Queensland’s last ever OP results will be released today
More than 18,000 Queensland Year 12 students will find out their OP results today, the last cohort to receive the score before the state switches systems next year.
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THEY were Queensland’s history-making cohort and today more than 18,000 students will mark another milestone, becoming the last ever graduates to receive an OP.
From 2020 Year 12 graduates will receive an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) under the new Queensland Certificate of Education system, bringing Queensland in line with every other state and territory.
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This year’s group were the first students to start school following the introduction of Prep – a “half-cohort” of students whose birthdays were in the beginning of the calendar year – meaning their graduating class is smaller than usual.
About 37,700 Year 12s graduated this year, about 14,000 less than in 2018.
Of those 93 per cent achieved their Queensland Certificate of Education with more than 15,000 landing an OP between 1 and 15.
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Among them were 535 of the state’s brightest students who would be celebrating extra hard today, having achieved an OP1.
Education Minister Grace Grace said the class of 2019 had “sent the old system out with a bang”, adding that it was an “end of an era” for the OP model which had been in place since 1992.
“Our Year 12 leavers can now start the next chapter of their lives, whether that be studying at university, getting a job or taking up a trade or traineeship,” she said.
“I wish them the best of luck and encourage them to follow their passion.”
Senior students in the tight-knit cohort at St Margaret’s Anglican Girls School in Ascot were among graduates across the state eagerly awaiting their results today.
Hilary McKie hoped to get an OP3 or higher and planned to move to Melbourne to study biomedical engineering.
“Academically, Year 12 was easily the most challenging year,” she said.
“But it has also been very rewarding and exciting, and I’ve made some amazing memories with my peers.”
Classmate Justine Solomon hopes she will wake up today to a score high enough to land her place to study medicine, ideally at James Cook University.
“I’ve been interested in medicine since I was about six-years-old,” she said.
Fellow students Kelsey Booth and Olivia Trempus also had their sights firmly set on the future.
Ms Booth plans to study a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the Queensland of Technology, while Ms Trempus also hopes to end up at QUT to undertake a double degree in law and psychology.
In 2020, the long-awaited changes to the state’s senior school system will be fully in effect.
Under the new Queensland Certificate of Education system students will undertake subject-based external exams for the first time in almost 50 years.
The Queensland Core Skills test has also been scrapped.
“Eligible students will receive an ATAR which will ensure results are as inclusive and fair for students as possible,” Ms Grace said.
For most subjects exams will contribute 25 per cent to the final result, though in maths and science subjects exams will make up 50 per cent.
Queensland Year 12 students would also be undertaking a range of new subjects on offer next year, including engineering, psychology and literature.
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