The ACT Board of Senior Secondary Studies (ACT BSSS) is a statutory authority responsible for the certification of senior secondary school studies in government and non-government schools in the Australian Capital Territory and overseas.
The ACT BSSS develops policy to ensure that all colleges have common:
- course accreditation processes
- appeal processes
- processes regarding unit assessment and awarding of unit grades
- calculation of unit and course scores
- content and distribution of Unit Outlines
- late submission of work policy
- attendance policy
ACT Senior Secondary Education Model
The ACT operates a system of school-based curriculum and assessment within the policy and procedures of the ACT BSSS.
School-based curriculum means that teachers are involved in curriculum development and that schools determine what courses they offer to students. There is a commitment to offering high quality educational programs from a wide range of academic and vocational areas.
Assessment in the ACT is continuous school-based assessment. This means there are no external subject-based examinations. Courses are taught and assessed unit by unit. A unit of study is organised around a particular theme or skillset and has a value based on the time the unit takes to deliver: One standard unit of study towards a Senior Secondary Certificate represents a minimum of 55 hours of timetabled classes, typically over one semester. Systemic Moderation is conducted every semester to ensure comparability of grades across all schools with the ACT Scaling Test (AST), a higher order and critical thinking test, used to compare and scale scores in preparation for the allocation of the ATAR.
Suggested professional learning workshops –
All students, including those with disabilities, must have an equal opportunity to demonstrate their achievement, whether in class assessment tasks, assignments, tests or the ACT Scaling Test (AST).
The board recognises and values the achievements of students with intellectual disabilities. A significant outcome of the review was the introduction of a Statement of Achievement. All students with an intellectual disability will be eligible for a Statement of Achievement. The Statement of Achievement reflects units studied by a student at their school. Students with an intellectual disability may also gain an ACT Senior Secondary Certificate.
The ACT Scaling Test (AST) is a test designed by the Australian Council for Education Research (ACER) to facilitate the comparison of T and H Course scores both within and across colleges. The test measures skills necessary for success at university.
The AST is a test attempted by all ACT Year 12 students wishing to gain an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR). The test is designed to measure a range of general skills considered to be relevant to success in a variety of courses and to studies at university.
All students who are enrolled in Year 12 and who wish to gain an ATAR must complete all parts of the AST.
The ATAR is a percentile ranking used by universities to assist in the selection of school leavers for entry into undergraduate courses. It is used as an indication of a student's suitability for study at university level, and to allow universities to select appropriate numbers of students for each course. The ATAR is a ranking of a student relative to the full age cohort i.e. relative to the set of students who would be in the group if all students stayed on and completed Year 12. It is reported with a range from 99.95 for the highest ranked students down to 30.00. For example, a student with an ATAR of 85.00 indicates a performance better than 85% of the population eligible to be in Year 12 or in the top 15% in relation to all the students who started school at the same time.
Moderation of grades is a quality assurance process designed and implemented by the ACT BSSS. It ensures system-wide comparability of grades on the ACT Senior Secondary Certificate.
It is designed to:
- provide comparability of grades in the system of school-based assessment
- maintain the quality of school-based assessment and the credibility, validity and acceptability of grades on the ACT Senior Secondary Certificate
- form the basis for valid and reliable assessment in senior secondary schools
Qualitative moderation (review) involves teachers in and across schools reaching consensus about students' unit grades through consultation, negotiation and reference to published criteria and standards. The moderation process takes place twice each year on Moderation Days and involves all senior secondary teachers engaged in the process of validating assessment. These occur in March and in August.
Moderation is necessary for producing valid, credible and publicly acceptable certificates in a school-based curriculum and assessment system. Moderation provides for comparability of standards across schools; each of which offers a variety of curriculum choices.
Studies conducted by education authorities responsible for senior secondary certification on the comparability of levels of achievement support the view that qualitative moderation processes are highly effective. Evidence indicates that the standards in the ACT are comparable to results obtained in systems using statewide external exams. Other Australian states also conduct qualitative moderation to ensure grade standard comparability.
Moderation systems ensure comparability of grades on the ACT Senior Secondary Certificate.
Link to Moderation information - Moderation Information for Teachers
The ACT Board of Senior Secondary Studies registers and accredits courses for teaching in schools offering the ACT Senior Secondary Certificate.
Teachers develop courses under the relevant Frameworks. Frameworks are system-wide working documents that provide the foundation for course development and accreditation. This partnership-based approach to course development ensures that teachers have a primary role in developing courses that are responsive to educational trends in their curriculum area, meet the needs of their student populations and reflect their teaching expertise. To ensure comparability of student outcomes, system-wide moderation processes are used.
Courses are developed for adoption by any school in the ACT senior secondary system. The BSSS guides course development supporting teachers across sectors working in collaboration to develop curriculum.
Once courses are developed, they are reviewed by the relevant course-area panels to ensure they meet the Board's expectations, prior to endorsement.
All ACT schools teach English, history, mathematics and science courses that integrate the senior secondary Australian Curriculum. This curriculum has been subject to thorough reviews both nationally and internationally. Most schools in the jurisdiction have teachers involved in the development of the curriculum as either writer or reviewer. The board is committed to ensuring that schools deliver quality curriculum that reflects innovations in the field and prepares students for further education and employment.
Courses of study for the ACT Senior Secondary Certificate:
- provide a variety of pathways, to meet different learning needs and encourage students to complete their secondary education
- enable effective and respectful participation in a diverse society.
- enable students to develop the essential capabilities for twenty-first century learners
- empower students as active participants in their own learning
- engage students in contemporary issues relevant to their lives
- foster students’ intellectual, social and ethical development
- nurture students’ wellbeing, and physical and spiritual development
Each course of study:
- comprises an integrated and interconnected set of knowledge, skills, behaviours and dispositions that students develop and use in their learning across the curriculum
- is based on a model of learning that integrates intended student outcomes, pedagogy and assessment
- outlines teaching strategies which are grounded in learning principles and encompass quality teaching
- promote intellectual quality, establish a rich learning environment and generate relevant connections between learning and life experiences
- provides formal assessment and certification of students’ achievements.
Link to frameworks and curriculum documents - Curriculum
Link to professional learning for specific frameworks - Self-paced Online Workshops
Small group processes are part of the scaling system and used for scaling groups with less than 10 T students as well as scaling groups at international schools. Why is this process needed? Random variation inherent to small sample sizes can impact the scaling process. The small group process gives the BSSS more data points and reduces the effect of these variations. For international schools, the process enhances confidence in the scaling system where the statistical moderator, the AST, is primarily designed with Australian senior secondary students in mind.
There are always some small groups each year from schools in the ACT as well as from international schools.
The process involves a teacher from a larger ACT school reviewing the assessment tasks of students from the small group as if they were students at their own school to generate a unit score for each semester. This leads to unit scores that are directly comparable to those of the larger school's students. Course scores are calculated using the 80% rule and a final check is made to make sure that the new course scores are directly comparable with those from the larger school. The process then makes use of the scaling of the larger school (using the standard Other Course Score or OCS scaling method) to generate scaled course scores for students in the small group. The small group scaled course scores as well as those using OCS (where possible) are used to make a determination of the final scaled course scores. Scaled course scores are then used to calculate an aggregate and ATAR in the usual manner.
At the end of each year the Board recognises excellence in the following categories:
- ACT Senior Secondary Certificate Excellence Award (non-TES)
- Aunty Agnes Shea Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Leadership and Community Service Award
- ACT Senior Secondary Certificate Excellence Award (TES)
- Vocational Studies Award – School based
- Vocational Studies Award – External
- Highest Achievement Award (in Framework area). This is a system award.
- System Leadership Award
Using data from end of year certification, the BSSS will inform school leadership of the candidate/s eligible to receive these awards.
Contacting the Office
Using the designated email inboxes to contact the team will ensure your query will be answered more quickly because multiple people have access to each of these inboxes
Bsssenquiries@act.gov.au: for general enquiries or enquiries that you are unsure where to send. This is our main email.
Bsssast@act.gov.au: AST enquiries from coordinators and school staff.
Bssscurriculum@act.gov.au: curriculum enquiries from coordinators and school staff.
BsssVET@act.gov.au: VET enquiries from coordinators and school staff.
Bsssmoderation@act.gov.au: moderation enquiries from moderation coordinators and executive staff.
Bsssinternational@act.gov.au: general enquiries inbox for BSSS International schools.
Bssscertification@ed.act.gov.au (note that this is a slightly different format): ACS technical enquiries, certification enquiries, appeals, and similar questions from school staff.
International school staff participation in System Moderation Days
Steps for BSSS international school staff wishing to attend a System Moderation Day in person:
- Seek permission from international school Principal
- Contact BSSS Moderation staff via the Moderation inbox to request a letter of invitation for visa purposes and to advise which subjects they will be attending
- BSSS staff will then liaise with attending staff to work out a timetable for the day
Registered units (R units) are credit for the time a student is engaged in an organised learning experience designed to develop capabilities. Students develop capabilities through engagement in School-based, Work exploration, Cultural, Sport and Recreation or Community service courses.
R units can be delivered by the home school (for example, Rugby is an elective of the Sport R unit) or conducted in partnership with external organisations. Units can be awarded in values of 0.2, 0.5 and 1.0.
For more information see Registered units in the BSSS Policy and Procedures manual
International School information on the BSSS website
We have an introduction to each of our international schools on the BSSS website, if there is a required update to the information, please let us know by contacting BSSSenquiries@act.gov.au