Victorian students to be given special consideration for ATAR

In a small win for VCE students, every student will be given individual assessment on the impact of virus restrictions on their ATAR under a new plan to soften the blow to their end of year results.

Victorian students impacted by coronavirus restrictions will be assessed and given special consideration for their ATAR rankings under a new plan to soften the blow to their end of year results

The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority will now consider educational disadvantage when calculating VCE scores.

This will take into account interruptions to learning because of the pandemic.

Schools will provide the VCAA with information on every single students as they work to factor the reforms into results.

Deputy Premier and Education Minister James Merlino said the rules meant students could sit exams confident they would not be disadvantaged.

“Every single VCE student will be individually assessed and any adverse impact from COVID-19 will be reflected in their ATAR ranking,” he said.

“This is quite an extraordinary change.

I know the very real stress and anxiety that many students and their parents are feeling.

“Today’s announcement will mean one less thing to worry about.”

An additional $28.5 million will also be provided to help students access mental health support, including increased training for more than 1500 school staff.

It comes as a year 12 student called on the Victorian Government to cancel VCE exams, saying Melbourne’s plunge into stage-four lockdown is the “final straw in a year thrown into disarray”.

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Nathan Gunn, who launched a petition generating more than 715 signatures, said he and his classmates had been burdened with the effects of COVID-19 and remote learning and to do exams would be “a major stress”.

Nathan said he’d struggled during lockdown. Picture: Ian Currie

“Prior to COVID-19, there was so much stress about year 12 — it was this one-size-fits-all approach — but the whole year has been thrown into disarray,” the Eltham High School student said.

“I just want the Government to think about the kids that are really struggling — there are hundreds and hundreds of names here. It’s not just me struggling. We are all stressed and burdened by what’s happening.”

The 18-year-old said he had battled anxiety while trying to study for his final exams in isolation.

“I barely scraped by in the last lockdown and was just starting to get some stability back, and now we’re back to square one,” Mr Gunn said.

“We need physical interaction, we need to be there in the classroom asking questions and these final exams are just another pressure we’re going to struggle with.”

He said students deserved a fair go and after 13 years of schooling “we can’t end it with so much stress and worry.”

STUDENTS URGED TO TAKE GAT SERIOUSLY

Schools and educators were urging pupils to take the General Achievement Test seriously as it could be used to derive their results.

But the Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre confirmed the GAT had never been used to “directly calculate a student’s ATAR”.

A VCAA spokeswoman said results of the GAT, which will be sat by all VCE students on October 7, were used to check the “external assessments and School-based Assessments have been accurately and fairly assessed”.

VCE students have returned to remote learning for the rest of term 3, with exams to start in early November and study scores and ATARs promised by the end of the year.

VCE teacher Lauren Perkins said staff hadn’t had time to prepare practice exams for students.

“We can’t expect students to jump through the same obstacle course that was designed for a pre-COVID time,” she said.

“ We haven’t had time to do practice exams or do regular exam revision throughout the year.”

She claimed the GAT was a method of standardisation and scaling for the ATAR “so exams aren’t necessary for this process”.

“My year 12s are stressed, confused and need clear communication about this.”

Education Minister James Merlino has been adamant that exam dates would not be changed.

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Originally published as Victorian students to be given special consideration for ATAR