Embracing the new Senior Assessment and Tertiary Entrance System (SATE)

Brisbane Boys’ College has been focussed on ensuring our students are ready to excel with the new Queensland’s Senior Assessment and Tertiary Entrance System (SATE). 2019 is the first year the Year 11 students engage with the new syllabus offerings and assessment items. Preparations have been well underway for these students in the lead up, including teachers engaged in preparing and quality assuring units of work and assessments aligned with new QCAA requirements, students engaged in precursor units steeped in cognitions, deliberate subject selection processes and study preparation skills. 2019 has seen the boys start their formal journey to be the first Queensland cohort to achieve their Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE) and Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank (ATAR).

Dr Leigh Hobart, Head of Academic Performance and Innovation

“To prepare, boys have been encouraged to choose subjects that they enjoy, that think they will achieve well in, and that are subject prerequisites for tertiary courses to which they will be seeking entry. In order to make informed decisions, during Year 10 and lessons each week during Year 11, the boys have been well versed in the workings of SATE. They have met one-to-one with mentors who have reviewed their current standings, to ensure they are on track and to further guide them through a process of planning their SATE journey. Within their discipline classes, engagement in high quality instruction with explicit teaching of the cognitions, within the context of the new syllabus continues. Our Year 11 students have been engaging with new assessments aligned with the senior syllabus requirements. Through quality instruction, they are also well prepared for external assessments, which are formally introduced in Year 12 as part of the new SATE system. We are confident our boys are well prepared to succeed.” – Dr Leigh Hobart, Head of Academic Performance and Innovation

Blaise Campbell, Year 11

“I am not concerned about the changes made by ATAR. Reassuringly, the new system will not be completely alienating because the College has already begun implementing ATAR’s different examination parameters and criteria. My teachers have been doing their best to prepare me, and the rest of my cohort, for the changes ahead and I believe that our cohort is equal to the challenge of the new ATAR system.” – Blaise Campbell, Year 11

“This is probably the most educational change we have experienced as a cohort, however we have been prepared well and are up for the challenge and excitement that this new educational grading transition will bring.”