ATAR course examinations are developed and conducted for all Year 12 ATAR courses. Year 12 students who are enrolled in Units 3 and 4 of an ATAR course are required to sit the ATAR course examination.

There are both written and practical examinations for some ATAR courses.

ATAR course examinations complement and support school assessment in the following ways:

• a student receives an ATAR course report for each ATAR course examination completed
• teachers receive diagnostic feedback from the ATAR course examinations to help them review and refine their teaching
• generate an ATAR for university admissions purposes
• employers and training organisations have access to meaningful and comparable data.

ATAR and VET

An Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) is calculated using the school assessment and WACE examination results combined.
See TISC for more information.

Entry into TAFE is accessed via a range of avenues. One way is through a competitive entry process which is based on a range of criteria, including a student’s achievement standards.

See TafeChoices for more information.

Student declaration and permission

Year 12 students and those students enrolled in an ATAR course examination will be asked to give permission for the following:

1. Release of their name should they win an award
   The School Curriculum and Standards Authority award winners are published in the media and on the Authority’s website if permission to do so has been given by the student.
2. Use of school work for creating support materials
   The School Curriculum and Standards Authority is seeking permission for the use of school work produced during 2016 e.g. assignments, projects, portfolios, tests, school-based exam responses.
3. Use of examination responses (written and practical)
   The School Curriculum and Standards Authority is seeking permission for the use of:
   • ATAR course written and practical examination responses (copyright owned by the student); and
   • images and sound recordings of the student in photographs, audio recordings and audio visual recordings that are made during the ATAR course practical examinations (copyright owned by the State of Western Australia).

Resource development

The use of school work material (b) and examination responses (c) as specified above may be used in resources developed by the Authority in carrying out its functions relating to the development and accreditation of courses and the standards, assessment and certification of student achievement.

The material will be used under the following terms:

• Anything which identifies the student or school will be removed from the material before use by the School Curriculum and Standards Authority.
• The School Curriculum and Standards Authority may make the resources containing the material available in whole or in part, in print and electronic formats, and on the Authority’s website. The resources containing the material may be copied, or made available on an intranet, for non-commercial purposes in schools offering the WACE.
• This permission continues indefinitely until the student revokes it by notifying the School Curriculum and Standards Authority in writing that he/she no longer wants the material to be used by the Authority. The Authority will not provide payment for the use of the material.