Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority

2011 FINAL RESULTS PROCUDURES

1. FINAL RESULTS DATA ON VASS

The 2011 Final Results on VASS will contain the following information: VCE Unit results. Graded Assessment grades. VCE Study Scores. VET and Further Education (VET/FE) UoC/Module results. GAT results. GAT statistics. VCAL Unit results.

2. FINAL RESULTS PACKAGE – packaged in blue satchel

The 2011 Final VCE and VCAL Results package will contain: VCE Statements of Results for all students who attempted only Units 1 and 2 studies in 2011. VET Statements of Results for all students who attempted at least one VET/FE UoC/Module and only Unit

1 and 2 studies in 2011. VCE Certificates for students who have been successful in obtaining their VCE in 2011. VCE Unit Amendment Sheets. VET UoC/Module Amendment Sheets. VCE Results Brochure. VCAL Certificates for students who have been successful in obtaining their VCAL in 2011. VCAL Statement of Results for students who do not have a VCE Unit 3/4 sequence in their program. VCAL Results Brochure.

All students enrolled in at least one Unit of a 3/4 sequence will have their Statement of Results mailed to their postal address recorded in VASS as at 2 December 2011.

3. ASSISTANCE TO STUDENTS

All students should have the opportunity to discuss the possible implications of their results with appropriate school staff, for example, Year 12 Coordinator, VCE, VET and VCAL Coordinators, Careers Coordinator, Student Welfare Coordinator, house teacher or form teacher.

4. SPECIAL PROVISION - Derived Examination Scores (DES) for Examinations

The closing date for Derived Examination Score applications was seven days after the student’s last examination for the specific examination period. No late applications will now be accepted.

Students who may have considered themselves to be eligible to apply for a DES but who did not submit an application, should be advised to provide this information directly to tertiary selection officers.

The final result for examinations for which a DES has been approved will be available to schools on VASS on Thursday 15 December 2011 and to the students via the Results Service on Friday 16 December and by mail on Monday 19 December.

1

Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority

Any DES Second Application decisions that have been determined after Tuesday 6 December may not be reflected in the results released on Friday 16 December.

5. AMENDMENTS TO RESULTS

5.1. VCE Unit, VET/FE UoC/Module and VCAL Unit results

If a school determines that an incorrect result has been entered for a VCE unit, VET/FE UoC/Module or VCAL Unit then the correct result should be forwarded to the Student Records and Results Unit.

For a VCE unit, please produce a Unit Result Amendment Sheet from VASS (RESULTS ADMIN VCE Reports Unit Result Amendment Sheet) and fax the amendment to Student Records and Results Unit on 03 9651 4470.

For VCAL Unit or VET/FE UoC/Modules amendment please use the appropriate form in VCE and VCAL Administrative Handbook 2012.

The VCAA reserves the right not to accept any amendment to VCE Unit, VET/FE UoC/Module or VCAL Unit results.

An ‘N’ result for a UoC/Module indicates that the UoC/Module has not yet been completed. It does not indicate a 'Not satisfactory' result. A UoC/Module with an ‘N’ result is not reported on a VET statement of results issued to students by the VCAA. Students should be re-enrolled in these UoCs/Modules if they wish to continue/complete them in 2012.

5.2. Coursework, School-assessed Tasks

If schools establish that an error has been made entering coursework or School-assessed Task scores into VASS, the principal or nominated delegate must notify the Student Records & Results Unit of the VCAA as soon as possible.

Instructions for the procedures to be followed in the event of an error being detected are published in the VCE and VCAL Administrative Handbook 2011.

Amendments to student scores and unit results for 2011 will not be accepted at the VCAA without a late fee after Friday 2 March 2012. The VCAA reserves the right not to accept any amendments to scores or unit results.

6. EXAMINATION GRADES CHECK PROCEDURES

Before the examination results are finalised, all students’ examination results are checked to identify those results which are significantly lower than that expected given the other available examination results in the study and the GAT or the Indicative Examination Grade provided by the school.

The examination scripts which failed either of these two checks were sent to the Chief Assessor’s Panel in that study to determine the final examination mark.

In the past, the VCAA has received queries on the awarded examination grade not being consistent with the student’s performance in the other relevant VCE Graded Assessments or the examination grade not being consistent with the school’s expectations of the student. These checks encompass such situations.

A similar Quality Assurance process is run across the Music Style and Composition Externally-assessed Task (EAT) results to identify cases with a result significantly lower than expected.

Students identified in this process were also sent to the Chief Assessor to determine the final Externally-assessed Task score.

2

Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority

7. CONFIRMATION OF GRADED ASSESSMENT RESULTS – Clerical check of Graded Assessments

The VCAA provides a process in which the clerical and computational accuracy of the particular grade is thoroughly checked. This process is called Confirmation of Grades. Such requests should only be made where the discrepancy between the actual grade and the grade expected by the school is at least two grades. The closing date for confirmation of grades for 2011 October/November examinations and Reviewed School-assessed Tasks is Friday 17 February 2012.

Principals wishing to seek confirmation of a student’s final grades are referred to the VCE and VCAL Administrative Handbook 2011for further information. Requests will only be met where the principal or his/her delegate signs the Confirmation of Grades Request form in the VCE and VCAL Administrative Handbook 2011.

Where there is a general concern about the grade awarded for coursework for a study, a request for an explanation of Statistical Moderation should be made.

There are no appeals on school-assessed grades.

8. STATEMENTS OF STUDENTS’ MARKS FOR EXAMINATIONS GAT AND STUDY SCORE

Students seeking additional information about their results may apply for a Statement of Examination Marks, a Statement of GAT Examination Marks or a Statement of Study Score.

There is a fee of $9.15 per statement requested.

Applications close on Friday 17 February 2012. After this date applications will be accepted until Friday 9 March 2012 with a late fee of $35.10. Applications received after this date will not be accepted.

Please refer to the VCE and VCAL Administrative Handbook 2011 for further details.

9. INSPECTION OF SCRIPTS

Inspection of scripts are available for all written and Music Performance examinations. Inspection of scripts are not available for Dance (Performance), Drama (Performance), VET Dance (Performance), Theatre Studies (Performance) and LOTE (Orals).

Students may apply to inspect their October and November examination scripts at either their school or the VCAA. The principal must sign the application form when a school inspection is requested.

For school inspections a copy of the script or recording will be forwarded to the principal who will be responsible for conducting the inspection and for the destruction of copy script/recording immediately after the inspection. Under no circumstances can the script be taken from the inspection room or re-photocopied.

There is a fee of $20.80 per examination script inspected at the student’s school and $9.80 per examination script inspected at the VCAA.

It is strongly recommended that students obtain the relevant Statement of Marks prior to an inspection and arrange to have their teacher present. Scripts do not contain any assessor’s marks or comments.

Applications for inspection of October and November examination scripts close on Friday 17 February 2012. Applications received after this date will not be accepted.

Please refer to the VCE and VCAL Administrative Handbook 2011 for further details.

3

Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority

10. APPLICATION FORM FOR STATEMENT OF MARKS/INSPECTION OF SCRIPTS

A personalised application form for Statements of Marks/Inspection of Examination Scripts has been included with the Statement of Results mailed to students.

11. STUDENT EXAMINATION REASSESSMENTIn exceptional cases the VCAA may consider an application by a principal on behalf of any student who believes that any questions on an externally assessed written examination have been incorrectly assessed, in that there is an objective factual error. The VCAA will only consider an application endorsed by the principal.

The VCAA has developed specific application guidelines for student examination reassessments and students and principals must follow the approved VCAA process prior to any VCAA investigation taking place into a VCE examination reassessment.

Student examination reassessment guidelines will be provided to each student who requests an inspection of scripts. Copies of the application guidelines can also be obtained by contacting the Manager, Corporate Governance, VCAA. The application form for Student Examination Reassessment is located in the VCE and VCAL Administrative Handbook 2011

Note for StudentsStudents must note that if the VCAA receives an application from a principal which warrants reassessment of an examination the VCAA will direct the Chief Assessor (or delegate) to reassess the examination script.The Chief Assessor’s (or delegate’s) reassessment of an examination script will be final.

12. 2011 VCE RESULTS & ATAR SERVICE

The 2011 VCE Unit 3 and 4 results will be delivered to the student’s nominated address from Monday 19 December 2011. Results are also available by Internet and SMS from the joint VCAA / VTAC Results Service on Friday 16 December 2011 from 7.00 am for students who have completed at least one VCE units 3 and 4 sequence in 2011. Students should be reminded that the Results service does not replace the normal issue of printed results and that only 2011 results will be available through the 2011 VCE Results and ATAR Service.

12.1. Internet Service

The 2011 VCE Results and ATAR Service website is: resultsandatar.vic.edu.au Students wishing to use the 2011 VCE Results & ATAR Service to access their VCE results will be asked to enter their VCAA student number and four-digit Personal Identification Number (PIN).

This is a free service and will be available from 7.00am Friday 16 December until 5:00pm Tuesday 20 December.

12.2. SMS Service

Students wishing to access their results via SMS can pre-register by sending a message to 19 787 888 from 9.00am Monday 14 November until midnight on Thursday 15 December. Be.Interactive maximum SMS cost is $1.10 max (Inc GST). Helpline: 1800 501 083. Pre registered students will receive their results at 7.00am on Friday 16 December.

4

Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority

13. POST RESULTS and ATAR SERVICE (PRAS) – a joint service by the VCAA and VTAC

The VCAA and VTAC have set up a Post Results and ATAR Service (PRAS), which will be available from 7.00am to 5.00pm on Friday 16 December and 9.00am to 5.00pm on Saturday 17, Sunday 18, Monday 19 and Tuesday 20 December inclusive.

The following telephone lines will be available:9651 4640 or 1800 653 080 (Freecall) and the email address is pras@edumail.vic.gov.au

The Post Results and ATAR Service (PRAS) utilises trained personnel to handle all enquiries related to VCE, VCAL results and ATARs for the period outlined above. Schools are therefore advised to use the Post Results and ATAR Service rather than attempt to contact specific Units or personnel within the VCAA and VTAC during this period.

14. GENERATING RESULTS REPORTS FROM VASS

Schools are strongly advised to use the Help button on the appropriate screen for information regarding the use of specific VASS menus and functions.

For technical problems specifically related to the collection of the Final Results only, telephone the VCAA Administrative Support Unit (refer to page 10 of this memo for the relevant telephone numbers).

The Results data will confirm Graded Assessment results in the form of letter grades ranging from A+ to UG and NA.

When printing the VCE Summary report schools are requested not to use the ALL option in Year Level as this will increase the time taken to download the data. VCE Summary reports for students should be produced by year level and home group, i.e. print each Year 12 form/home group as separate print runs.

For students in year levels other than year 12 who have studied a VCE Unit 3 & 4 sequence, the ‘Report only students with at least one Unit 3 or Unit 4 enrolment’ may be selected so that reports will be printed for only those students with a Unit 3 or Unit 4 enrolment.

If a result does not appear on the report for any student it means the result is not yet finalised and the result has been withheld.

VCE Summary reports include a study score for each VCE Unit 3/4 sequence including scored VCE VET Units. One or more of the following annotations may appear against a study score: ‘un’: the Study Score is unavailable, as more than one Graded Assessment result is NA or the results for

both Units 3 and 4 for a study are not ‘S’. ‘wh’: the Graded Assessment or Study Score has been withheld.

14.1 To produce VCE Results Summary Reports for all Year 12 students:

1. Go to: RESULTS ADMIN VCE Reports VCE Summary.2. Enter the Year Level as 12.3. Enter a Form Group or leave blank for all.4. Select the required Report Order.5. Place a tick in the box against Report only students with at least one Unit 3 or Unit 4 enrolment.6. Place a tick in the box against Report only students with released GA results.

5

Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority7. Click on the [Run VCE Results Summary Report] button.

8. Click on the [Print ALL Students] button to produce reports for the year level/form group.

14.2 To produce VCE Results Summary Reports for Year 11 students undertaking a Unit 3/4 sequence:

1. Go to: RESULTS ADMIN VCE Reports VCE Summary.2. Enter the Year Level as 11.3. Follow steps 4 to 8 as mentioned above.

14.3 To produce VCE and Scored VCE VET Results Summary Reports for Teachers (printed reports or Export as a pipe delimited text file):

1. Go to: RESULTS ADMIN VCE Reports Graded Assessment Results.2. Select the required Study/Sequence code or leave as ALL (will print all classes in unit order).3. Enter a Class Code or leave blank for all classes for that study. This option is only available if a specific

study/sequence has been selected.4. Select the required report order: Graded Assessment Results by Class on Screen OR Export Graded

Assessment Results.5. The Export function extracts the results as a ‘pipe’ delimited text file, which may be ‘Saved’ and then

opened in MS Excel.6. Click on the [Run Graded Assessment Result by Class Report] button.

14.4 To produce GAT Results Summary Reports by Year Level and Form Group:

1. Go to: RESULTS ADMIN VCE Reports GAT Summary.2. Select the required Year Level.3. Enter a Form Group or leave blank for all.4. Click on the [Run GAT Results Summary Report] button.

14.5 Download of Final Results file in VASS:

6

Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority

On Monday 19 December schools will be able to download 4 Final Results files from VASS using the SYSTEM ADMIN Downloads menu. Enter Key Word RESULTS. The files that may be selected in the File Description box are:

Results - GAT 2011 Results - VCAL 2011 Results VCE 2011 Results VET 2011

These results files are ‘pipe’ delimited text files and may be imported into MS Excel.

14.6 VET Results and Examination Results Service for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs):

RTOs that have access to VASS will be able to produce VET results and statistics reports for students undertaking VET certificates provided by the RTO. These results and statistics include Graded Assessment results for scored VCE VET units.

RTOs can generate the VET results and statistics reports using the menu: RESULTS ADMIN RTO Reports Student VET Results. RESULTS ADMIN RTO Reports Statistical Moderation

RESULTS ADMIN RTO Reports Examination Statistics Examinations-Summary RESULTS ADMIN RTO Reports Examination Statistics Examinations- Questions/CriteriaVET results may also be exported using the menu: RESULTS ADMIN RTO Reports VET Results Export.

15. MODIFIED / NEW REPORTS

In 2011 there was a new report introduced mid year which provided to schools feedback on Indicative Grades.The Statistical Moderation Report has been enhanced to include a pictorial representation of the relationship between original and statistical moderated scores.

These and all existing reports can be found under SCHOOL ADMIN School Statistics

16. VCE EXAMINATION RESULTS SERVICE

VCE Examination Results Service will be available to schools through VASS from 12 noon Friday 16 December. Schools can generate the following statistical reports for 2011:

SCHOOL ADMIN School Statistics Examinations-Summary SCHOOL ADMIN School Statistics Examinations – Questions/Criteria SCHOOL ADMIN School Statistics EAT - Summary SCHOOL ADMIN School Statistics EAT - Criteria

Notice to Schools 177/2011 has been sent out regarding VCE Examination Statistics and Results Service. http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/correspondence/notices/2011/177.html

7

Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority

17. VCE DATA SERVICE

The VCE Data service will be available to schools in mid-January 2012. Schools can access this service in VASS through:

SCHOOL ADMIN VCE Data Service Reporting

This VCE Data service enables Principals, VCE co-ordinators and classroom teachers to analyse the performance of their own school’s VCE students, from 1998 to the most recently completed VCE cohort.

18. PUBLICATION OF VCE SCHOOL DATA 2011

On Tuesday 20 December each school will be able to download via VASS a copy of the school’s data to be published in the press. The file can be accessed via the menu: SYSTEM ADMIN Downloads. Enter the Key Word: School Data. From the File Description field on the Browse Files Available For Download screen select ‘VCE School Data 2011’.

On Wednesday 21 December a broad range of school level data will be published in the press and the VCAA website www.vcaa.vic.edu.au. For each school this will include: Number of VCE studies at unit 3/4 level taken up by students in 2011 Number of VET certificates with 2011 enrolments Availability of International Baccalaureate (Diploma) Number of students enrolled in at least one VCE unit at level 3/4 in 2011 Number of students enrolled in a VET certificate in 2011 Number of students enrolled in VCAL in 2011 Percentage of VCE students applying for tertiary places Percentage of satisfactory VCE completions in 2011 Percentage of VET units of competence completed in 2011 Percentage of VCAL units completed in 2011 Median VCE study score Percentage of study scores of 40 and over

19. VASS ACCESS

At this time of the year there are many VASS Users who have not logged onto VASS since last year, e.g. school Principals and/or VASS Users who will be accessing results from a different computer.

It is most important that people in these categories check the following points and test their ability to access VASS well before attempting to access the school’s results from a different computer.

19.1. Valid Authentication device and password

If any problems are detected, school-based users should first contact their VASS Administrator. The VASS Administrator should then contact the Administrative Support Unit if they are unable to solve the problem.

8

Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority

19.2. VASS Browser Settings

The VASS Browser Booklet for Windows 2000, Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7 for Internet Explorer 6, 7 and 8 is available from the VCAA website at the following link. http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/schooladmin/vass/iesettings.html

You will not be able to download results and/or print if the browser settings have not been set correctly, and the MeadCo Licence installed as part of your first login to VASS on a particular computer.

9

Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority

RESULTS ENQUIRIES SUMMARY

Issue Agency To Contact

Dates For Contact

Time To Contact

Contact Details

Technical and system support for problems such as inability to access VASS, production of reports, database errors.

VCAAAdministrative Support Unit

Monday –Friday

Thursday 15 Dec

Saturday 17 Dec

8.30am to 5.00pm

5:00pm to 8:30pm

Ph: 9651 4482 or 1800 827 721

Email:vass.support@edumail.vic.gov.au

Fax: 9651 4551

VCE and ATAR Results (Student access only)

Joint VCAA / VTAC Results Service

7am Friday 16 to 5:00pm Tuesday20 Dec 2011

24 hour service

Website:resultsandatar.vic.edu.au

SMS: 19 787 888

Enquiries VCE results Joint VCAA and VTAC Post Results and ATAR Service (PRAS).

Friday 16 Dec

Saturday 17, Sunday 18, Monday 19 and Tuesday 20 Dec

7.00am to 5.00pm

9.00am to 5.00pm

Ph: 9651 4640 or 1800 653 080(Freecall)

Emailpras@edumail.vic.gov.au

Amendments to VCE Unit, VET/FE UoC Module, VCAL Unit results, Coursework scores and School-assessed Tasks

VCAA:Student Records and Results Unit

Thursday 15 Dec

Friday 16 to Tuesday 20 Dec

5:00pm to 8:30pm

9.00am to 5.00pm

Ph: 9651 4379 or 9651 4411

Email:

student.records@edumail.vic.gov.au

Fax: 9651 4470

VTAC enquiries (not careers professionals)

VTAC Monday- Friday

VTAC office

Saturday 17 to Sunday 18 Dec

8.45am to 5.00pm

Closed

9.00am to 5.00pm

Ph: 1300 364 133

Facebook, Twitter and VTAC Blog

Staff will be answering general queries on Facebook, Twitter and VTAC Blog

Careers teachers/professionals and school enquiries

VTAC Monday to Friday

Saturday 17 to Sunday 18 Dec

8.45am to 5.00pm

9.00am to 5.00pm

schoolsliaison@vtac.edu.au

10