The chair of the NSW Education Standards Authority has criticised the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank for distorting both the final years of schooling and students’ subject choices. Professor Peter Shergold, the chancellor of Western Sydney University, is currently chairing a ...

Yesterday was both nerve-wracking and exciting for Year 12 students across NSW who received their Admissions and Tertiary Entrance Rank (ATAR). Unlike the ‘good old days’ when students had to wait for the postie to deliver the all-important news, this ...

With the recent release of VCE results, parents across Victoria have been eagerly hoping to find out what their children have achieved at school during the past two years. Isn’t it strange, then, that VCE results provide so little insight ...

I was delighted recently when, through Education Minister Dan Tehan, I was asked by COAG’s Education Council to chair a review of how to improve senior secondary pathways into training, future education and work. So, I know, were the other ...

NSW is undergoing its biggest curriculum overhaul in 30 years, with a review released today finding it too cluttered and placing undue importance on the HSC and ATAR rankings at the expense of real world skills. The CEO of the ...

This week NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell announced she wanted “an overhaul” of ATAR. Her decision was based on research showing the population has lost faith in it and it was causing students too much stress. As 61,000 NSW students ...

A new report is proposing a rethink on how educators approach senior schooling and tertiary education, and calls ­for the ATAR to be replaced with a more comprehensive “learning profile”. The Australian Learning Lecture (ALL) position paper, titled Beyond ATAR: ...

With HSC exams just around the corner and university exams not too far away, helpful tips could mean the difference between flunking and doing your best. But as Geoff Kinkade from Studiosity's Academic Advisory Board and former principal consultant for ...

A secondary school graduate steps out into the world today, and is confronted with an overwhelming array of choice. It’s not a simple fork in the road anymore, but a multitude of criss-crossing trails.  Many will find themselves on pathways ...

The latest Grattan Institute Report, Attracting high achievers to teaching, is proposing a $1.6 billion reform package to “double the number of high achievers who choose to become teachers, and increase the average ATAR of teaching graduates to 85, within ...