Secondary school students will have access to special consideration for their final results, after another school year interrupted by Covid.
The State Government has announced that the Consideration of Educational Disadvantage process for senior secondary students will continue in 2021, in light of continued disruptions to the school year.
So far this year, students have had to return to remote learning three times.
In a normal year, individual students are assessed for special consideration on a case by case basis – but the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority will again use the CED process to finalise VCE results for each and every student completing one or more VCE or scored VCE VET Unit 3 –4 sequence in 2021.
Consistent with the approach in 2020, the process considers a range of data alongside exam results to calculate final VCE results – like the General Achievement Test (GAT), comparisons of performance across all assessments and schools and other learning data.
The process will also include assessments of the individual impact of coronavirus on each student including school closures, direct impacts on student’ health, ongoing issues with remote learning and mental health challenges.
According to the State Government, with so few Australians vaccinated and the Delta variant causing unprecedented situations right around the country, the CED process will ensure that every student is assessed fairly, with any disruptions to learning throughout the year factored into their results.
All Year 12 VCAL students will also have access to individual consideration, with schools required to apply special consideration for all students who have been subject to significant disruptions.
In significant news for VCE students, the government has rescheduled the GAT to 12 August, pending further public health advice and logistical constraints on that date.
The rescheduling of the GAT will allow schools time to organise logistics and put COVIDSafe protocols in place to make sure students and staff can participate safely with minimal disruption to their assessments.
“Victorian students have done an amazing job adapting to another year of disruptions to their learning – and we’re making sure every student is assessed individually and fairly in their final years of school,” Education Minister James Merlino said.
“We want to make sure every student knows that no matter how much they’re impacted by the pandemic, we’re supporting them to succeed in VCE and VCAL.”
