TEE Exams draw to a close

22/11/02
Education Minister Alan Carpenter has congratulated students and teachers across Western Australia for their efforts as the Tertiary Entrance Examinations (TEE) draw to a close today.
As nearly 13,600 TEE students wind down for their well-deserved school holidays, Mr Carpenter reminded them that the final exam was not the be-all and end-all, as both their school and exam marks counted equally towards their final mark for each subject.
"Although the written TEE is a very important time for students, year 12 teachers have also been assessing students' achievement throughout the year," he said.
"Students who have worked to the best of their abilities over the whole year and adequately prepared themselves for the TEE should feel satisfied they have put forward their best effort in their final year."
The Minister said the Curriculum Council's team of 800 markers had already begun to mark the 55,000 papers written by up to 13,600 candidates.
"Now that the students' work is over, the TEE markers have a massive job ahead, and I want to thank them for their time and dedication in undertaking this enormous task," he said.
Mr Carpenter said the TEE increasingly tested students in some subjects about real life situations.
"Instead of just testing students for facts or information that can be learned by rote, the papers - designed by the Curriculum Council in accordance with current best practice in education - often provided students with data and other relevant information about a particular scenario," he said.
"Students were then asked a variety of questions that required critical thinking skills and an application of their knowledge.
"For example, the Discrete Mathematics paper contained questions about how three AFL footballers tried to predict their future salaries and a section on the ability of people to estimate the energy value of foods.
"The Information Systems paper asked candidates to apply their knowledge of information technology to aid three businesses - a video rental chain, a digital book retailer and a pizza company."
Mr Carpenter said the exams finished today with the German examination.
"Overall, this year's papers provided a balanced coverage of the various courses, with adequate opportunities for students to demonstrate their range of achievement," he said.
Results will be available on the Internet site http://www.year12results.wa.edu.au and on the TISC phone line on 1901 191 091 from December 27.
Results will also be sent by mail on December 27.
Minister's office: 9213 6800

2002 YEAR 12/TEE FACT SHEET

Student statistics as at 31/10/02 (October 2001 figures in brackets):
WA students study Curriculum Council subjects in Years 11 and 12 to be eligible for secondary graduation, which is recognised through the Western Australia Certificate of Education (WACE). The Council sets and conducts the Tertiary Entrance Examinations (TEE). Students must be enrolled with the Council to sit an exam or to qualify for the WACE.
Year 12 enrolments: 20,135 (up 2.6 per cent from 19,629) students enrolled in Curriculum Council subjects.
Year 12 TEE enrolments: 13,454 or 66.8 per cent (13,206 or 67.3 per cent) are enrolled to sit at least one TEE subject.
TEE for university entrance: Of the 13,454 Year 12 TEE students, 11,489 or 85.4 per cent (11,200 or 84.8 per cent) are enrolled to sit for four or more TEE subjects. Candidates need at least four subjects to gain a TER (Tertiary Entrance Rank).

Bar statistics: 783 enrolled for 1 subject; 770 for two subjects; 412 for three subjects; 4,001 for four subjects; 5,026 for five subjects; 2,112 for six; 324 for seven subjects; 26 for eight subjects.

*13,596 comprises 13,454 Year 12 students, 140 Year 11 students and two Year 10 students.

Location*
Metropolitan - 11,306 (10,955)
Country - 2,014 (1,907)
Overseas - 201 (288)
*There were 75 (56) students who were enrolled totally as private candidates (they were not enrolled through a school and their result will be based on the exam only). Therefore, these students have not been included in the location and type figures.
Subjects

• 33 subjects examined (no new subjects since 1999); about 55,000 papers to mark.
• About 100 examiners and 639 supervisors; 800 teachers and university lecturers marking papers.
• Subject with the highest number of candidates was English with 9,171 (8,533) candidates, followed by Discrete Mathematics with 8,607 (8,002) and Applicable Mathematics with 4,707 (4,785).
• Subjects with the smallest number of candidates were some of the LOTE subjects, such as Modern Greek, Japanese: Advanced and Chinese: Second Language with between six and 21 candidates.
• For subjects with more than 1,500 candidates, notable changes were Biology (up nine per cent), Calculus (down five per cent), Discrete Mathematics (up eight per cent, Economics (up six per cent), English (up eight per cent), English Literature (down 10 per cent).

Notes on the papers
The papers provided a balanced coverage of the various syllabuses, with adequate opportunities for students to demonstrate their range of abilities. Some challenging questions served as good discriminators between candidates allowing more able students to demonstrate their ability. The move towards testing of how to access and use information rather than testing rote learning continued.
Timetable

• Practical exams were held for 7 LOTE (Languages Other Than English) subjects, Music and Drama Studies. Practical exams began on 1/10/02 with Drama Studies (held during Term Three holidays at two city and five country venues) and finished on 5/11/02.
• Art visual diaries had to be submitted by 22/10/02 for marking.
• Written exams started on 6/11/02 with History, although Japanese: Advanced and Modern Greek students sat interstate examinations in WA earlier. The last examination is German on 22/11/02.
• Year 12 Wholly School-assessed Subject Award student presentations were held in October. Award winners will be published in the media in early January.

Exam locations

• 140 WA schools and secondary colleges, including two home supervisions (due to illness); four overseas schools (in Singapore, Indonesia and two schools in Malaysia) ; two interstate examinations (Sydney and Melbourne); eight overseas examinations (Italy, Austria, Ghana, Malawi, Jordan, Myanmar and two in Germany); and HMAS Worramunga.
• New locations: Carey Baptist College (Forrestdale) and Strathalbyn Christian College (Geraldton).

Calculators
Graphics calculators were first allowed in some subjects in 1998 and have been gradually introduced into all science and maths subjects. Non-programmable calculators were allowed in Information Systems for the first time last year (allowed in 13 subjects altogether).
Special examination arrangements
The Council received 362 applications (156 Government, 206 non-Government; 322 metropolitan, 40 country); 327 people were given permission for special arrangements for their temporary or permanent disability, four were not approved and 31 were withdrawn. (In 2001, there were 267 applications, 234 were approved, 21 were not approved and 12 were withdrawn.) Special exam arrangements are given on the basis that normal exam conditions could disadvantage them by preventing them from displaying, to the full extent, what they have learned. The Curriculum Council was awarded a Disability Services Commission award in 2000 for its efforts to provide options to assist students with disabilities taking the TEE.
Sickness/Misadventure
Consideration may be given to candidates (except private candidates) suffering from a temporary sickness, non-permanent disability or events which they believe may have affected their performance. Completed application forms must be received at the Curriculum Council by November 27.
Results
Results will be available on the Internet (at the joint Curriculum Council/Tertiary Institutions Service Centre (TISC) website at http://www.year12results.wa.edu.au and on the TISC phone line on 1901 191 091 from December 27. The school marks and TEE marks count equally towards the final scaled mark.
For more information:
Jeanette Murray, Curriculum Council of Western Australia - 0403 310 583 or murrj@curriculum.wa.edu.au

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