST) developed by the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) for that course.

The EST is compulsory and forms part of the school-based assessment. The EST is included in the Assessment table in the Year 12 General and Foundation syllabuses as a separate assessment type with a weighting of 15 per cent for the pair of units.

Schools are required to administer the ESTs during Weeks 3, 4 and 5 in Term 2 (Monday, 3 May to Friday, 21 May 2021). Detailed information about the administration of ESTs is outlined in the Externally Set Task Handbook 2021 and can be accessed on the Authority website through the link: https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/assessment/externally-set-tasks.

Schools are required to upload into SIRS the raw total mark for each student in each of the ESTs by the beginning of Week 6 (Monday, 24 May 2021). This mark will be out of the total indicated on the appropriate EST marking key for the course, which is provided by the Authority.

Schools will be able to upload the total raw mark for each EST for each student into SIRS from the school database program, i.e. RTP, Civica (MAZE). If a student is absent for an EST but returns to school within the test period (Weeks 3, 4 or 5 in Term 2) he/she is expected to sit the EST under test conditions. However, as for all school‐based assessments, the school is required to apply its senior secondary assessment policy if a student is unable to sit the EST within a reasonable timeframe, i.e. upload an ABS in the total raw mark column where a student was absent from the EST.

Where schools use MS Excel to transfer data to the Authority, details of the file format (RSEST) for EST marks can be found in the Data Procedures Manual 2021 | Section 6: Page 3 which is available on the Authority website at https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/publications/data-procedures-manual and also at https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/sirs-info/record-formats.

For further queries, please refer to page 11 of the Externally Set Task Handbook 2021 for the relevant contact details within the Authority.

Reminder: Application for recording of enrolment and achievement in ATAR Units 1 and 2 for students in Year 10 in 2023 (Year 8, 2021)

Contact
Kerry Tarrant (08) 9273 6770
kerry.tarrant@scsa.wa.edu.au

Principals are reminded that Applications for recording of enrolment and achievement in ATAR Units 1 and 2 for students in Year 10 in 2023 (Year 8, 2021) must be received by the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) no later than Thursday, 18 November 2021. The completed application form is to be emailed to certification@scsa.wa.edu.au.

An application form can be downloaded from the Authority website at https://scsa.wa.edu.au/forms/forms under the Enrolments tab.

Schools should only apply if the studies are part of a longer term program for students who are:

• either gifted and talented or
• accelerated language students.

For further information please refer to Section 7 in the WACE Manual 2021. This publication is available on the Authority website via the following link: https://scsa.wa.edu.au/publications/wace-manual.

Student Declaration and Permissions online 2021

Contact
Kerry Tarrant (08) 9273 6770
kerry.tarrant@scsa.wa.edu.au

The School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) is now seeking your assistance to provide details regarding the online procedure to complete the Student Declaration and Permission to all of the following students:

• all Year 12 students
• Year 11 students who are studying ATAR Unit 3 and Unit 4 and sitting the 2021 ATAR course examinations
• Year 10 students who have been given approval to study ATAR Unit 3 and Unit 4 and sit the 2021 ATAR course examinations.

Please note: Students will be required to complete the Student Declaration and Permission when they log in to the portal before they can gain access to other important information such as their examination timetable.

This information was sent to schools on Wednesday, 5 May 2021 as per the Activities Schedule 2021.

The deadline for students to complete this process online is Thursday, 17 June 2021.

Information for teachers can be found at https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/the-wace/student-declaration

The purpose of this online Student Declaration and Permission is to ensure students are aware of the requirements:

• to achieve the Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE)
• for sitting the ATAR course examinations.

It also enables students to give permission for the:

• release of certain personal information should they receive an award
• use of school work for creating support materials and
• use of examination responses (written and practical).

Failure to complete the submission process may impact schools with students who:

• may win an award (including students who are not sitting ATAR course examinations) and who have not indicated their preference to have/not have their name published in the media
• are unaware of the requirements for achieving the WACE.

Schools are able to monitor which of their students have completed the Student Declaration and Permission online via the following report, CSE058 – Student Release Choices by Provider. The pathway to the report is as follows: Reports > Other reports > Report type: Students, reports.

The Authority appreciates your assistance in obtaining this important information.