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

Contact
Chris Kelley (08) 9273 6750
Chris.Kelley@scsa.wa.edu.au

The School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) is offering professional learning opportunities to support schools with familiarisation of the Western Australian curriculum for Years 7–10 Humanities and Social Sciences, Mathematics, Science and Technologies.

Due to overwhelming demand, additional workshops have been scheduled for several learning areas. More than 1100 educators have already registered for the Years 7–10 curriculum familiarisation workshops and online meetings, which provide guidance and support to schools as they prepare for the implementation of the revised curriculum in 2026.

More information on these professional learning opportunities, including teacher relief and registration is available in the May Edition of the Circular at https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/7to12-circulars/edition-4-may-2025.

2025 Goldfields Mathematics Conference

Contact
Suzie Harman (08) 9273 6768
Suzie.Harman@scsa.wa.edu.au

The Western Australian Curriculum: Mathematics will be one of the featured presentations at the regional Mathematics conference to be hosted by the Mathematics Association of Western Australia (MAWA) on Saturday, 21 June 2025.

Information on the conference, including a link to the MAWA website for further information and registration is available in the March Edition of the Circular at https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/7to12-circulars/edition-3-march-2025.

Changes to the Hebrew, Modern Greek, Persian, Russian, Sinhala and Turkish ATAR syllabuses for Years 11 and 12

Contact
Coral Ryan (08) 9273 6743
Coral.Ryan@scsa.wa.edu.au

Schools are advised to note changes to the Hebrew, Modern Greek, Persian, Russian, Sinhala and Turkish ATAR syllabuses for Years 11 and 12.

The School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) accesses a range of language courses and external examinations from Victoria and South Australia as part of the Collaborative Curriculum and Assessment Framework for Languages (CCAFL).

The Authority has updated the ATAR course versions of the Hebrew, Persian, Russian, Sinhala and Turkish syllabuses made available by the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority.

Additionally, the South Australian Certificate of Education Board has notified the Authority of changes made to the oral and written examinations for 2025, resulting in updates to the Modern Greek ATAR syllabus.

The updated syllabuses for these languages, together with Oral examination specifications for CCAFL languages hosted by Victoria and South Australia, and Oral examination advice for candidates – Modern Greek and Spanish, are now available on the Authority website at https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-support-materials/languages/interstate-languages.

Design General syllabus review consultation forum

Contact
Claire Hodge (08) 9273 6342
Claire.Hodge@scsa.wa.edu.au

This consultation forum is for teachers and other stakeholders involved in the delivery of the Year 11 or Year 12 Design General course. Schools offering multiple course contexts may register several teachers to attend.

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

The forum will focus on analysis of feedback obtained from the 2024 survey on the Design General course. It will explore contextual options and provide direction for the future draft of the Design General course through an additional survey to be conducted during the event.

Participants are required to bring an electronic device for providing online feedback. Participants may find it useful to bring a copy of the current syllabuses, available at https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-support-materials/arts/design, but are not required to do so.

This event will be an invaluable opportunity to provide advice and feedback on the future Design General course.

There are two opportunities to engage in the consultation:

• an in-person meeting on Monday, 18 August, 1.00–3.00 pm
• a Teams meeting for regional or remote attendees on Tuesday, 19 August, 3.30–5.30 pm.

Attendance at the consultation forum is free; however, schools are responsible for teacher relief, and any travel and accommodation expenses, if required.

Register at https://scsa.wa.edu.au/events/design-general-syllabus-review-consultation-forum.

Notice of postponement of Years 11 and 12 ATAR Languages syllabus review

Contact
Sonia Belot (08) 9273 6725
Sonia.Belot@scsa.wa.edu.au

The Board of the School Curriculum and Standards Authority approved a review of the Languages ATAR syllabuses in March 2023. Feedback from the Curriculum Advisory Committees (CACs) led to moderate changes, including the removal of outdated content, updates to unit topics, and revisions to examination requirements.

Statewide consultation for second and background language courses took place between October 2024 and April 2025. The feedback highlighted the need to reassess specifications in practical (oral) and written examination design briefs, and section weightings in the written examinations.

Due to the delayed consultation and additional revisions, the Board has now approved the postponement of the familiarisation and implementation of the:

• Second Language ATAR syllabuses in Chinese, French, German, Indonesian, Italian and Japanese
• Background Language ATAR syllabuses in French, German and Italian.

The new implementation dates are 2027 for Year 11, and 2028 for Year 12.

The review of Year 11 and Year 12 ATAR second and background language courses will continue in 2025. The Language courses introduced for Hindi, Korean, Punjabi and Tamil are not part of this process.

Provision of Arabic and Latin courses in Years 11 and 12 in Western Australian schools

Contact
Coral Ryan (08) 9273 6743
Coral.Ryan@scsa.wa.edu.au

New Arabic and Latin courses, borrowed from the New South Wales Education Standards Authority (NESA), will be accessible to Western Australian students in Year 11 starting from 2026 and Year 12 starting from 2027.

The Western Australian versions of the Arabic and Latin NESA syllabuses will be made available on the School Curriculum and Standards Authority website at https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-support-materials/languages/interstate-languages.

The current Year 12 Arabic syllabus, based on the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority Arabic course, will continue to be accessible by Western Australian students in 2026.

2025 ATAR course examination timetables available online

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

The 2025 Year 12 ATAR course written and practical examination timetables are available on the School Curriculum and Standards Authority website at https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/assessment/examinations/examination-timetables.

The 2025 Year 12 ATAR course written examinations are scheduled from Wednesday, 29 October to Thursday, 20 November 2025.

From Tuesday, 9 September 2025, students will be able to download their Personalised written examination timetable and Personalised practical examination timetable by logging into the Student portal at https://studentportal.scsa.wa.edu.au.

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

2026 ATAR course examination dates

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

Schools are advised to note the dates for the 2026 ATAR course written and practical examinations.

The 2026 ATAR course written examinations are scheduled from Wednesday, 28 October to Thursday, 19 November 2026.

The 2026 ATAR course practical examinations are scheduled from Saturday, 26 September to Sunday, 25 October 2026. The 2026 ATAR course practical examinations are scheduled as follows:

• Saturday, 26 September to Sunday, 4 October (Saturdays, Sundays and the public holiday included):
  • Aviation, Dance, Drama and Music.
  • Commencement of practical (oral) examinations for Chinese: Second Language, French: Background Language, French: Second Language, German: Background Language, German: Second Language, Hindi: Background Language, Hindi: Second Language, Indonesian: Background Language, Indonesian: Second Language, Italian: Background Language, Italian: Second Language, Japanese: Second Language, Korean: Background Language, Korean: Second Language, Punjabi: Background Language, Punjabi: Second Language, Tamil: Background Language and Tamil: Second Language.
• Saturday, 10 October to Sunday, 25 October (Saturdays and Sundays included):
  • Continuation of practical (oral) examinations.

Schools will not be able to specify particular days for the practical examinations to be held for any student. Students from a school must be randomly allocated to examination times throughout all of the days allotted for a course. This process ensures anonymity for all candidates.

Schools are advised to plan activities such as school examinations, final-day assemblies, graduations, valedictory dinners and leavers’ breakfasts on dates other than those listed above.

Schools are requested to communicate the written and practical examination dates to students, teachers and parents. No allowance in the timetable can be made for holidays, work or personal arrangements.

The intended dates for future Year 12 ATAR course written examinations schedules are below. Note: the proposed start and/or end date may alter given the policy states, ‘The written examination period will be for a period of approximately 15 weekdays.’

• 2027: Monday, 1 November – Friday, 19 November
• 2028: Monday, 30 October – Friday, 17 November
• 2029: Monday, 2 November – Friday, 20 November

ATAR course examinations – general information

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

With the release of the timetables for the 2025 ATAR course written examinations, schools are encouraged to build students’ understanding of processes and key dates. Various processes will be highlighted over the remaining circulars for 2025, beginning with Late Arrivals. The School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) has established rules for late arrivals to practical and written examinations.

Practical examinations

The expectations for arrivals at practical examinations are detailed in the practical examinations requirements documents for each course. The rules for late arrivals are detailed as appropriate for the course. Schools should ensure students are familiar with the information relevant to them by referring to the Examination Materials accordion of the course page. Candidates who are late to a practical examination may not be admitted to the examination and this could affect their completion of the course and their achievement of a WACE.

Written examinations

It is mandatory candidates arrive at the examination centre at least 30 minutes before the prescribed start time for an examination (8.50 am for morning sessions and 1.30 pm for afternoon sessions). Supervisors will instruct candidates to enter the examination room approximately 20 minutes before the prescribed start time to facilitate administrative procedures and provide essential examination instructions.

Candidates will not be permitted to enter the examination room after the initial 30 minutes of the allocated working time. For all Mathematics course examinations, candidates will not be permitted to enter the examination room after the initial 30 minutes of Section One: calculator free working time.

If arriving after the instructions have commenced for any examination, candidates must read and sign a declaration confirming their understanding of crucial information pertinent to sitting the written examination.

Further information

The Year 12 Information Handbook Part II: Examinations will be available on the Authority website at https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/publications/year-12-information from Wednesday, 23 July 2025.

2025 Syllabus Delivery Audit (SDA) consultation survey

Contact
Nick Ognenis (08) 9273 6354
Nick.Ognenis@scsa.wa.edu.au

The Board of the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) is seeking feedback regarding the 2025 Syllabus Delivery Audit (SDA) process.

This moderation activity is designed to ensure that all schools are teaching and assessing the current syllabus in line with the requirements of the WACE Manual 2025 available at (https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/publications/wace-manual).

In the SDA, schools are required to submit a separate course outline and assessment outline for each listed course delivered. During the SDA process, the Authority reviews school-developed course outlines and assessment outlines for selected senior school courses.

Now the 2025 SDA is complete, the Authority is seeking feedback through a survey. The survey has three sections. Please complete the sections relevant to your role as School Coordinator, Teacher/Head of Learning Area or SDA reviewer (employed as a reviewer by the Authority).

The survey is available at https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/8236231/2025-Syllabus-Delivery-Audit-SDA-consultation-survey.

2025 Assessment Task Review of selected General Year 12 courses

Contact
Nick Ognenis (08) 9273 6354
Nick.Ognenis@scsa.wa.edu.au

Schools are advised that in 2025 the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) will conduct the Assessment Task Review process (ATR) for selected Year 12 General courses. This moderation activity is designed to support teachers to develop assessment tasks and marking keys that reflect the appropriate pitch and demand of the course, and meet the syllabus requirements.

Please note that only selected schools will be required to participate in the 2025 ATR moderation process. Further correspondence will be sent directly to these selected schools later in June.

The schools selected for the ATR are required to submit a separate assessment task and marking key for each of the nominated assessment types for each course they offer, as detailed in the table below. The process will require the upload of documents to SIRS2.

Following the Authority’s review of the documents in 2025, a report for each course will be made available to schools. The report will outline suggested action/s the teacher may take to improve the quality of the assessment tasks or marking keys submitted.

General Year 12 courses selected for the 2025 ATR

ADWPL Endorsed Program

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

All workplace hours completed by a student in Years 10, 11 or 12 can be counted towards the Authority-developed Workplace Learning (ADWPL) endorsed program. This includes the achievement of work placement undertaken as part of a pre‑apprenticeship program, school-based apprenticeship or traineeship, and/or all workplace hours completed by a student undertaking a VET qualification.

Further information, a template and resources for the accurate delivery and recording of the ADWPL can be found at https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-support-materials/endorsed-programs.

VET industry specific course mandatory co-requisite – linking Authority-developed Workplace Learning (ADWPL) endorsed program

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

A reminder to schools that for students enrolled in a VET industry specific course, the Authority-developed Workplace Learning (ADWPL) endorsed program must be linked to the relevant qualification code when reporting enrolments and achievements in ADWPL.

In order for the Student Information Records System (SIRS) to allocate course credit for VET industry specific courses, it is a requirement that ADWPL is linked to the relevant qualification code prior to uploading to SIRS.

ADWPL is reported through ENEND and RSEND SIRS file formats.

Schools with students enrolled in VET industry specific courses are advised that the mandated ADWPL endorsed program must commence in the same year of enrolment in the VET industry specific course, i.e. this requirement must be met within the first year of a two-year program.

To identify the link between ADWPL and the relevant VET industry specific course, there is a qualification code field in both ENEND and RSEND file formats. See Section 11.4: VET industry specific course results and achievements in the Data Procedures Manual 2025, available at https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/publications/data-procedures-manual.

Note: the qualification code is not required for ADWPL completed independently of a VET industry specific course.

Year 11 student achievements where students transfer schools between Terms 2 and 3

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

Schools are required to upload achievements for courses and/or units by Friday, 25 July 2025, where Year 11 students have transferred between schools at the end of Term 2. If the achievements are not uploaded for Semester 1, this may affect the students meeting all requirements to achieve the Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) in Year 12.

Note: this upload is optional for Year 11 students who are continuing their enrolments at the same school.

Details on the process for uploading achievement into SIRS can be found in Section 10 – Results and achievements in the Data Procedures Manual 2025, available at
https://scsa.wa.edu.au/publications/data-procedures-manual.

Before awarding a mark and grade for a course unit, schools must ensure students have met all of the assessment requirements for that unit.

Detailed advice on the allocation of grades for Year 11 students enrolled in either single units or year‑long courses is provided in section 2.7 of the WACE Manual 2025 – Assessing students who transfer, available at https://scsa.wa.edu.au/publications/wace-manual.

Online Student Declaration and Permission

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

The completion date for the online Student Declaration and Permission is Thursday, 28 August 2025 as per the Activities Schedule.

Information for students, including how to log in to the student portal and where they can seek assistance, can be found under the Student Information heading of the School Curriculum and Standards Authority website at https://student.scsa.wa.edu.au/.

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

Schools can monitor in SIRS which students have completed the online Student Declaration and Permission by generating the Report CSE058 – Student Release Choices by Provider. The pathway to the report is: Reports > Other reports > Report type: Students, Report: CSE058.

WACE Language Applications – Year 11 2026

Contact
Lisa Djanegara (08) 9273 6382
Lisa.Djanegara@scsa.wa.edu.au

Students will be able to complete their Application for permission to enrol in a WACE language course (WACE Language Application) for 2026 from Monday, 23 June 2025. Students intending to enrol in a Year 11 Language course can access the application via the student portal at https://studentportal.scsa.wa.edu.au.

The purpose of the WACE Language Application process is to ensure that students with a linguistic advantage in a language are not assessed against students who do not have the same advantage.

Once students have submitted the online applications in the Student portal, schools complete the three school stages in the SRMS portal at https://srms.scsa.wa.edu.au. When the three school stages of the application have been completed, the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) reviews the applications and determines each students’ WACE language course enrolment status. Students can see their WACE language course enrolment status in the Student portal and school users can monitor the progress of applications in the SRMS portal.

All Year 10 students, and Year 9 gifted and talented accelerated language students, currently studying a language, and intending to enrol in a Year 11 course in one or more of the Languages listed below, must complete a WACE Language application:

• Chinese
• French
• German
• Hindi
• Indonesian
• Italian
• Japanese
• Korean
• Punjabi
• Tamil.

The dates for submission of a WACE Language Application are:

• Wednesday, 30 July 2025, or earlier if students start the 2026 school year in Term 4, 2025
• Friday, 29 August 2025, or earlier if students start the 2026 school year in Term 1, 2026.

If assistance is required, it is advised that schools:

• use the School guide for online applications for WACE language courses
• direct students to access the Student guide for online applications for WACE language courses when completing the application
• email languagesenrolment@scsa.wa.edu.au.

Both guides are available on the course page on the Authority website and have been updated.

Application for permission to enrol in a WACE Languages course – information session

Contact
Lisa Djanegara (08) 9273 6355
Lisa.Djanegara@scsa.wa.edu.au

Harpreet Kaur (08) 9273 6434
Harpreet.Kaur@scsa.wa.edu.au

The School Curriculum and Standards Authority will conduct an online information session on the Languages enrolment application process in the Student Records Management System (SRMS).

The 60-minute online presentation will take place on Tuesday, 24 June 2025 from 3.45 to 4.45 pm. Teachers of Years 10–12 Languages, along with any school staff involved in the Application for permission to enrol in a WACE Languages course process within SRMS are invited to attend.

The aim of the session is to provide:

• an overview for staff new to the Languages enrolment application process
• updates on recent adjustments to the process
• suggestions on how to manage the process and to support students in their completion of the application
• strategies to ensure the processing of applications is not delayed.

Register at https://scsa.wa.edu.au/events/application-for-permission-to-enrol-in-a-wace-languages-course-information-session2.

Final dates for Year 12 students to withdraw from courses 2025

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

As indicated in the May Circular, the dates for withdrawing students from senior secondary courses fall in July and August:

• 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.

See the May edition of the Circular at https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/7to12-circulars/edition-4-may-2025 for further details about the consequences of withdrawing from courses with regards to course completion and the WACE requirements.

SRMS and Student portal password enhancements

Contact
Daniel Creusot (08) 9273 6343
srms@scsa.wa.edu.au

The minimum password requirements for the Student Records Management System (SRMS) and the Student portal have changed to enhance security. This will affect new passwords created for students and non-government staff accounts.

New passwords will need to be at least 14 characters long, and contain:

• at least one capital alphabetical character (A–Z)
• at least one lowercase alphabetical character (a–z)
• at least one numerical character (0–9)
• at least one special character (such as #, $, or !).

These requirements will not impact existing passwords but must be met when creating a new password.

Users wishing to update their password can click on their name at the top right of the screen, select Change password from the drop-down menu, and then follow the steps indicated. This option will not be available to government school staff.

The SRMS portal is available at https://identity.scsa.wa.edu.au/Account/Login and the Student portal is available at https://studentportal.scsa.wa.edu.au.

Note: as indicated above,Government school staff who use an @education email address and their Department of Education single sign-in passwords to log in to the SRMS will be unaffected by this change and they cannot change their password through the SRMS.