The state government will consider major changes to high school education in Western Australia to encourage more pupils to get an Australian Tertiary Admission Ranking (ATAR) and take on harder subjects, following a review of secondary education pathways.
The report, Pathways for Post-School Success, commissioned by the state government from an expert panel of teachers and academics, recommends sweeping changes.
It recommends allowing students who get D grades in the ATAR to pass, including vocational (VET) subjects in the ATAR, and removing “shadow” courses from the curriculum.
The report confirms a significant decline in the number of year 12 pupils leaving school with an ATAR, down from 53 per cent in 2017 to 42 per cent in 2022.
“It is a decline that we need to address,” Minister for Education Tony Buti told Nadia Mitsopoulos on ABC Radio Perth.
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Mr Buti said the widely reported practice of teachers steering pupils away from challenging subjects, so as not to pull down the school’s average ATAR performance rating, was unacceptable.
“I don’t want schools to be coaching students out of taking challenging subjects, I want schools to be coaching students into challenging subjects,” he said.
“It is not acceptable and I’ll be making that quite clear.”
The report goes further, recommending that the government should “ensure that median ATAR is not used as a measure of school performance, including removing it from the school dashboard used in Department of Education schools”.
More reward for tougher subjects
To further boost students taking on more difficult subjects the report recommends allowing students who get D-grades in subjects to still receive credit towards their WA Certificate of Education (WACE).
“It would be a positive move because what I have heard is that some students — who may be looking at taking the more difficult ATAR subjects, but are concerned they may receive a D, which may jeopardise their ability to achieve a WACE at the end of year 12 — will take the easier general subject,” Mr Buti said.
“If we allow students to take the harder ATAR subjects and receive a D but not jeopardise their WACE possibility, I’m that sure that will encourage students to take the harder subjects.”
WA Education Minister Tony Buti in a school classroom. (ABC News: Cason Ho)
The report also recommends removing so-called shadow courses, which are general courses that are somewhat easier versions of ATAR courses and don’t contribute to university entrance ranks.
“The general courses were implemented, I think, in 2016, and basically the purpose was to engage students,” Mr Buti said.
“But I am concerned about the proliferation of general courses and the choices students are making to take the less-demanding general courses than the ATAR courses.”
The minister said he wasn’t sure separate pathways were required.
“I think we just need an array of subjects that provide a diverse, flexible, challenging course for students in year 11 and 12 to meet their needs, to build resilience and to ensure we produce students that are capable of going to university if they wish or going into the workforce if they wish,” he said.
Western Australia also currently does not allow any vocational education and training (VET) subjects to count towards an ATAR, something that is possible with certain subjects in every other state and territory in Australia, apart from Tasmania.
Mr Buti said he would actively consider the report’s recommendation to change this.
“I’d need to listen to the experts, but I would have thought that courses that have an engineering, mathematical component … may be great preparation for students that want to go onto engineering or other areas where they need to use technical mathematical calculations,” he said.
Everyone should leave with something
The report also recommends broadening what is included in the Western Australian Statement of Student Achievement (WASSA) issued to every pupil at the completion of year 12.
It suggests expanding what is included and also extending the WASSA to young people who leave before the end of year 12, so that all students leave school with a record of what they have achieved.
“That was an interesting part of the report, where it said that if you leave before the end of year 12, you should be able to walk out with something,” he said.
“That statement should maybe be a more holistic assessment of what the students have done through their education, so if they’ve done some micro-credentialing, like surf lifesaving through the school curriculum, maybe that should be on their statement.”
Listeners to ABC Radio Perth had a range of responses to the ideas in the report.
Brendan: “The practice of discouraging students from taking certain secondary courses is similar to that of encouraging students identified as potential failures to opt out sitting NAPLAN tests lest they make a school’s results less flattering to prospective enrolments, which in turn affects funding.
Sebastian: “The government needs to stop lowering the bar for the WACE requirements. Rather than making it easier and easier for kids to achieve WACE, let’s develop programs to build their resilience and build motivation to do the best they can.”
Clare: “My son has dyslexia. While his three siblings go to public schools, we pay for him to go to a private school that has a uni-ready program, so he doesn’t have to do ATAR to get into uni. Why aren’t public schools doing this instead of pushing children away from ATAR?
