The Department of Education and Training has set out its plan to ensure Year 12 students can approach their final months of school with confidence.
Minister for Education, James Merlino said new exam and assessment dates had been scheduled ahead of the year’s final exam periods.
“The 2021 General Achievement Test (GAT) will be held for all Year 12 students across Victoria on Thursday 9 September, with extra COVIDSafe conditions in place to keep students and school staff safe,” Mr Merlino said.
“While students in metropolitan Melbourne continue remote learning, school-based assessments that cannot be conducted remotely – for example, performance or practical assessments – may be completed in person at schools from 30 August, in groups of no more than 10 students at a time,” he said.
“VCE written and performance exam dates will remain as originally set.”
Mr Merlino said the timetables would allow results and the ATAR to be released on 16 December.
The Minister said all examinations, onsite school-based assessments and the GAT would be conducted with extra health precautions in place, including the use of face masks; enhanced cleaning of exam spaces; and smaller than usual group sizes to allow students to be physically distanced.
He said students who were unwell at the time of an assessment would be required to get tested and return home to isolate and a Derived Examination Score would be calculated if a rescheduled assessment was not possible.
“In light of the continued disruption to the 2021 school year, the Consideration of Educational Disadvantage will apply to each and every student completing one or more VCE or scored VCE VET Unit 3-4 subject in 2021, giving students certainty that the only thing counting towards their score is their effort and hard work,” he said.
Mr Merlino said the process used data like the GAT, other assessment and school comparisons to calculate final VCE results, and would consider the individual impact of COVID-19 on each student.
