Senior secondary school students are to receive extra support in their final year of school with the expanded Consideration of Educational Disadvantage (CED) process to continue in 2021.
Minister for Education, James Merlino said that, in light of the continued disruptions to the school year, the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority would apply the CED process for every student, taking into account a broader range of data to determine final grades.
“Once again, Victorian students have done a remarkable job adapting to the ongoing impacts of the pandemic on schooling in 2021 – with coronavirus restrictions forcing students across the State back to remote learning and pushing back important school milestones,” Mr Merlino said.
“The CED process will ensure that every student is assessed fairly, with any disruptions to learning throughout the year factored into their results,” he said.
“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.”
Mr Merlino said the process considered a range of data alongside exam results to calculate final VCE results, including the General Achievement Test (GAT); comparisons of performance across all assessments and schools; and other learning data.
The Minister said the Authority’s CED process would also include assessments of the individual impact of COVID-19 on each student, such as school closures; direct impacts on students’ health; ongoing issues with remote learning; and mental health challenges.
“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,” he said.
Mr Merlino said the GAT had been rescheduled to 12 August to allow schools time to organise logistics and put COVIDSafe protocols in place.
