Years 7–10: Humanities and Social Sciences, Mathematics, Science and Technologies curriculum familiarisation professional learning

Contact
Humanities and Social Sciences:
Chris Doohan (08) 9273 6766
Christopher.Doohan@scsa.wa.edu.au

Mathematics:
Lisa Griffin (08) 92736779
Lisa.Griffin@scsa.wa.edu.au

Science:
Julie Weber (08) 9273 6381
Julie.Weber@scsa.wa.edu.au

Technologies:
David Donnelly (08) 9273 6350
David.Donnelly@scsa.wa.edu.au

Jennifer Wheatley (08) 9273 6335
Jennifer.Wheatley@scsa.wa.edu.au

The School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) is offering professional learning opportunities to support schools with the familiarisation of the Western Australian curriculum for Years 7–10 Humanities and Social Sciences, Mathematics, Science and Technologies. The Authority is providing teacher relief payments for schools across all systems/sector, up to two teachers for each half-day workshop in each learning area (or a whole day if the teacher is attending both sessions). Participants will receive letters on the day to progress the teacher relief payment. Once the teacher relief invoice has been returned to the Authority, participants will receive a presentation pack that can be used to facilitate professional learning at the school level.

These four learning areas of the Western Australian Curriculum and Assessment Outline (the Outline) are in the familiarisation phase of adopting and adapting the Australian Curriculum version 9 to the Western Australian context in 2025. Schools will be required to teach the revised year level curriculum for Humanities and Social Sciences, Mathematics, Science and Technologies in 2026.

The initial online Webex meetings aim to:

• familiarise schools with the support materials on the Authority website
• outline key curriculum changes
• provide guidance to enable schools to become familiar with the revised curriculum
• offer teaching and learning support.

The additional in-person workshops will offer the above points in more detail and engage in a more practical approach to reviewing school-based documentation.

The Western Australian curriculum, as published in the Outline (https://k10outline.scsa.wa.edu.au/) is the mandated curriculum for Western Australian schools and must continue to be implemented in all schools until advised otherwise.

Register at https://scsa.wa.edu.au/events.

More information is available through an interactive graphic on the Authority website at https://k10outline.scsa.wa.edu.au/home/resources/revised-western-australian-curriculum-familiarisation.

Health and Physical Education Curriculum Advisory Committees – 2025 Nominations

Contact
Dino Manalis (08) 9273 6356
Dino.Manalis@scsa.wa.edu.au

Angie Ayers (08) 9273 6358
Angie.Ayers@scsa.wa.edu.au

Nominations are now open for Curriculum Advisory Committees (CACs) in the Health and Physical Education (HPE) learning area.

Practising teachers and representatives from professional associations, universities, training, industry and the community are advised that nominations are open for a range of positions in the HPE CACs across the following phases of learning:

• Late Adolescence and Early Adulthood (Years 11 and 12)
  • Physical Education Studies
  • Health Studies
  • Outdoor Education
• Early and Middle Adolescence (Years 7–10).

These committees are responsible for providing expert advice to the School Curriculum and Standards Authority on a range of matters, including, but not limited to:

• the Western Australian Curriculum – Year 7 to Year 10
• the Principles of Teaching, Learning and Assessment
• the Pre‑primary to Year 10: Teaching, Assessing and Reporting Policy and Policy Standards for Pre‑primary to Year 10: Teaching, Assessing and Reporting
• external assessments (externally set tasks and ATAR course examinations)
• assessment and moderation – Years 7 to 10, Years 11 and 12
• the Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) syllabus requirements.

To nominate yourself for CAC membership, please contact the relevant staff members directly:

• Dino Manalis– Physical Education Studies Years 11 and 12; Outdoor Education Years 11 and 12
• Angie Ayers – Health Studies Years 11 and 12; Health and Physical Education Years 7-10.

The staff member will provide you with the nomination and endorsement form for the application. You will be required to submit a curriculum vitae of no more than three pages as part of the nomination process.

Applications close Monday, 26 May 2025.

The Terms of Reference are available at https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/about-us/curriculum-advisory-committees.

Modern History Year 12 ATAR Improving Student Performance Workshops 2025 – Unit 4

Contact
Crystal Wieringa (08) 9273 6778
Crystal.Wieringa@scsa.wa.edu.au

The School Curriculum and Standards Authority will be conducting a series of workshops during Term Two for teachers of Modern History ATAR, designed to support improving student performance.

The workshops are intended for schools offering the Year 12 Modern History ATAR course in 2025.

These hands-on workshops will support participants to develop their understanding of a range of topics including syllabus content, course standards and assessment task design.

The Modern History Year 12 ATAR syllabus for teaching in 2025 is available on the Modern History course page at https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-support-materials/humanities-and-social-sciences/modern-history-ATAR.

The workshops will be conducted in the locations and on the dates listed below:

• Busselton – Friday, 6 June 2025, 9.00–11.30 am
• Metro South – Thursday, 12 June 2025, 9.00–11.30 am
• Metro North – Tuesday, 17 June 2025, 12.00–2.30 pm.

The workshops are not compulsory and are free to attend. Registration and all further details are available at https://scsa.wa.edu.au/events/atar-year-12-modern-history-improving-student-performance-workshops-2025-unit-4.

Updated Year 12 Physics ATAR Formulae and Data booklet for 2025

Contact
Lisa Honczarenko (08) 9273 6763
Lisa.Honczarenko@scsa.wa.edu.au

Ian Wilson (08) 9273 6788
Ian.Wilson@scsa.wa.edu.au

Teachers of Year 12 Physics ATAR are advised that the Formulae and Data booklet for the Year 12 Physics ATAR syllabus has been updated. The booklet is available under Examination materials on the Physics ATAR course page on the School Curriculum and Standards Authority website at https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-support-materials/science/physics.

The term ‘at rest’ has been removed from the following descriptions:

• Mass of electron m_e = 9.11 x 10^-31 kg
• Mass of proton m_p = 1.67 x 10^-27 kg

Music ATAR course practical (performance and/or composition portfolio) examination Information summary sheet/s and Information collection form/s

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

The Music ATAR course Information summary sheet/s and Information collection form/s have been sent to schools to arrive by Friday, 9 May 2025.

The pack has been sent to the Music teacher through the principal and includes instructions and the date for returning completed materials to the School Curriculum and Standards Authority.

Applications for 2025 ATAR course examination markers

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

Laura Dunnett (08) 9273 6730
Laura.Dunnett@scsa.wa.edu.au

The School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) is seeking applications for the role of marker for the practical and written components of the 2025 ATAR course examinations. Information regarding the application process is available on the employment page on the Authority website at https://scsa.wa.edu.au/about-us/employment.

Applications open on Thursday, 1 May 2025 and close at 5.00 pm on Tuesday, 17 June 2025.

Interstate Language ATAR course examinations

Contact
Tanya Andrew (08) 9273 6394
Tanya.Andrew@scsa.wa.edu.au

Schools are advised that   there have been significant changes to the curriculum for many interstate language courses. An email was sent by the Language Team at the end of Term 1 to all non-school candidates, schools and community language schools informing them of the relevant course documents available on the respective jurisdictional host website.

For Chinese: Background Language and Japanese: Background Language, the external practical (oral) examination design brief has changed. It now includes eight minutes of preparation time to answer two questions. The questions are written in the course language (i.e. Chinese or Japanese). An interview of up to seven minutes follows the preparation.

A sample of the question sheet can be found by clicking on the links and following the instructions below. Please note that the sample questions are written in English, but the questions in the examination itself will be written in the relevant course language.

Chinese: Background Language:
https://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/11-12/stage-6-learning-areas/stage-6-languages/in-context/chinese-context-syllabus-2023.

Scroll down to ‘Assessment and examination materials’, click on ‘Chinese in Context Stage 6 Syllabus (2023): Annotated sample oral examinations.’

Japanese: Background Language
https://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/11-12/stage-6-learning-areas/stage-6-languages/in-context/japanese-in-context-syllabus-2023.

Scroll down to ‘Assessment and examination materials’, click on ‘Japanese in Context Stage 6 Syllabus (2023): Annotated sample oral examinations.’

Examination reports for the 2024 ATAR course examinations

Contact
Lisa Honczarenko (08) 9273 6763
Lisa.Honczarenko@scsa.wa.edu.au

The 2024 ATAR course examination reports are now available on the course page of the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) website once logged into the Extranet.

The Extranet is the Authority’s secure area for teachers to access materials and resources to support them in their work. Log into or register for the Extranet at https://scsa.wa.edu.au/extranet/login.

Extranet access is not required to view the 2024 Summary examination reports for candidates available on the course page.

An examination report is not available for courses with low numbers of candidates or school offerings.

Design ATAR course practical (portfolio) examination submission requirements

Contact
Paul Cranley (08) 9273 6795
Paul.Cranley@scsa.wa.edu.au

Teachers are reminded that changes to the Year 12 Design ATAR practical (portfolio) submission requirements were implemented with the revised syllabus in 2024. The changes to the submission requirements for the practical examination from prior years are reflected in the 2025 Practical (portfolio) examination requirements.

Teachers and students should refer to the 2025 Practical (portfolio) examination requirements on the Design course page at https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-support-materials/arts/design for further information.

Equitable Access Adjustments supporting resources

Contact
Glenn Carroll (08) 9273 6327
Glenn.Carroll@scsa.wa.edu.au

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

The School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) encourages schools to explore the additional resources for supporting understanding of Equitable Access Adjustments (EAA) and Sickness/Misadventure processes in ATAR course examinations.

The additional resources are available on the Authority website at https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/assessment/examinations/special-provisions. They include a welcoming address and introduction by Mr Roshan Perera, an overview of the EAA process, a guide to medical evidence for EAA applications and an overview to the Authority’s Sickness and Misadventure process.

Building on the resources released in March, the Authority is seeking feedback from schools on elements of the EAA process where further points of clarification would be beneficial. If you have any points for which you would appreciate further clarification, please email Gabby Raggio, Director Logistics, Testing and Planning at gabby.raggio@scsa.wa.edu.au until Friday, 30 May.

Calculators in the Year 12 ATAR course examinations 2025

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

Schools are encouraged to apply the rules for the use of calculators in the Year 12 ATAR course examinations 2025 in their Semester 1 examinations.

Information relating to approved use of calculators in designated Year 12 ATAR course written examinations for 2025 is provided in the:

• examination design brief in the course syllabus, located on the course page of the School Curriculum and Standards Authority website at https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-support-materials
• Appendix C: Materials required/recommended for written examinations 2025 in the Year 12 Information Handbook 2025: Part I: Information for all students at https://scsa.wa.edu.au/publications/year-12-information
• the front cover of the ATAR course examinations that are scheduled for release in August 2025 and will be published on the course pages.

The guidelines for the use of calculators differs between courses. Students must adhere to the specified guidelines regarding the type of calculators permitted, as indicated by a key corresponding to each ATAR course examination. A student’s failure to comply with these guidelines may be considered a breach of examination rules, potentially resulting in penalties.

2025 VET qualification estimates (ESQUAL) – Important information

Contact
Sarah King (08) 9273 6391
vetinfo@scsa.wa.edu.au

The vocational education and training (VET) qualification estimates (ESQUAL) is a mandatory reporting activity required by Thursday, 15 May 2025. Schools are required to report the qualifications being undertaken by students (including students who access training offsite at external providers) and the student details for each qualification.

Details of the units of competency within each qualification are not required to be reported. Schools are only required to update the ESQUAL file after the 15 May deadline if there is a significant change in VET offerings.

Schools will need to indicate the delivery arrangement (e.g. auspice, profile, fee for service) for each VET qualification.

Refer to Section 3.3 in the Data Procedures Manual 2025. The manual can be downloaded from the Authority website at https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/publications/data-procedures-manual.

Note: uploading an ESQUAL file to the Student Information and Record System (SIRS) causes the previous file to be completely erased. All students should be included in each upload to ensure information on your school record is maintained correctly in SIRS.

Nominal hours for Certificate II VET qualifications

Contact
Tammy Kent (08) 9273 6316
vetinfo@scsa.wa.edu.au

Schools are reminded to check the total nominal hours of the units of competency selected within Certificate II vocational education and training (VET) qualifications, as completion of a Certificate II with less than 220 nominal hours will only be awarded two Year 11 unit equivalents towards the Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE). It is important to note that there are nominal hours for units of competency and for qualifications.

Completion of a Certificate II level qualification with less than 220 nominal hours may impact on a student’s WACE achievement as only two Year 11 unit equivalents will be awarded.

Commonly delivered VET qualifications with low total nominal hours include:

• CHC24015 Certificate II in Active Volunteering (155 nominal hours)
• CPC20220 Certificate II in Construction Pathways (200 nominal hours)
• FSK20119 Certificate II in Skills for Work and Vocational Pathways (205 nominal hours)
• SIS20321 Certificate II in Sport Coaching (190 nominal hours).

Some of the commonly delivered VET qualifications that meet the 220 nominal hours threshold when appropriate electives are used are listed below:

• AUR20720 Certificate II in Automotive Vocational Preparation (230 nominal hours)
• SIT20122 Certificate II in Tourism (225 nominal hours)
• RII20220 Certificate II in Surface Extraction Operations (220 nominal hours)
• CHC22015 Certificate II in Community Services (235 nominal hours).

Nominal hours for units of competency can be accessed from the Department of Training and Workforce Development website via the training product search at https://www.dtwd.wa.gov.au/training-product-search.

For more information see subsection 4.6 of the WACE Manual 2025 at https://scsa.wa.edu.au/publications/wace-manual.

WACE recognition of VET Accredited Courses

Contact
Tammy Kent (08) 9273 6316
vetinfo@scsa.wa.edu.au

Schools are reminded to check the Accredited Course Recognition Status list on the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) website before enrolling students in a vocational education and training (VET) accredited course.

Accredited courses do not automatically provide students with recognition towards the Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE). If a school intends to enrol students in a VET accredited course that is not currently on the status list, an application must be submitted to the Authority for the course to be approved and classified prior to student enrolment.

The following accredited courses have been recently approved by the Authority:

• 11304NAT Certificate III in Crypto Asset and Blockchain Technologies
• 52913WA Certificate II in Engineering Foundations.

The Accredited Course Recognition Status list and further information about accredited courses can be found on the Authority website under WACE Recognition of VET Accredited Courses at https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/vet/wace-recognition-of-vet-accredited-courses.

Students’ marks for externally set tasks 2025

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

Students’ marks for the externally set tasks (ESTs) 2025 are due to be uploaded by Tuesday, 3 June. Schools are required to upload the raw total mark for each student in each EST into the Student Information Records System (SIRS).The mark will be out of the total indicated on the EST marking key for the course, which is provided by the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority).

A mark of zero (0) should only be used if the student has attempted the assessment but received no marks. The ‘ABS’ code is only to be used for absent students.

See Section 7: Externally set tasks in the Data Procedures Manual 2025,which is available on the Authority website at https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/publications/data-procedures-manual.

A complete list of EST codes is also available on the Authority website at https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/sirs-and-srms-info/sirs-information/est-codes.

If you have any issues regarding the upload of the EST marks (RSEST file), phone  9273 6352 or email dataservices@scsa.wa.edu.au.

Students’ marks for the common oral assessment task (COAT) 2025

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

Students’ marks for the common oral assessment task (COAT) are due to be uploaded to SIRS by Monday, 9 June 2025. Schools are required to upload the COAT raw marks by criterion for each Year 12 student enrolled in Year 12 ATAR English as an Additional Language or Dialect (ATELD) using the RSCOT format into the Student Information Records System (SIRS). The total mark for the assessment is 20 marks. Note: marks must not be converted to a percentage or a mark out of the weighting of 10 per cent.

Each of the three criteria has a subtotal mark, as shown below, and must be entered as a whole number. Half marks must not be used.

The screenshot below shows a section of the required format for the COAT raw marks database in Excel. Once all the data has been entered into the Excel document, the header row must be removed, and the document saved as a .CSV or a .SCSV file before it can be uploaded into SIRS.

Note: COAT Absent flag (Column M – mandatory field) must have either Y or N entered.

A mark of zero (0) should only be used if the student has attempted the assessment but received no marks. The absent flag column should contain a ‘Y’ for absent students and the criteria mark columns should be left blank.

Schools must check that the RSCOT upload has been successfully processed and verify the marks uploaded are correct by running the COT001 – COAT achievements by class report in SIRS.

See Section 8: COAT in the Data Procedures Manual 2025, which is available at https://scsa.wa.edu.au/publications/data-procedures-manual.

Final date for enrolment in year-long Year 11 courses, 2025

Contact
Perpetua Joseph (08) 9273 6771
Perpetua.Joseph@scsa.wa.edu.au

Schools are reminded that the final date for upload into Student Information Records System (SIRS) for enrolments in year-long Year 11 courses (i.e. courses with codes starting with either AE, GE or FE) for Year 11 students (via ENCOS file) is Friday, 16 May (Week 3 of Term 2).

After this date, the SIRS database will be locked and no further changes (except withdrawals from those courses) will be accepted.

From this date, Year 11 students may only be enrolled into single units for Semester 2.

Final dates for Year 12 students to withdraw from courses 2025

Contact
Perpetua Joseph (08) 9273 6771
Perpetua.Joseph@scsa.wa.edu.au

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

• Thursday, 24 July 2025 – final date for withdrawing students from ATAR courses with practical examination components or School-based practical external assessment (SPEA). No changes can be made to student enrolments in these courses after this date.
• Monday, 11 August 2025 – final date for withdrawing students from ATAR courses without practical examination components. No changes can be made to student enrolments in these courses after this date.
• Monday, 11 August 2025 – final date for withdrawing students from General, Foundation, Preliminary and Vocational Education and Training (VET) industry specific courses. No changes can 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 understand the possible impact of their decision on WACE achievement. The WACE checker is available on the Authority website at https://wacechecker.scsa.wa.edu.au/.

Students who are enrolled in a Year 12 ATAR course must sit the external examination in that course to meet course completion requirements. For ATAR courses with practical components, students must sit both the written and practical examinations.

If students do not sit an ATAR course examination and do not have an approved sickness/misadventure application for that course, the grades for the pair of units completed in that year will not contribute to the calculation of the WACE. As a consequence, a student may not meet the requirements to receive a WACE.

Alternative Curriculum and/or Reporting on Student Achievement Recognition 2025 – Timeline and Process

Contact
Maureen Lorimer (08) 9273 6397 [Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday]
Maureen.Lorimer@scsa.wa.edu.au

The process for applying for alternative curriculum/reporting on student achievement recognition begins at the start of Term 2.

Schools/organisations planning to implement a curriculum different from the P–10 Western Australian Curriculum and/or a different method of reporting student achievement, as outlined in the School Curriculum and Standards Authority’s (the Authority’s) Pre‑primary to Year 10: Teaching, Assessing and Reporting Policy, are advised that they must apply to the Authority to seek recognition.

In 2025, given the phased implementation of the revisions to the Western Australian Curriculum and Assessment Outline (the Outline), the Authority will accept alternative curriculum submissions for the following Pre‑primary to Year 10 learning areas:

• English
• Health and Physical Education.

Schools should formally advise the Authority of their intention to seek recognition of a curriculum (and/or reporting on student achievement) using the Authority’s Notice of Intention online application form. The form is available at https://k10outline.scsa.wa.edu.au/home/teaching/alternative-curriculum-recognition from the start of Term 2. The link to the form will close at 3 pm on Friday, 6 June.

The Authority’s Submission online application form will be available for schools/organisations to submit a full application from Monday, 16 June. This link will close at 3 pm on Friday, 8 August.

Submissions by schools/organisations for recognition of an alternative curriculum (and/or reporting on student achievement) that aligns with the Outline should be made to the Authority using the comparative curriculum and achievement standards templates that will be available through the Submissions online application form.

Any questions regarding this information should be forwarded to Ms Maureen Lorimer, Principal Consultant, Strategic Projects (Maureen.Lorimer@scsa.wa.edu.au).