With their VCE studies disrupted by the unfolding COVID-19 pandemic, the Victorian Government announced on Friday each student would be individually assessed.
Any adverse impacts of coronavirus will be reflected in ATAR rankings to ensure fair and accurate results in this unprecedented year of school – taking a huge mental load off students and their families as they head towards exams.
Greater Shepparton Secondary College executive principal Genevieve Simson said the college welcomed the move.
“This support will take into account a range of factors in determining every Victorian student’s VCE assessment, such as a student’s expected achievement levels before the impact of coronavirus,” Ms Simson said.
“Our senior staff, like secondary schools across the state, will be working closely with the Department of Education and Training in applying this revised assessment process for our students’ VCE scores.
“We certainly appreciate that these assessment initiatives are around fairness, equity and understanding that 2020 has been a year like no other.
“We welcome the fact they will help to ease some of the pressure and anxiety being felt by our senior students and their families at this time.”
The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority will introduce a wide-ranging “Consideration of Educational Disadvantage” process to calculate VCE scores.
In a normal year, individual students are assessed for special consideration on a case-by-case basis.
This year, schools will provide the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority with information on every single one of their students
The VCAA will consider a range of data alongside exam results, including a student’s expected achievement levels before the impact of coronavirus, school assessments completed prior to remote and flexible learning, the General Achievement Test and a range of statistical analyses to calculate final results.
This may include assessing the individual impact of coronavirus on each student, including school closures, direct impacts on the health of a student, students dealing with substantial extra family responsibilities, ongoing issues with remote learning and mental health challenges.
“The bottom line is that every student has been impacted in some way by this pandemic – the challenge is to make sure that it doesn’t decide their future,” Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said.
“My message to VCE students is clear: you concentrate on doing your best, and we’ll take care of everything else.”
This adds to the steps already taken by the VCAA, such as reducing course content for unit four, rescheduling the GAT and extending term four for VCE students with exams to be held later in the year.
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