ATAR Queensland: The secrets to success

It’s a marathon not a race – approach the school year like an athlete, get the right sleep, food and maintain life balance and remember, it’s not the end of the world, writes Antonia O’Flaherty

IT’S the question on every senior Queensland student’s mind heading back to school next week, and experts have revealed how to get the best ATAR.

In the biggest shake up to the state’s education system in decades, Year 12s are back to school next week, working towards external exams in October for the new Queensland Certificate of Education and getting their first Australian Tertiary Admission Rank.

Queensland schools celebrate after students achieve record-breaking OP results in 2019

OP results 2019: First Year 12 scores revealed

Queensland’s last ever OP results will be released today

OP assessment enters final term before ATAR takes over in 2020

Experts say the secret to conquering the new system will be running a marathon not a race – space out study and put balance back into the most-stressful year of school.
The best way to study is to forget about rote learning and find new ways to engage with content.

“A typical student might think in order to learn they might need to read something over and over or highlight something in the text they need,” Flinders University Dr Helen Askell said.

ASK FOR HELP

“Those learning strategies are low level – they’re not efficient and not successful.”

Instead, she said students should paraphrase text into their own words, draw diagrams and interactives of content, make concept maps and teach what they know to parents, peers and teachers.

Tess Lynn Year 12 case study, Tess wants to get a high atar to get into physio. Picture: Jamie Hanson

“Self-test to see what you do and don’t know, following up what you do and don't know – ask for help, adults, peers about the subject,” Dr Askell said.

The new Queensland Certificate of Education system (QCE) will see Year 12 students sit three school-based assessments and external assessment that’s set and marked by the QCAA. The ATAR will then be calculated from students’ five best subjects giving students a ranking of their performance that year in comparison with the state on a scale of 99.95 to 0.

Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre chief executive, Dr John Griffiths, said students would be most successful if they chose their subjects well.

“There is no magic formula for getting a good ATAR; it all depends on how well you’ve done in all your subjects in comparison to other students,” he said.

For the most part – it’s more about doing well in internal assessments and exams because external exams in Term 4 will only be worth 25 per cent of subject grade in most subjects, except for 50 per cent in mathematics and science.

While there is no specific subject combination that will guarantee a higher ATAR, getting the best possible marks in each of their subjects will ultimately translate to a higher percentile rank.

“Students are encouraged to choose subjects they enjoy, are good at and meet tertiary course prerequisites related to the chosen field of study,” Dr Griffiths said.

CHOOSING SUBJECTS

The advice is backed by the state’s Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority, chief executive Chris Rider, who said students should choose subjects they enjoy, can do well in and that enable them to achieve a Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE).

“Also make sure you take subjects that meet the prerequisites for tertiary courses you are considering.

“Achieving to the best of your ability in your subjects and courses is the key to maximising your ATAR.”

The nerve-racking prospect of sitting final external exams this October, the first cohort to sit subject-based final exams since 1972, will be the cause for much of this year's cohort's anxiety around school.

“(But) sample exam papers for more than 50 subjects are available on our website to give students a real flavour of what to expect,” Mr Rider said.

With each student’s results in school-based assessments available in their online learning accounts in May and in October this year, students will have a realistic view of how they are performing.

“This means students should have a pretty good idea of where they stand before they sit the external exam,” Mr Rider said.

And Minister Grace Grace said the secret to a good ATAR score was picking subjects you enjoy so that the hard work is made easier.

“There is no substitute for enjoying what you are learning when it comes to achieving in life,” she said.

“And while we encourage all students to give their studies their best, they should know that the final result is not the be-all and end-all.”

“Anyone whose results aren’t what they hoped for can explore alternative ways to enter university and training course, because learning is a lifelong journey.”

GET ORGANISED

To manage that much-anticipated external exam stress our experts’ three key recommendations were sage advice: Sleep, eat well and exercise.

But for a teenager, as University of Sunshine Coast’s education expert Dr Michael Nagel said, the hardest part of the year ahead may well be for Year 12 students to be organised and get enough sleep.

“They have to be very organised and make sure they spread their assessment out in a way that things don’t pile up, they don’t run out of time and miss deadlines.

“It’s really important to ask teachers to help them organise their time and their priorities.

Ethan Wallis wants to study Agribusiness and needs an ATAR of 77. Picture: Jamie Hanson

“One of the most important things with people while they’re focusing on their learning – they have to focus on down time too to give their brains a rest.”

Dr Askell said parents, who had always played a key role in their child’s learning, would need to remember that it was unlikely their teenagers would heed some of their advice.

“You don’t want to sound too parenty or pushy but you want to support them in their self-directed study,” she said.

“Help them come up with an approach to the year, help them set goals and stay on track.” But experts have warned – the ATAR is just a number and not the be-all and end-all of their schooling, and taking this approach would help alleviate stress.

“Remind them it’s just a snapshot in relation to all other students who sat that exam in that year… it’s only one snapshot in time, it’s not necessarily a total indication of the learning or capabilities of any one student,” Dr Askell said.

Cluey Learning's chief learning officer Dr Selina Samuels said her top tip was that students need to remember it’s a marathon not a race.

“Approach the year like an athlete, getting the right sleep, food, exercise and maintaining a balanced life are all very important,” she said.

STAY HEALTHY

“Don’t feel you have to lock yourselves away and have no fun.

“We know from Cluey’s latest ATAR research that 75 per cent of all students experience ‘ATAR Anxiety’, and you need to manage your health and wellbeing during this time.”

And while the ATAR will be the standard pathway used to gain entry for most tertiary courses, alternative pathways to university will still stand, including VET qualifications as a stand-alone, TAFE VET courses and bridging courses among other routes.