VCE Unit 3 and 4 Update

Consideration of Educational Disadvantage

You may remember some time back in August the Minister for Education, Jame Merlino, announced that all students doing a VCE Year 12 subject would receive consideration of educational disadvantage due to the pandemic.  This is a different process to the SEAS (Special Entry Access Scheme) that has already been completed.  SEAS is an annual process designed by VTAC who facilitate applications to tertiary institutes.  The data that students and schools have provided is passes onto the providers who use it to determine who they will offer places to.  The SEAS process does not affect a students study score or their ATAR.

The new process is called Consideration of Educational Disadvantage.  This is designed to take into account the individual impact that the pandemic has had on a student.  It will be taken into account when the student's study score for each subject is calculated and subsequently may impact on their ATAR score.  This process is designed and facilitated by VCAA and has two components: 

1. Student impact statement
2. Teacher judgement.

All students doing a Unit 3 and 4 sequence completed their student impact statement at school after completing the GAT.  This required them to identify from a range of impacts those that effected them and to provide an assessment of the severity.  These statements will be provided to VCAA.

Teachers are being asked to provide VCAA with a professional judgement on how they believe a student would have performed if 2020 was just and ordinary year.  They will do this by looking at their assessments of students, work samples and previous known performance of students.

VCAA will take these two data sets into account along with the students achievement on the school based assessments and the examinations in their moderation processes.

Although we have already collected the student statements, we have told students that at any time until they are due in November if they wish to review or change their statement they should contact Mrs Mingos.

The GAT

We would like to congratulate all our students doing a Year 12 VCE subject on their completion of the GAT last week.  It's a very nerve wracking experience, doing a three hour examination that you cannot study for but you need to do your best on.  It was great to see a significant number of students still checking their papers at the end.

The GAT results will be used by VCAA in their statistical moderation of study scores and to develop derived scores if needed.

Year 12 Key Dates and Timeline

I am sure our year 12 students are suffering information overload at the moment.  I have included some key dates as a reminder for them, but also for parents who might be struggling to get specific information out of their kids.

October 29: Final day for year 12 classes

October 30: Celebration day 

November 2-November 9(inc): Study Vac 

November 10:  First Onsite Exam (English) 

December 1: Last year 12 exam 

December 30:  VCAA results available 

Janurary 2: VTAC change of preference closes (Team members will be available for student between 30/12/20 and 02/01/21)

Catherine Ford

Assistant Principal

Later Years