11to12 Circulars - August-2 2019

Examinations

Front covers for the 2019 ATAR course examinations available to schools

Contact
Kerry Cribb (08) 9273 6787
Kerry.Cribb@scsa.wa.edu.au

Front covers for the 2019 ATAR course examinations are available on the School Curriculum and Standards Authority website under the ‘Examination Materials’ heading on the relevant course page at https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-support-materials.

The examination front covers should be distributed by teachers of the relevant courses to help prepare students for the examinations. Feedback from students last year suggests that some teachers did not make copies of the front covers available to their students, nor did they discuss the significance of the information in them.

The front covers contain details of the structure of each examination, the allocation of marks and the rules governing the conduct of the examination. Teachers are strongly encouraged to familiarise students with the front covers of both the written and practical examinations.

Front covers are not included for those language examinations that are set by curriculum authorities in other states.


2019 Dance ATAR course written examination stimulus material distributed to schools

Contact
Max Leech 
(08) 9273 6740
Max.Leech@scsa.wa.edu.au

Kerry Cribb (08) 9273 6787
Kerry.Cribb@scsa.wa.edu.au

The stimulus material for the 2019 Dance ATAR course written examination has been distributed to schools. A DVD and a CD were provided to each teacher of the course and each student enrolled to sit the examination.

The DVD contains a copy of the stimulus material The Beginning of Nature and the CD contains the ‘Support document for stimulus material The Beginning of Nature by Australian Dance Theatre’. Candidates will be required to make reference to the stimulus material in at least half of the questions in Section One of the written examination.

The DVD will not be played during the examination. However, the examination paper will include a Source booklet that contains images from The Beginning of Nature as prompts or reminders of the stimulus DVD.


2019 Media Production and Analysis ATAR course written examination stimulus material distributed to schools

Contact
Catherine Walsh
(08) 9273 6777
Catherine.Walsh@scsa.wa.edu.au

Kerry Cribb (08) 9273 6787
Kerry.Cribb@scsa.wa.edu.au

The stimulus material for the 2019 Media Production and Analysis ATAR course written examination has been distributed to schools. A USB was provided for each teacher of the course and each candidate enrolled to sit the ATAR course examination.

The USB contains the audiovisual and online stimulus material.

Candidates will be required to make reference to the stimulus material in their responses to Section One: Short answer in the written examination.

The first file on the USB titled ._Bandersnatch_BlackMirror (4KB in size) should be disregarded as it was inadvertently replicated on the USB.

The USB will not be used during the ATAR course written examination. However, the examination materials will include a Source booklet with excerpts or stills from the stimulus material.


General Information SIRS Enrolments

Consequences of not sitting examinations in 2019

Contact
Jenny Offer
(08) 9273 6313
Jenny.Offer@scsa.wa.edu.au

Schools are reminded that students who are enrolled in a Year 12 ATAR course pair of units are required to sit the ATAR course examination. There are both written and practical examinations for some ATAR courses.

Students who do not sit an ATAR course examination, and do not have an approved sickness/misadventure application for that course, will not have the grades for the pair of units completed in that year contribute to the calculation of the Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE).

This means, the grades for the ATAR Year 12 course will not contribute to the:

  • completion of a minimum of 20 units, including 10 Year 12 units
  • completion of at least one pair of Year 12 units from an English course (if the ATAR Year 12 course was either English, Literature or English as an Additional Language or Dialect)
  • completion of one pair of Year 12 units from List A (arts/languages/social sciences) or List B (mathematics/science/technology) – depending on the list of the ATAR Year 12 course
  • achievement of at least 14 C grades or higher, including at least six C grades in Year 12 units
  • completion of at least four Year 12 ATAR courses.

Students who do not sit the ATAR course examination will not have a course mark or grade recorded on their Western Australian Statement of Student Achievement (WASSA), nor will they receive an ATAR course report.

As a consequence, a student may not meet the requirements to receive a WACE.

The School Curriculum and Standards Authority advises consultation with students who may be enrolled in ATAR course/s but who are not requiring an ATAR to confirm that they must sit the examination for that course for it to contribute to their WACE.