Queensland parents kept in the dark over key school ATAR data

Education Minister Grace Grace has doubled down on a decision to keep individual school ATAR results a secret in a move slammed by the LNP.

• How Qld schools performed in ATAR

Parents and students will be kept in the dark on individual school performance for the third year running, with the state government refusing to publicly release ATAR results, a decision slammed by the LNP.

While Education Minister Grace Grace said ATAR was not designed or intended to measure school performance, a school’s strong or poor performance can influence where parents choose to send their child.

Opposition education spokesman Christian Rowan said the decision showed a lack of transparency and openness from the state government.

Unlike NSW which publicly releases a comprehensive list per school, the state government simply releases a median breakdown of the 27,000 strong cohort.

Students and schools were also hit with significant delays in accessing their results online on Friday morning with some logging on to find material missing.

Ms Grace said a publication of a “league table” of ATAR results was “detrimental and counter-productive” for both students and schools.

Education Minister Grace Grace said she was yet to receive a complaint from parents asking for a school by school comparison for ATARs. Picture: Liam Kidston

She said she had not received complaints from parents asking for a school-by-school comparison.

“This is because every school is different, and you are not comparing apples with apples when you compile a list of schools that have widely varying student profiles,” Ms Grace said.

Ms Grace said there was a plethora of information available regarding school performance in annual reports and on the national MySchool website.

She encouraged parents to visit schools and talk to the principal and staff.

“The focus of student outcomes reporting – whether that be for ATAR, NAPLAN or other Year 12 outcomes – is to provide important state-level data, with a focus on individual students’ achievements,” she said.

“It’s important to note that any created school-level tables of ATAR performance are incomplete and misleading because there is no obligation for students to share their own ATAR result with their school.”

Dr Rowan slammed the state government for a lack of transparency saying it had a track record of failing to be open with students and parents.

Dr Rowan said access to data was important to show the Queensland schools and students that were striving for excellence.

Dr Christian Rowan

“The state government does not want parents or broader school communities to know how Queensland students and schools are performing,” Dr Rowan said.

“There can be no question just how important it is for there to be openness and transparency when it comes to the educational outcomes of Queensland students.

“The provision and access to such data is important if we truly want to see Queensland schools and students strive for excellence.”

St Aidan’s Anglican Girls’ School principal Toni Riordan said she would the support the release of ATARs and a suite of other academic results.

“Parents deserve the right to be able to research schools, ATAR results along with other academic outcomes are just one measure of school success, so if ATAR results in a suite of other measures for success in a school, then I’d support that,” Ms Riordan said.

Ms Riordan stressed that a disappointing ATAR was not the end of the world.

“We are so lucky in a state like Queensland where there are just so many pathway options, so if it’s not their year this year, they can wake up and say next year is for me,” she said.

“The world is their oyster. The diversity of choice available is unbelievable.”