Yes, it is possible to accelerate into senior secondary studies prior to your official age-based year 11 year of study. You will need to be eligible for Early Access as shown in the Policy and Procedures Manual under section 8.9.4 and Appendix 5. An Early Access student is one who has commenced their senior secondary studies in one or more courses as a high school student. Schools are required to seek approval for Early Access students by submission of an application to the Office of the Board. Refer to BSSS Guidelines for Identifying and selecting students for Early Access. A student will need to speak with their school to undertake the process for determining eligibility. Participation in early access to senior secondary studies will begin the five-year period that students must complete the ACT Senior Secondary Certificate within.
Choose those subjects that you enjoyed or did well in at high school
- do not choose subjects because someone told you that they scale well No predetermined assumptions are made on scaling as it is determined by each year's cohort in each school. Students can, and do, achieve high course scores in any course.
- know and understand pre-requisites of university courses for which you are aiming
Good results come from YOUR understanding of the content of the course in which you are enrolled and the standard of work that you achieve in all assessment items. You should:
- enrol in courses which you enjoy and which will allow you to produce your best standard of work.
- in the ACT system of continuous assessment, all assessment items must be completed and done to the best of your ability in order to maximise your ATAR. This means that you should treat every assessment item seriously and work to achieve your best effort and your best standard
- realise that good scores come from you and the quality of work you complete.
- aim for a broad package of study, so you can develop comprehensive skills.
In the ACT system there are different types of courses. ‘T’ units and courses have been deemed by the ACT Board of Senior Secondary Studies to prepare students for higher education. ‘A’ units and courses have been deemed by the Board to be educationally sound and appropriate for students in Years 11 and 12. M units and courses are considered by the Board to provide appropriate educational experiences for students who satisfy specific intellectual disability criteria.
The grades received are based on the grade descriptors that are published in course documents and are included in the unit outlines received at the beginning of each semester. Grades in T, A and M units from schools and colleges in the ACT system are verified on Moderation Days, which are held twice a year. All grades (except V – Void) awarded will be recorded on your ACT Senior Secondary Certificate.
The score in a T unit represents the ranking of a student in that unit. It is not a mark out of 100. The score indicates the achievement of a higher result than a student who achieved a lower score and the achievement of a lower result than a student who achieved a higher score. The mean and standard deviation for the unit scores will provide further insight as to how a student is achieving in a course.
Scores can also be used as a rough guide for comparing results between courses. Although final scaling is not completed until the end of Year 12, schools work to standardise unit scores as a 'best estimation' of scaling based on historical data. As an example, this means that if a student achieved a 70 in Physics, the best estimates would suggest an 80 in Information Technology indicates a higher result.
This is a dangerous and false misconception as the assumption in the scaling process is that the AST is an accurate measure of your general ability.
Each college breaks their subjects into scaling groups which are scaled separately and are each affected by the AST scores of all students in that scaling group. The AST is not included in your ATAR calculation, but all your course scores (and hence your ATAR) are scaled, based on the AST results of all students in that scaling group. This means that each of your course scores has been affected by your own AST result as well as those of the other students in each of the scaling groups. Each of your scaled course scores has been impacted, in part, by your own AST results, so you should try your best in the AST if you want the highest ATAR you can possibly get.
Certified copies of past results are available from the Office of the Board of Senior Secondary Studies. See the Certificates and Overseas Equivalence page for more details.
Uncollected Certificates, Tertiary Entrance Statements and Vocational Qualifications are returned to the Office of the Board of Senior Secondary Studies by the end of February of the following year. See the Certificates and Overseas Equivalence page for more details.
If you completed secondary educational qualifications (Year 11 and 12) overseas you may apply to the Office of the Board of Senior Secondary Studies to have your qualifications assessed. You are issued with a statement giving the equivalent Australian Capital Territory standard of your educational qualifications. See the Certificates and Overseas Equivalence page for more details.
See the student support section at the college you attend. They will be able to help you fill in the application form for this to occur.