By Melissa Grant
Learning disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic will be considered when calculating students’ VCE scores this year.
The state government has announced it will again use the ‘Consideration of Educational Disadvantage’ (CED) process in light of continued disruptions to schooling throughout the year.
Coronavirus restrictions forced Victorian students to remote learning at various times, impacting important school milestones.
Education Minister James Merlino said the CED process will ensure every student is fairly assessed.
“Victorian students have done an amazing job adapting to another year of disruptions to their learning – and we’re making sure every student is assessed individually and fairly in their final years of school,” he said.
“We want to make sure every student knows that no matter how much they’re impacted by the pandemic, we’re supporting them to succeed in VCE and VCAL.”
The CED process will be used to finalise VCE results for each and every student completing one or more VCE or scored VCE VET Unit 3-4 sequence in 2021.
Consistent with the approach in 2020, the process considers a range of data alongside exam results to calculate final VCE results. This includes the General Achievement Test (GAT), comparisons of performance across all assessments and schools and other learning data.
The process will also include assessments of the individual impact of coronavirus on each student including 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.
