2022 VCAA Updates
Consideration of Educational Disadvantage for VCE or scored VCE VET Unit 3–4
What is CED?
Consideration of Educational Disadvantage (CED) is a process that accounts for the disruption to student learning caused the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. It makes sure that final VCE results are valid and fair for all students.
It applies to every student completing scored one or more VCE or scored VCE VET Unit 3-4 sequences in 2021 (including Year 11 and 10 students).
It considers how students have been affected by circumstances, including:
school closures
direct impacts on the health of a student
students dealing with substantial extra family responsibilities
ongoing issues with remote learning (including intermittent access and suitability)
mental health challenges.
It restores students’ results to where they would have been without these disruptions that have occurred throughout the year. Students’ final scores on examinations will be equal to or higher than their achieved scores.
How does the CED process work?
The process involves collecting information from students and schools, validating evidence and moderating scores and grades. The steps are as follows:
Student submits an optional Student Statement to their school to alert their teacher of the significant disadvantage they have experienced.
Schools provide initial scores and indicative grades and also provide expected scores and grades (i.e. a student’s expected level of achievement had it not been for impact associated with the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic).
The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) undertakes a robust analysis and moderation process based on the data and consider every student’s performance in every VCE study and in each assessment.
2021 Results Release Date
The VCE and VCAL results release date is 16 December 2021.
This is to allow the time needed to complete the CED process and the additional statistical analysis required to support it.
Will every student receive an adjusted VCE score?
Every student will be considered through the CED. Teachers will make a professional judgement based on all available information about their students' performance during the year and the degree to which performance has been affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
How will the CED impact student results?
The CED will not negatively impact student results. The aim of CED is to restore every student’s results to where they would be without the disruptions that have occurred during the year. Student final scores on examinations will be equal to or higher than student achieved scores.
Can students still access other special consideration processes, such as a Derived Examination Score?
Yes. In addition to the CED, students may also access special provision, including Derived Examination Score (DES) and VTAC’s Special Entry Access Scheme (SEAS) in special circumstances.
Students will be eligible to apply for a DES if they were prevented from completing an examination or their performance was significantly impacted because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
If students have experienced other circumstances that have negatively affected their education, such as financial disadvantage, health issues or other difficult circumstances outside of their control, they may be eligible to apply for the SEAS program through VTAC. The SEAS assessment will impact the student’s selection rank for the courses they apply for – not the student’s ATAR.
For more information, students should contact their school or go to the VTAC SEAS page.
If a student has been significantly impacted by COVID-19 immediately before or during their examinations, what do they do?
The student will be eligible to apply for a Derived Examination Score (DES) if they were prevented from completing an examination or their performance was significantly impacted because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The evidence the student may need to provide includes:
a supporting letter/incident report from the school
evidence of testing for coronavirus (COVID-19), such as a medical certificate from an independent health professional recommending testing or direction to isolate having been identified as a close contact of a confirmed case of coronavirus (COVID-19).
If a student didn’t complete a Student Statement, will this impact their results and CED?
No. Student results and how students are considered through the CED process will not be impacted if they did not submit a Student Statement.
The submission of a Student Statement is optional but could be important to outline a student’s individual circumstances, especially if their teacher or school are unaware of these. Teachers will make a professional judgement based on all available information about a student, student performance during the year and the degree to which student performance was affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Every student will be considered through the CED process, which involves collecting information from students and schools, validating evidence and moderating scores and grades. The VCAA will undertake a robust analysis and moderation process based on the data and consider every student’s performance in every study and in each assessment .
Does the CED process apply to VCAL students?
The CED process only applies to students completing one or more VCE or scored VCE VET Unit 3-4 sequences. However, VCAL students will have access to a special consideration process.
Assessment decisions for VCAL are made at the school/provider level and are based on teacher judgement.
Schools are in the best position to determine if student learning was impacted by COVID-19 or if a student was unable to complete VCAL units due to the applied learning focus.
In applying special consideration for VCAL students, each school is asked to make an on-balance judgement about the level of impact on students. The process seeks to recognise that, despite the modifications that providers have made to VCAL this year, there were disproportionate impacts on individual students. It is designed to address questions of fairness for all students in all schools but also mitigate against the range of impacts experienced by individual students and, in some cases, whole cohorts of students.
Consideration of Educational Disadvantage for VCE or scored VCE VET Unit 3–4
In recognition of the continued disruptions caused by coronavirus (COVID-19), the Consideration of Educational Disadvantage (CED) process will continue this year.
Consistent with last year, this process requires schools to provide us with information on all students to help finalise VCE scores. The CED process will again consider all available information including examination results, the GAT and appropriate comparisons of performance across all assessments and schools, which will contribute to ensuring fair and valid VCE study scores.
More details about this process will be provided in the coming weeks.
As we are now well into the delivery of Unit 4, there will be no additional changes to:
study design or examination content
VCE performance, Languages oral or written examination dates.
Applying a fair and consistent approach for all students is paramount to any change we make. As schools and students will be at various stages of Unit 4 delivery, it is not possible to make accommodations to study designs or examinations that will be fair and consistent to all students.
We are confident the CED process will address the periods of disruption and ensure all students have the opportunity to be assessed fairly.
Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) Special Consideration
Special consideration will also be available for final year VCAL students. More information and guidance for schools on how to apply special consideration for VCAL students will be provided shortly.
2022 VCE Examination periods
GAT: Wednesday 7th September 2022
As in all previous years, no special study will be required for the GAT. While the GAT is important, it does not directly count towards a student’s final VCE results except in circumstances where a Derived Examination Score is used.
The GAT will be split into two sections – Sections A and B – to be conducted in separate sessions on the same day:
Section A will enable students to demonstrate their achievement against new standards of literacy and numeracy and will be administered in the morning session
Section B will assess students’ skills, including English, mathematics, science, technology, the arts and humanities, and will be administered in the afternoon session
Further details relating to each section, including session start and end times, will be communicated during Term 1.
All students enrolled in one or more VCE or scored VCE VET Unit 3–4 sequence are expected to sit both Sections A and B of the GAT.
Senior VCAL students are expected to sit Section A of the GAT.
Students who complete Section A will receive a statement indicating if they have met the literacy and numeracy standards.
For instructions on completing GAT examinations, see How to complete the GAT
Look at previous GAT examinations
GAT results
GAT results are reported to students in December in the results package.
The GAT statement
The GAT statement shows a student’s raw score out of:
40 for written communication
35 for mathematics, science and technology
35 for humanities, the arts and social sciences.
This statement also reports a student’s GAT results as a standardised score for each component.
The standardised score is calculated and reported using the same scale that is used for Study Scores from 0 to 50 with a mean of 30 and a standard deviation of 7.
A student’s Statement of Results shows whether they sat for the GAT and, if they didn’t, whether or not their absence was authorised.
A student’s absence can only be authorised if the school Principal obtains an exemption for them from the VCAA.
How GAT results are used
All students enrolled in one or more VCE or scored VCE VET Unit 3 and 4 sequences must sit the GAT.
GAT results:
do not count directly towards a student’s VCE results
help check that school-based and external assessments have been accurately assessed
contribute to statistical moderation of school-based assessment results
help calculate Derived Examination Scores
determine scores in school-based assessment, external assessment and if a derived examination score is required due to illness, accident and trauma.
There is a close correlation between receiving good GAT results and academic achievement.
Some GAT questions relate more closely to achievement in particular studies. The VCAA takes this into account when it calculates students’ expected achievements in each study for each school. For example, GAT results in mathematics, science and technology play only a minor part in calculating students’ expected achievements in humanities studies.
School-based assessment and the GAT
The VCAA applies statistical moderation procedures to all school-based assessments to even out the differences in marking standards from school to school. This ensures that the final results are comparable across the state and are fair to all students.
The statistical moderation process:
compares the level and spread of each school’s assessments of its students in each study with the level and spread of the same students’ scores in the external assessments
adjusts the school scores if necessary.
In some studies, statistical moderation calculations use both GAT and external assessment scores. This is done where it gives a better match with schools’ school-based assessments throughout the State. External assessment scores always carry more weight in this situation.
The GAT is used based on the following principles:
The GAT components are only used if they make the moderation process more reliable - that is the external scores are a better predictor using the GAT scores than without them. The statistic R-square is used to measure the increase in reliability.
The GAT components must not exert too much influence on study scores. Tests are used to determine the level of influence. One such test is that no more than 5% of study scores should vary by more than 2. To achieve this, the influence of the GAT is kept to the minimum optimal level.
The decision on whether to use the GAT is made separately for each school-based assessment.
External assessment and the GAT
The VCE external assessment marking process is rigorous, carefully and expertly conducted and designed to be fair to all students
VCE external assessments are marked by two different assessors:
each assessment is completed separately
each assessor does not know the marks given by the other assessor
If there is insufficient agreement between their marks, the paper is assessed by a third assessor.
The Chief Assessor will assess a student's external assessment if a student’s score is significantly different from:
the score predicted by the GAT
school indicative grades
the scores for any other external assessment in the same study.
A student’s score may go up or stay the same, but it will not go down as a result of this final check.
See Identifying unexpected results for more information.
Derived Examination Scores and the GAT
A student whose examination performance is affected by illness, accident or personal trauma can apply for a Derived Examination Score.
All applications are assessed by a trained, external panel.
If an application is approved, a student’s GAT scores will be used in the calculation of the Derived Examination Score.
Read more about the Derived Examination Score process in Special Provision.
VCE external assessments RULES.
Students are required to observe the following rules for the conduct of VCE external assessments conducted by or on behalf of the VCAA, as well as the day-to-day rules of their school and of the venue.
VCAA rules shall apply with appropriate and reasonable modifications to students who have disabilities or other impairments.
All supervisors are issued with directions for the administration of VCE external assessments and are required to report all alleged breaches of these rules to the VCAA.
Supervisors have the right to check any authorised materials that are taken into a VCE external assessment.
Students must not cheat or assist other students to cheat, including taking any action that gives or attempts to give them or another student an unfair advantage in a VCE external assessment.
Students must not allow, induce or assist any other person to present for a VCE external assessment in their place.
Students must not present for a VCE external assessment in another student’s place.
Students must not present for a VCE external assessment under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Students must obey and observe all proper instructions or directions given by their supervisor.
Students must provide reasonable assistance to any investigation by the VCAA in relation to a suspected breach of VCAA rules.
Students attending a VCE external assessment may bring only the materials and equipment approved for that external assessment into the examination room.
Students must not possess mobile phones and electronic devices that are capable of storing, receiving or transmitting information or electronic signals, such as recorded music and video players, organisers, dictionaries and computerised watches, during a VCE external assessment.
Students detected with any device defined in rule 8 must, upon the direction of a supervisor, surrender that device for inspection. Any confiscated device may be retained, pending any investigation into an alleged breach of VCAA rules. Students must provide reasonable assistance to the VCAA or its agents to enable the interrogation of the device.
Students must not bring into or possess in the examination room any drinks or food, except under special circumstances as approved and directed by the VCAA. Bottled water is permitted in the examination room under approved conditions.
Students must not communicate with any other student while the VCE external assessment is being conducted.
Students must not cause any nuisance, annoyance or interference to any other student during a VCE external assessment.
Students must not remove or tear out any part of a bound reference, answer book, question/task book or question and answer book except where permitted, for example, formula sheets.
Students must not remove any response material, used or unused, from the examination room.
Students must not begin to write or mark their paper or response material in any way, or use a calculator, until advised by a supervisor that writing may commence.
Students must raise their hand if they wish to communicate with a supervisor.
Students must not leave their place until permitted by a supervisor.
Students will not be permitted to leave the VCE external assessment before 30 minutes have elapsed from the start of writing time.
Students will not be permitted to leave in the last five minutes of the VCE external assessment.
Students must cease writing when instructed to do so by a supervisor.
Students must remain silent and seated in their place at the end of the VCE external assessment until response materials have been collected and checked, and an announcement is made permitting students to leave the examination room.
Students must not communicate with an assessor, before, during or after a VCE external assessment, except when communication is necessary for the conduct of the assessment.
Permitted materials for GAT
Supervisors have the right to check items brought into the examination room by students and can remove anything that is non-compliant.
Suitably qualified school teaching staff are responsible for checking the appropriateness of reference materials, dictionaries, calculators and bound references as students enter the examination room for examinations where these items are permitted.
Basic stationery
Students sitting the GAT and any VCE written examinations may bring the following basic stationery items into the examination:
pens
pencils
highlighters
erasers
sharpeners
rulers.
Pencil cases can only be brought into the examination room if they are transparent, i.e. the contents are visible to the supervisor.
General Achievement Test (GAT)
an English and/or bilingual printed dictionary
