Niche year 12 ATAR courses are gaining popularity in Western Australia, while core subjects including all levels of mathematics are declining.
But one course has bucked the trend.
The number of students choosing to sit the gruelling final exams across the state has been declining, with just over 28 per cent of all year 12s participating in ATAR in 2023 – the lowest rate nationally.
But some less mainstream ATAR subjects, including aviation, Chinese as a second language and business management and enterprise, have recorded a growth in students sitting their final exams when compared to the data from 2018.
In comparison, numbers in more traditional subjects have taken a dive. There are nearly 30 per cent fewer students enrolling in geography, 27 per cent fewer in modern history, and 25 per cent fewer in human biology.
Physical education studies and religion and life are another two courses with higher enrolment numbers which have taken a hit – both by around 34 per cent.
But the course to break the mould is literature. The only mainstream subject to increase its enrolments for ATAR exams across WA, with a growth of 6.6 per cent since 2018.
Before 2018, the numbers enrolling had been declining.
Curtin University School of Education associate lecturer Tamara Reads said the internet might be to blame for the shift – specifically the rise in content creators dedicating their accounts to reading, particularly on TikTok.
Reads, who also used to be a library and English teacher and is now writing her PhD on the importance of reading for pleasure, said the online book community had taken off during the height of the pandemic.
“There has always been that online community but the number of people engaging with its content really changed, people were searching for new ways to communicate with others, or for an escape,” she said.
Curtin University School of Education associate lecturer Tamara Reads.
“The proof of that impact can be seen clearly in the publishing industry, even with books that are quite old – once BookTok latched on they had to start printing new editions.
“It’s important to foster not only the skill to read but the will to read, and the internet has helped many teenagers achieve both.”
Reads also said in some cases, students following the ATAR pathway might be encouraged by their teachers to take literature over English as it was scaled higher, meaning it could boost the students’ ranking.
“But at the end of the day, we want students who stay readers past high school and that’s about more than marks,” she said.
“I get sad when I hear people say, ‘Kids aren’t interested in reading any more’, that is not my experience.
“We have to make sure we continue this online trend by encouraging primary school students to learn both phonics and how to engage in stories.”
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