1. Programme of Study for Year 11 beginning in October 2020

In Year 11 all students will study six Western Australian Certificate of Education General or ATAR courses or a combination of both. General and ATAR courses will comprise a linked pair of semester length units.

In addition, all students studying Year 11 courses will participate in a program focusing on leadership, private study periods and physical recreation periods.

The policy that all students entering Year 11 are required to take six courses is based on the following factors:

• The need to have prerequisite courses for university entry.
• The completion of preferred courses and other requirements for entry to TAFE.
• The pursuit of a broad education by taking a range of courses within the programme.
• The fact that students, early in Year 11, are not always good judges of the final result they will achieve in a particular course.
• The importance of having a broad base education at the end of Year 11 from which an informed choice can be made for Year 12 course selection.

2. Programme of Study for Year 12 commencing in October 2020

In Year 12 students who are taking courses where the main focus is on university entrance will take five or six ATAR courses. Students who choose to study five courses will be able to devote more time to the courses they hope will contribute to their Australian Tertiary Admission Rank. However, it is important that future options are not compromised by this approach.

Students who are taking courses where the main focus is on entry to TAFE, direct entry into the workplace or to further vocational training will take six General courses, one of which will be a Certificate II or higher course if this WACE requirement has not been met in Year 11.

In addition to the study of these courses, all students in Year 12 will participate in course assessments, private study periods and physical recreation periods.

In many cases students follow essentially the same programme in both Year 11 and in Year 12. The exceptions to this rule involve students who drop a course to study only five courses in Year 12 or change courses because their performance in a Year 11 course has been unsatisfactory.

3. Post-school Destinations

Course selection will be influenced by a student’s intended post-school destination. There are three broad post-school options:

• University
• TAFE
• Direct entry to the workforce or vocational training

However, the division between courses whose prime focus is university entry and courses whose prime focus is TAFE entry, direct entry to the workforce or entry to vocational training has been created through the development of General and ATAR courses. Generally speaking, Year 11 students seeking university entry will take ATAR courses (Units 1&2) while Year 11 students seeking TAFE entry, direct entry to the workforce or entry to vocational training will take General courses (Units 1&2) and one or more Certificate II or higher courses.