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 Feedback from the Curriculum Advisory Committees (CACs) led to moderate changes, including the removal of outdated content, updates to unit topics, and revisions to examination requirements.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.

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