WACE Refreshment Years 11 and 12

Following its December 2022 meeting, the Authority commenced a process of review and consultation in 2023 to refresh the WACE. The current WACE has been in place for Year 12 students since 2016. Aligning with the Australian Qualifications Framework, the WACE is recognised nationally and internationally.

The Refreshment process is focused on ensuring the WACE continues to remain a robust, rigorous and contemporary senior secondary certificate of education which meets the current and ongoing needs of students’ active citizenship and transition as they move into further education, training, and employment.

The WACE Refreshment focuses on:

• the range of courses and programs to cater for diverse student needs and pathways
• maximising access to the WACE, to better accommodate students with disability or who are disengaged from schooling
• strengthening the way in which quality vocational education and training and endorsed programs are recognised
• clearly reporting student capabilities, such as critical and creative thinking, digital literacy and intercultural and ethical understanding.

The Authority recognises that parents, students and teachers must be provided with a sense of stability in terms of curriculum, standards, supporting documentation, assessments and ATAR course examinations, and is clear that any modification to the WACE should have minimal impact for schools and teachers.

The WACE Refreshment has progressed with decisions communicated to stakeholders during the reporting period for a number of refreshments. The Authority continues to engage with stakeholders as the refreshment progresses.

In June 2023, Mrs Pauline White wrote to the Principals of all Western Australian secondary schools as Board Chair of the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) regarding the Refreshment.

Read the Board Chair’s letter.

Adopting and adapting (K–10)

The Authority’s project of adopting and adapting the Australian Curriculum version 9 within the Western Australian Curriculum and Assessment Outline (the Outline) is part of an ongoing and extensive process.

The School Curriculum and Standards Authority has shaped to this project to provide teachers with time participate in three key phases: consultation, familiarisation and implementation. To ensure the development and implementation of the revised curriculum remains manageable for teachers and schools, the Board has scheduled different learning areas for each phase for a staged implementation from 2022 to 2027.

Table 1: Phased implementation

Year	Consultation timeline	Familiarisation timeline	Implementation timeline
2022	English (P–6 phonic and word knowledge) Health and Physical Education (P–10 consent and examples of first aid)
2023	English (P–10) Health and Physical Education (P–10)	English (P–6 phonic and word knowledge) Health and Physical Education (P–10 consent and examples of first aid)
2024	Humanities and Social Sciences (P–10) Mathematics (P–10) Science (P–10) Technologies (P–10)	English (P–10) Health and Physical Education (P–10)	English (P–6 phonic and word knowledge) Health and Physical Education (P–10 consent and examples of first aid)
2025	The Arts (P–10) Languages (P–10 and 7–10 sequence)	Humanities and Social Sciences (P–10) Mathematics (P–10) Science (P–10) Technologies (P–10)	English (P–10) Health and Physical Education (P–10)
2026		The Arts (P–10) Languages (P–10 and 7–10 sequence)	Humanities and Social Sciences (P–10) Mathematics (P–10) Science (P–10) Technologies (P–10)
2027			The Arts (P–10) Languages (P–10 and 7–10 sequence)