Senior Years

Learners in the Senior years are generally aged 15 -19 years. These students bring with them a variety of social, economic and cultural backgrounds, interests, aspirations, capabilities and prior learning experiences to their school environment.

As with every phase of learning in Brisbane Catholic Education, the goal of senior schooling is to educate all to live the gospel of Jesus Christ as successful, creative and confident, active and informed learners empowered to shape and enrich our world.

Students in Brisbane Catholic Education schools develop their skills in these areas through their engagement with QCAA senior subjects.  In 2019, Year 12 students will be the final cohort of students to engage with Authority and Authority-registered subjects, with students eligible for an OP which can be used for tertiary entrance purposes.  Year 11 students will engage with a new Queensland Certificate of Education system through their involvement with General or Applied subjects with the ATAR score replacing the OP score.  These changes are have come about through the need to ‘keep pace with a transforming society and economy’ and to ‘strengthen our current system and enhance its fairness and reliability.’ (Why senior schooling in Queensland is changing (January 2017), QCAA, Updated 2019)
The underpinning factors for the senior schooling curriculum ‘are derived from current education, industry and community expectations; they overlap, interact and build on the general capabilities taught in the Years P-10 Australian Curriculum, and include literacy, numeracy and the 21st century skills’ (21st Century Skills for senior curriculum; QCAA; September 2017).

In Brisbane Catholic Education schools, another focus of the Senior years is post-school pathways – the transition to tertiary education or the workforce; and preparing our students to live in society as responsible and contributing adults. Post-school pathways are explored through the development of Senior Education Training (SET) Plans and provide opportunities for students to explore learning through the General and Applied subjects and Vocational Education and Training (VET) options.

Brisbane Catholic Education schools are ready to implement Queensland’s new QCE and Tertiary Entrance Systems.

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For more information on Brisbane Catholic Education’s implementation of the new Queensland Certificate of Education, please contact your school.
More information on the new systems is available at the following websites:

Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority:  https://www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/ 

Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre https://www.qtac.edu.au/