The Thistle - An E-Newsletter of Scotch College, Perth, Western Australia

Success Breeds Success

I am delighted to share a snapshot of the success of the Class of 2019 as they move beyond the familiar routine of Scotch College towards the many and varied experiences that await them in their bright futures. As always, the results published in the media are only representative of our WACE students and not the thirty students who sat the International Baccalaureate examinations. Therefore, our own analysis is always critical to gain a full understanding of the cohort's collective performance. Unsurprisingly, the analysis proved very rewarding with statistics such as average points for a Diploma student once again being the highest Scotch has seen, at 37.5. An impressive 10 out of the thirty students earned 40 or more points out of a possible total of 45. The WACE students also performed as expected with a median of 86.5, compared to the state average of 81.05. However, even though the individual programmes were impressive, the analysis of this cohort's performance is always far more accurate when we convert the Diploma points to an ATAR using the TISC conversion table and evaluate the common statistics. In short, 91% of this cohort sat examinations, whilst an additional 10 students opted for the Certificate IV pathway to be eligible for university. The median ATAR was 90.00, placing the College in sixth position on the League Tables. Fifteen students received an ATAR of 99+, which is an incredible 9% of the cohort, whilst 86% of students were eligible for direct entry into university.

As the new school year commences, the present cohort of Year 12 students are already one term into their own final year and we look forward to sharing with them the experience of their predecessors. Pleasingly, according to our median converted ATAR, early indications are that the 2020 Leavers are on track to achieve a similar level of success. The Scotch ATAR predictor provides us with current, up to date tracking of student performance as the model accesses five years of Scotch College data to predict current cohort performance (https://scotch.atarpredictor.net.au/). This allows Teaching and Learning to advise students with a greater degree of accuracy on the pathway that is most likely to provide them with the greatest number of options beyond school. This ATAR predictor is also accurate for Year 11 students studying WACE and parents who are interested in measuring their son's predicted ATAR are encouraged to access this information.

The collective experience of the teachers, the positive work ethic displayed by the students and the continual support provided by the community ensures that every Year 12 group continues to flourish. Similarly, the aspects of their education that reach beyond the academic programme, such as wellbeing, service, sport and a myriad of co-curricular opportunities contribute to a positive experience for each of our students and provides them with a solid platform from which to embark upon their bright futures with confidence.