ATAR: Rural students under too much pressure with exams, pandemic

Broken Hill year 12 student Michelle Coombes is calling for an alternative to exams for grading, as her cohort faces the end of a schooling without any social connection.

Michelle Coombes is in the thick of end-of-year exam preparation at her home in Broken Hill.

In the last year alone she has dealt with the passing of her grandmother, adapting to remote learning in an already remote location and is currently living with six other people in one house.

On top of that, a global pandemic taking away many social outlets and you’ve got a perfect storm of pressure on the 17-year-old.

“There’s this big pressure that you need to be studying, studying, studying and I feel like that takes away from everything else that’s going on in your life,” she said.

“People say that Year 12 and being a teenager is the best time in your life but even without Covid I feel like it takes away from having fun.”

Year 12 student Michelle Coombs said there was too much pressure on students during the pandemic. Picture: Supplied

Michelle said the next few weeks would be a lot for her whole cohort.

“I know I lost motivation to keep going and it’s very difficult — I have to keep telling myself I’ve made it this far,” she said.

“I don’t think an exam shows someone’s potential and I don’t think there needs to be this much pressure,” she said.

This is why Michelle, along with rural education advocacy group Country Education Foundation, are calling on the Department of Education to consider an alternative to the ranking system for year 12s.

“When I think of this years’ final exams, it is clear that no one is on a level playing field. With factors such one’s ability to function in a global pandemic, their access to online learning and internet connectivity as well as an individual’s resilience and ability to cope with the immense changes and uncertainty, I see this as not just an opportunity but an obligation to review the process of calculating ATAR, and how these are used by universities when to comes to entry offers,” Country Education chief executive Juliet Petersen said.

Ms Peterson said that it is of particular importance for rural students to be given special consideration, as they are at more of a disadvantage than their city counterparts.

“These setbacks and disruptions have only intensified the issue of educational equity that rural and regional students face.

“For these Year 12 students, the final two years of schooling have already been compromised by continual setbacks including enduring drought, devastating bushfires and destructive flooding,” she said.

Michelle said this year’s restrictions year meant she wasn’t able to save money to move away for uni, and would be staying in Broken Hill and studying online.

She also felt that she missed out on a lot of the rites of passages that senior students normally go through.

“I don’t see how it’s fair that we can’t have our muck up week.

“Everything in Year 12 that is fun and we look forward to our cohort didn’t get to do but we got left with the exams,” she said.

Ms Petersen said the exams could lead students to a “breaking point” and urged the department to consider a different method of overall assessment.

“With a view to greater equality, the department should reconsider the weighting of the final exams, taking into consideration more favourable assessments from across the two-year period, possibly placing increased value on other achievements of students: leadership, community involvement, extra curricular activities,” she said.

“I think it’s about seeing the ‘whole picture’ for each student. And maybe those other factors can be more important than the rank or the marks?

“Of course all students need to meet a minimum standard to be considered for university, but beyond that, it is time to change our thinking.”