Crunch time for senior students

TWELVE years of education will come to a head today as students across the region complete the QCS.

St Edmunds year 12 student Jack Farrell, 18, during today’s QCS test. About 30,000 students will sit the tests across Queensland. Picture: Claudia Baxter

TWELVE years of education will come to a head today as students across the region complete the QCS.

Ipswich year 12 students, as well as those across the state are mid-way through the Queensland Core Skills test this morning, having completed a multi-choice and writing section of the exam yesterday.

The statewide exam will conclude today with another multi-choice and a short response test.

Approximately 30,000 students will complete the test across Queensland.

St Edmunds year 12 student Tom Gimple said most students were well prepared going into the exams.

“Everyone seemed pretty relaxed,” he said.

“We had pretty good preparation for it, so we knew what to expect from the exam.”

St Edmunds principal Brendan Lawler said the school put a huge amount of preparation into the QCS testing.

“We prepare them from around the end of year 11,” he said.

“There are practice tests and explanations of the exams.”

St Edmunds has 110 year 12 students taking the exam.

The results of the test will contribute, along with their individual marks, to the students’ end of school Field Positions and Overall Positions.

Each school’s overall performance on the QCS, rather than individual scores, is a key factor in developing OPs.

Tom said knowing how the test worked kept him relaxed about the test.

“It’s good to know that doing badly won’t affect me.

“I mean you still want to do well for the boys, but knowing that if I mess up it won’t mean I get a worse OP.”

State Education Minister Cameron Dick said while the time could be stressful for students, schools now did a lot of work to prepare for it.

“Most students will have completed practice tests at their schools and have a good idea of what to expect,” he said.

“Although it can be a stressful time for many students, I am confident that they are well prepared and I wish them all the best.”

QCS test

• 30,000 students across Queensland are taking part in the QCS.
• Taking part in the QCS is necessary to obtaining an OP.
• The test involves two multi-choice exams, a written task and a short response exam.
• A school’s group result rather than individual results are used to calculate OPs.

Originally published as Crunch time for senior students