WACE Courses

It is important to have the correct courseload in Year 11 and Year 12, following the School recommended combinations.

In Year 12 a student must always complete paired Units. However, in Year 11 it is possible for a student to take unpaired Units either within a learning area or across learning areas. This may be due to many reasons such as study preferences, career options, course accessibility to the student academically or a switch of Pathways.

For example: • • •

•

A Year 11 student may select General Literature Unit 1 in Semester 1, but then withdraw to enrol into General English Unit 2 in Semester 2.

A Year 11 student may select ATAR Mathematics Methods Unit 1 but withdraw to enrol in ATAR Mathematics Applications in Unit 2 Semester 2.

A Year 11 student may take ATAR Politics and Law Unit 1 in Semester 1 but then withdraw to take General Business Management and Enterprise Unit 2 in Semester 2.

In Year 12 a student must take only paired units

A student entering Year 11 must choose six courses. Those who believe they will enter University directly after completing their secondary schooling should select five to six ATAR Pathway courses. Those who believe their careers lay in post-secondary certificates at TAFE or the workplace, will choose relevant courses where they may achieve the best possible Grades in the General Pathway, six courses of General Pathway or five courses with a VET/Certificate or Endorsed program.

In Year 12, a student who is studying an ATAR Pathway should do so with preferably five ATAR courses. A student who is engaged in a General Pathway programme of study will be required to study six courses or can undertake five courses with a VET/Certificate course and Endorsed program.

A Year 12 student who is more successful in Mathematics and Sciences courses, and not strong in English or Literature, may wish to take a General English or General Literature course to achieve WAASA Graduation and take direct entry into a university. This courseload at PMACS is extremely rare and entails inherent risk. It is therefore not recommended.

Therefore, School approval will only be granted if the student provides written permission from the university that guarantees them direct entry into their chosen undergraduate course.

It is the strong recommendation of the School that students on an ATAR Pathway should study either ATAR English and/or ATAR Literature. These two ATAR courses provide the rigour necessary to prepare a student for undergraduate success at a tertiary level.

Alternate combinations are by Principal approval only and are addressed in the first instance with the Dean of Teaching and Learning via the Careers and Pathways Coordinator.

Course Recommendations The courses offered by the School come with recommendations from teachers based on the achievement of student Grades for the successful attainment of a WACE course. This is based on many factors, including reference to their knowledge of a student and their work habits/standards, and referencing their professional knowledge and experience. Formal prerequisites may exist for entry into courses. They are not arbitrarily chosen; instead, they are based on a wealth of knowledge about the degree of difficulty of the Year 11 or 12 course and the statistical probability of success of a student with a particular Grade in Year 10 or 9.

The School, of course, recognises that students will mature and develop in their understanding and work habits over the course of their time in Year 10 to Year 11.

Year 11 students selecting a course against recommendation will undergo a review after Term 1. Students who, despite efforts to maintain a satisfactory pass in that course, find that their achievement is below the required standard will be advised to change course/s and/or Pathways. The ultimate decision rests with the School, as they endeavour to ensure that the student as choices post-secondary schooling.

After the Year 10 Subject Selection process, a timetable grid will be prepared which will best suit the needs of most students. At this stage, some students may need to review their initial selections. There are no guarantees for meeting a student’s initial choices.

Along with the Subject Selection processes, the list of web addresses further guides information and decisions for TAFE entry, University Entrance requirements and course prerequisites.

ATAR Pathway courses are completed with an external WACE examination in Year 12, worth 50% of the course. General Pathway courses include an Externally Set Task in Year 12, worth 15% of the course.

Students undertaking the ECU UniPrep in Schools program must be on a General Pathway at the commencement of the course. UniPrep in Schools is an Endorsed program with students successfully completing University course work culminating at the end of Term 3 in Year 12.

Students wishing to undertake this program are recommended based on their academic achievement and the final list of students continuing in Year 12 will be confirmed at the end of the first completed unit at the end of Year 11. Students should be attaining excellent achievement in English/Literature to successfully access this course.

Compulsory Subjects Students should choose their Year 11 courseload according to their interests, aptitudes and career goals. For a Year 12 student to gain Secondary Graduation with a Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE), it is essential that all students study at least one List A subject and one List B subject. For the full list of courses, refer to the Breadth of Study Requirements table.

Breadth of Study Requirements List A – Arts/Languages/Social Sciences

List B – Mathematics/Science/Technology

BME Business Management and Enterprise

ACF Accounting and Finance

CFC Children, Family and the Community

AIT Applied Information Technology

DAN Dance

BLY Biology

DRA Drama

CHE Chemistry

ECO Economics

DES Design

ENG English

EST Engineering Studies

GEO Geography

FST Food Science and Technology

HEA Health Studies

HBY Human Biology

HIM History: Modern

Marine and Maritime Studies

HIA: History: Ancient

MAA Mathematics Applications

IND Indonesian: Second Language

MAE Mathematics Essentials

LIT Literature

MAM Mathematics Methods

MUS Music

MAS Mathematics Specialist

PAL Politics and Law

MDT Materials Design and Technology: Woodwork

REL Religion and Life

MDT Materials Design and Technology: Metalwork

VAR Visual Arts

MDT Materials Design and Technology: Textiles MMS Marine and Maritime Studies OED Outdoor Education Studies PES Physical Education Studies PHY Physics PSY Psychology

All students must choose at least one of the English courses. Students are permitted to study both English and Literature, with both courses counting towards ATAR Ranking.

Students selecting the Mathematics Specialist ATAR course must also take the Mathematics Methods ATAR course. From 2024, Mathematics Applications and Mathematics Methods is an acceptable subject combination. In fact a student can take all three ATAR Mathematics courses, however the course results of only two final scaled scores will be used for the purposes of calculating the ATAR. Students will only have recognition of one course if they choose to select an ATAR and General course in the same contexts, such as Physical Education.

During Term 4, Year 10 students and their parents will have the opportunity to review their initial choices to make changes, if desired. The majority of Year 11 students will continue with their subjects into Year 12 the following year. Subject reviews occur during Years 11 and 12, which may require a student to reallocate their course load.

Unit Equivalence Students may obtain Unit Equivalence as follows with up to: • • •

Eight Unit Equivalence through completion of VET programs, Four Unit Equivalence per endorsed program through completion of endorsed programs, or Eight Unit Equivalence through a combination of VET and endorsed programs, with endorsed programs contributing no more than four Unit Equivalence.

The amount of Unit Equivalence allocated to VET and endorsed programs is: • • • • •

VET qualifications, Certificate I is equivalent to two Year 11 units, Certificate II is equivalent to two Year 11 and two Year 12 units, Certificate III or higher is equivalent to two Year 11 and four Year 12 units, or Endorsed programs – SCSA approves a list of programs for Unit Equivalence.

Unacceptable Course Combinations SCSA apply “Unacceptable Course Combinations” to the calculation of an ATAR. These are available on the TISC website (www.tisc.edu.au), in the University Admission document. For example: Indonesian: Background Language with Indonesian: Second Language.

Indonesian: First Language with Indonesian: Second Language.

Mathematics Applications with Mathematics Specialist.

Note: SCSA imposes a maximum credit allowance from study in a single course of four different units in a course of the same context. Students are advised not to study courses of the same contexts in the Year 11 examples below, as SCSA will not accept the Grades achieved for the two courses to meet a student’s Graduation. For example, GEPES and AEPES – only one course will be acceptable for SCSA Graduation.

The School recommends that students on an ATAR Pathway not take General Outdoor Education due to the expedition component of the course which sees students away from School for several days each Semester.

SCSA issues a Year 12 Statement of Results who have completed at least one SCSA subject, course unit or unit of competency at the completion of their schooling. This replaces the End of Year Report in Year 12.

Please see the hyperlink below which details what the Statement of Results records and SCSA exhibitions and awards:

School Curriculum and Standards Authority WACE Certificates

Subject Offerings The nomenclature of courses follows a standardised format. Year 11 courses are written with the stem of AE or GE meaning ATAR Year 11 or General Year 11, followed by a three-letter course code. For example, AEENG refers to ATAR Year 11 English. GEENG refers to General Year 11 English. Similarly, the codes in Year 12 indicate Year 12 with either an AT or GT. For example, ATENG for ATAR Year 12 English or GETENG for General Year 12 English.

The three-letter course codes are referenced in the titles of the course descriptions.

The prerequisite tables provide the list of courses offered at the School during Years 11 and 12. The final Year 11 WACE courses are dependent on student selections and their feasibility based on timetabling constraints.

As of February 2023, TISC has revoked the 10% bonus for courses in the WACE. That means that for students in Year 10 in 2024, there will not be the 10% bonus applied for them in Year 12 2026.

However, for students in Year 12 in 2025 it remains that three PMACS courses have a WACE bonus of 10% added to a student’s final scaled ATAR rank: Mathematics Methods, Mathematics Specialist and Indonesian. Students benefit collectively if they study two or three of these courses.

Students in Year 12 in 2025 who have a background language other than English are encouraged to explore the option of taking this language as a Non-School Candidate at an ATAR level, as the final scaled score of their WACE Examination attracts a 10% bonus added to the student’s ATAR calculation. The bonus does not apply to Year 12 students from 2026.

Students who have not passed OLNA by the end of Year 11 are required to take Foundation English and/or Foundation Mathematics in Year 12. If students pass OLNA in Year 11, they can move from the Foundation course to the General course.

Students whose primary language is not English have options to study EAL/D and WAUF courses through the Anglican Schools Commission sector entity, ASC International.

Additionally, there is the option for some students to study an alternative language course as a non-school candidate or at a recognised private language school. Students who wish to pursue these opportunities, must meet with the Dean of Teaching and Learning in the first instance.

For further information on List A and List B courses offered at PMACS please see links below:

List A WACE Course Information List B WACE Course Information