Tehan makes it plain: no Year 13

The education minister had a direct message yesterday for Year 12 students – “there will be no Year 13. There will be no mass repeating of Year 12.”

“We want Year 12 students to finish their education and next year go to university, undertake vocational training or enter the workforce,” Mr Tehan said after state and federal education ministers met.

But this year’s Y12 is unlike all others, so how school leavers qualify for university is on the agenda, including courses with tightly rationed places that use academic ranking.

Mr Tehan suggested Monday that starting students might need short catch-up courses to get them up to starting speed for first year courses come next February (CMM yesterday).

And while he acknowledges universities “always have measures in place to be able to assist students who might have had difficulties,” Mr Tehan sees a role for the ATAR. “The ATAR system has always been able to be adjusted for regions that have been hit by fire or drought or flood. It’s been adjusted when students are ill. So, there is no reason why we can’t have a national adjustment to take into account the pandemic,” he says.

 Universities Australia reminds there are many paths to university

But Universities Australia chief executive Catriona Jackson suggests there are plenty of pathways into university.

“Every year, universities and tertiary admission centres use a wide range of methods to assess and admit students – in addition to the ATAR,” she says.

However, while “the admissions process will look different to previous years, … the commitment to fairness, consistency and transparency would remain,” Ms Jackson says.

Another thing that will remain is an argument over the ATAR at year end- whether it is a good predictor of student capacity for university study or whether it privileges students from well-resourced schools and affluent families.