School Curriculum and Standards Authority | Sitting external examinations to complete an ATAR course

Sitting external examinations to complete an ATAR course

The 2025 Year 12 ATAR course written and practical examination timetables were published on the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) website in June. You will find them at https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/assessment/examinations/examination-timetables. Personalised written examination timetable and Personalised practical examination timetable are now available through the student portal at https://studentportal.scsa.wa.edu.au.

This information is important because only completed courses contribute to your Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE). You need to sit the examination administered by the Authority to complete a Year 12 ATAR course. Also, a Year 12 ATAR course needs to be complete to appear on your Western Australian Statement of Student Achievement (WASSA). For ATAR courses with practical components, you must complete both the written and the practical examinations administered by the Authority.

There are consequences for not sitting an ATAR course examination and completing the course.

Consequences of not sitting an ATAR course examination – WACE achievement requirements

If you are enrolled in a Year 12 ATAR course and do not sit the ATAR course examination without an approved Sickness/misadventure application, the grade for that Year 12 course will not contribute to the WACE achievement of:

completion of a minimum of 20 units, including ten Year 12 units – required for the breadth and depth requirement
completion of at least one pair of Year 12 units from an English learning area course (if the missed ATAR Year 12 course was either English, Literature or English as an Additional Language or Dialect (EAL/D)) – required for the breadth and depth requirement
completion of one pair of Year 12 units from List A (arts/languages/social sciences) or List B (mathematics/science/technology) – required for the breadth and depth requirement
achievement of at least 14 C grades or higher, including at least six C grades in Year 12 units – required for the achievement standard
completion of at least four Year 12 ATAR courses – required for the achievement standard.

Consequences of not sitting an ATAR course examination – certification

If you are enrolled in a Year 12 ATAR course and do not sit the ATAR course examination without an approved Sickness/misadventure application, you will not:

have a course mark generated and recorded on your WASSA
have a grade for the Year 12 ATAR course recorded on your WASSA
receive an ATAR course report.

You may also find that you are no longer eligible to achieve your WACE because of not meeting the WACE requirements.

Availability of results

Your results will be available online via the student portal at https://studentportal.scsa.wa.edu.au/ in December. If you sat the ATAR course examination/s as a non-school candidate, you will also be able to download your examination results from the student portal.

You will be able to print your folio of achievement (WASSA, WACE, ATAR course reports and selected award certificates) for 2025 in mid-January 2026 by logging in to the student portal. It is important to remember your login and student password details.

Further information

The Year 12 Information Handbook is available at https://scsa.wa.edu.au/publications/year-12-information includes information about school-based assessment and completing courses.

Additional information is available on our student information page at https://student.scsa.wa.edu.au/home.

If you have any questions or concerns, please talk with your school.

Contact: Jenny Offer

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