Year 10-12 Assessment Guidelines & Procedures

1.1 Location and communication of the Guidelines & Procedures document

This document is located on the school website at  https://www.gilroysm.catholic.edu.au/students/assessment-policy/. All questions regarding this policy should be directed to the College Principal or Deputy Principal for Curriculum.

To ensure the assessment policy is consistently applied, relevant processes could be revisited including:

• at the beginning of each year
• at enrolment interviews (applicable for new students only)
• in Senior Education & Training (SET) planning (Year 10 only)
• when publishing the assessment schedule
• in the newsletter and by email in response to assessment cycle phases

1.2 Expectations about engaging in learning and assessment

*Section 1 *Section 2 *Section 5

Gilroy Santa Maria College has high expectations for academic integrity, student participation and engagement in learning and assessment. Students become eligible for a QCE when they have accrued the set amount of learning, at the set standard, in a set pattern, while meeting literacy and numeracy requirements. Students are required to complete all course and assessment requirements on or before the due date for their results to contribute credit to the QCE.

1.2.1 Assessing achievement
Subject results in General subjects are based on student achievement in four summative assessments: three internal assessments and one external assessment that QCAA sets and marks.

For most General subjects, the internal assessment contributes 75% to the final subject result, except in mathematics and science subjects, where it contributes to 50%.

Subject results in Applied subjects are based on student achievement in four equally weighted internal assessments. For Essential English and Essential Mathematics, one of these assessments is externally set but school administered.

Internal assessment instruments for all General subjects, and for the Applied Essential English and Essential Mathematics subjects, are endorsed by the QCAA before being used for summative purposes in schools.

Separate quality assurance procedures are used for other Applied subjects.

QCAA confirms the grades awarded by schools in General subjects by reviewing a selected sample of student work for every subject in every school. Separate quality assurance procedures are used to review results awarded by schools for Applied subjects.

The external assessment result is added to the internal assessment result to arrive at a final subject result.

The College also offers a range of Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses. All courses delivered are Australian Quality Training Framework (AQFT) accredited and validated by industry. The College offers a range of Certificate I to Diploma level courses that are delivered under the College’s Registered Training Organisation (RTO) status, or in partnerships with external providers. Competency is holistically assessed and reported.

2.1 Due dates

Gilroy Santa Maria College is required to adhere to QCAA policies for gathering evidence of student achievement on or before the due date.

Student responsibility
Students are expected to:

• engage in the learning for the subject or course of study
• produce evidence of achievement that is authenticated as their work
• submit responses to scheduled assessment on or before the due
• record due dates in their diaries
• plan and manage their time to meet the due dates
• inform the school as soon as possible if they have concerns about assessment load and meeting due dates.

All final decisions are at the Principal/Deputy Principal for Curriculum discretion. Refer to AARA information below.

To emphasise the importance of sound academic practices, staff and students are strongly encouraged to complete the QCAA academic integrity courses. Students can access this resource via this link: https://myqce.qcaa.qld.edu.au/get-motivated/get-academic

School responsibility 
Gilroy Santa Maria College is required to adhere to QCAA policies for gathering evidence of student achievement on or before the due date. Due dates for final responses will be published in the assessment planner. All students will be provided with their assessment planner by the end of week 3 each term. This document will also be available on our school website at:  https://www.gilroysm.catholic.edu.au/students/assessment-planner/.

The assessment planner will:

• align with syllabus requirements
• provide sufficient working time for students to complete the task
• allow for internal quality assurance processes
• enable timelines for QCAA quality assurance (QA) processes to be met
• be clear to teachers, students and parents/carers
• consider allocation of

2.2 Submitting, collecting and storing assessment information

*Section 9

• Assessment instruments will provide information about Gilroy Santa Maria College’s arrangements for submission of draft and final
• All assessment evidence, including draft responses, will be submitted by their due date, in their scheduled lesson, and where appropriate, via the College’s academic integrity software (TURNITIN).
• All evidence used for making judgments in final responses for all internal assessment will be collected/filmed and Live performance assessments will be recorded and stored as required for QCAA processes.
• If a student has an approved AARA extension date, students must submit their assessment by 3pm on the negotiated date unless otherwise agreed upon between the student and subject teacher at the time of the AARA application.

2.3 Appropriate materials

*Section 7.1 * Section 8.5.3

Gilroy Santa Maria College is a supportive and inclusive school. Materials and texts are carefully chosen by staff and by students to ensure they are both age and contextually appropriate.

2.4 Transferring between subjects

Should a student commence a subject late, they will be at risk of being disadvantaged compared to other students in the class.

• The ‘Change of Subject’ application form is available on our school website at https://www.gilroysm.catholic.edu.au/students/subject-change-forms-tp4qty/
• This application form must be completed by the student’s parent/carer as well as the current and future subject teachers before being submitted to the Deputy Principal for Curriculum for
• A meeting may be held with the parents/carers to discuss student progress and the requirements necessary for the student to be assigned a grade in the subject they wish to transfer

2.5 Scaffolding

Scaffolding for assessment helps students understand the process for completing the task. Scaffolding will:

• maintain the integrity of the requirements of the task or assessment instrument
• allow for unique student

*Section 8.2.3

Across the phases of learning, students will gradually be given more responsibility for understanding the processes required to complete their tasks.

2.6 Checkpoints

Checkpoints will:

• be informed by teachers
• monitor student progress
• Support students to complete their assessment
• be used to establish student authorship

*Section 8.5.3

Students will work on assessment during designated times and show evidence of progress at scheduled checkpoints.

2.7 Drafting

*Section 8

Submission of a draft is a key checkpoint. Types of drafts differ depending on subject, e.g. written draft, rehearsal of a performance piece, or a product in development. Drafts might be used as evidence of student achievement in the case of illness or misadventure, or non-submission for other reasons.

A student’s draft should be the best version of their assessment task. This process is used to promote student independence and responsibility for learning. Parents/carers will be notified about non-submissions and/or poor progress of drafts and the processes to be followed.

2.7.1 Feedback
The College values effective feedback to encourage self-reflection, so students can actively monitor and evaluate their own learning, whilst facilitating self-direction and motivation.

Feedback on a draft is:

• provided on a maximum of one draft for each student’s This feedback may be written, electronic or via verbal conferencing in class
• only provided on a draft submitted by the draft due date unless the student is eligible for special consideration
• provided in a timely

Feedback on a draft must not:

• compromise the authenticity of a student’s response
• introduce new ideas, language or research to improve the quality and integrity of the student work
• edit or correct spelling, grammar, punctuation and calculations
• be exhaustive to include all possible improvements and corrections
• allocate a

2.8 Managing response length

Students must adhere to assessment response lengths as specified by syllabus documents.

*Section 8.2

2.8.1 Strategies for managing response length before the assessment is submitted
The procedures below support students to manage their response length:

• all assessment instruments indicate the required length of the response
• subject-specific strategies about responding purposefully within the prescribed conditions of the task will be provided by teachers
• feedback about length is provided by teachers at checkpoints/drafting
• students may be provided with examples of assessment responses within the required length (word length, duration of time or page count).

2.8.2 Strategies for managing response length after assessment is submitted
After all these strategies have been implemented, if the student’s response exceeds the word length required by the syllabus, the teacher will annotate the student response to indicate the evidence used to determine the result. Teachers will refer to their instrument specific marking guide to ensure marks/grade allocated reflect excessive word length.

2.8.3 Determining word length of a response
Response requirements are expressed in syllabuses as a word length, duration of time, or page count and vary according to the technique and response type such as written, spoken/signed and multimodal or performance responses.

Elements to be included or excluded from the word length or page count of a written response are provided in the following table. 

2.9 Performance and Spoken Responses

Performance and spoken responses: Senior.

Schools are required to film performance and spoken responses as evidence of student work. 

All student performance and spoken responses will be filmed by the teacher. 

Note - the option for students to pre-record responses for submission will be done at the discretion of the school, where syllabuses allow.

Responses must adhere to the following:

Academic integrity is when a person approaches their academic responsibilities in an honest, moral and ethical manner (QCAA, 2019) by recognising and acknowledging the ideas and work of others. Gilroy Santa Maria College has procedures to ensure that there is consistent application of the assessment policy and that staff and students optimise opportunities to understand academic integrity. Students are always required to produce original work when completing and submitting assessment tasks and to demonstrate academic integrity. Our College will not tolerate academic misconduct by students.

Gilroy Santa Maria College promotes academic integrity by developing students’ skills and modelling appropriate academic practices. The following whole-school procedures support this endeavour.

Gilroy Santa Maria College is committed to supporting students to complete assessment and to submit work that is their own, while minimising academic misconduct. Academic misconduct occurs when a student does not submit original work or when they attempt to cheat in completing assessment. Academic misconduct includes, but is not limited to, plagiarism and cheating. A consequence may be imposed in instances of academic misconduct, including disciplinary and academic penalties.

3.1 Authenticating student responses

 *Section 8

Accurate judgments of student achievement can only be made on student assessment responses that are authenticated as their own work. Students can avoid academic misconduct such as plagiarism by learning how to correctly reference another person’s ideas or work. Quotations and references to other author’s or other individual’s ideas must be referenced using the APA or Harvard system. Students are taught referencing styles and conventions throughout the junior secondary school and into the senior school.

Gilroy Santa Maria College uses the authentication strategies promoted by the QCAA which may include interviews during and after the development of the final response. The authentication strategies will be specified on assessment instruments. When a student’s work cannot be authenticated, the College will provide an opportunity for the student to demonstrate that the submitted response is their own work. If authorship cannot be established, the College will make judgements based on the student work that can be authenticated by using only the parts of the response that can be identified as the student’s own original work. Judgements will be made about their level of achievement in relation to the subject specific syllabus standards and instrument specific marking guide. If there is insufficient work to be used, this may result in a Not Rated (NR) for that assessment task. In year 10 Religion and all year 11 and 12 subjects, this may result in loss of credit for the entire unit, which may place the student at risk of not achieving a Queensland Certificate of Education

3.2 Academic Misconduct

Gilroy Santa Maria College will take into consideration the nature of the academic misconduct, including the seriousness and intent when making decisions regarding the consequences for academic misconduct.

Behaviour that is repeated, deliberate and/or deceptive, such as plagiarism, misconduct that distracts and/or disrupts others in an assessment room or cheating in an examination, may result in very serious academic consequences and disciplinary action.

Disciplinary action may include an academic interview with one or more of the Academic Leaders, Deputy Principal for Curriculum and/or Principal, detentions, suspensions and/or loss of credit for a course of study. Where appropriate, the school’s behaviour management policy will be implemented.

If a student plagiarised work, cheated in an exam or on an assessment task, academic and disciplinary consequences may be imposed. This may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• if academic behaviour is minor or unintentional, such as self-plagiarism, consequences may result in a warning, a failed result and/or further re-education regarding academic integrity
• if a student is found to have prohibited or unauthorised materials in their possession during an exam, these materials will be removed. This may be treated as deliberate and/or deceptive academic misconduct and academic consequences such as a Not Rated (NR) given for the assessment task. Disciplinary consequences as well as detention or suspension may also be imposed
• if a student has provided a copy of their assessment to another student who plagiarised the work and submitted it as their own, both students will receive a consequence. Consequences may include marking of the work proven to be that of the student, an academic penalty such as failed result and/or a disciplinary consequence such as detention or

Refer to the table below for examples of misconduct that are not tolerated at Gilroy Santa Maria College.

Students whose ability to attend or participate in an assessment is adversely affected by illness or an unexpected event may be eligible for illness and misadventure access arrangements and/or reasonable adjustments. Illness and misadventure can affect a single student or a group of students.

The following principles apply:

• The illness or event is unforeseen and beyond the student’s control, such as personal circumstance or emergent cultural obligation g. summons/subpoena to appear in court or close family member’s death/funeral
• An adverse effect must be demonstrated
• The situation cannot be of the student’s own choosing or that of their parents/carers, such as a family holiday
• An illness and misadventure application cannot be made for the same condition or circumstances for which QCAA-approved AARA have been previously approved, unless it can be demonstrated that a significant deterioration or complication of the condition occurred that diminished the student’s performance in external

The College follows the processes as outlined in the QCE and QCIA policy and procedures handbook available from the QCAA website.

The College Principal or Deputy Principal for Curriculum manages all approval of AARA for students.

All AARA applications must be accompanied by the relevant supporting documentation and made as far in advance as possible to meet the QCAA published timelines. All evidence used to make decisions is recorded in the student’s file by the Principal or Deputy Principal. The internal ‘AARA/Illness & Misadventure’ form is at the end of this document and is also located both at student reception and our website.

Students are not eligible for AARA on the following grounds:

• unfamiliarity with the English language
• teacher absence or other teacher-related issues
• matters that the student could have avoided (e.g. technical difficulties, work left at home or absences without a medical certificate)
• matters of the student’s or parent’s/carer’s own choosing
• matters that the school could have

Students should refer to Appendix 1.0, ‘Assessment submission workflow’, for details on how and when they are eligible to access AARA and approved extensions.

4.1 Applications for extensions to due dates for illness and misadventure

4.1.1 Foreseen absences

All applications are expected as soon as possible as the assessment must be submitted or conducted on or before the due date.

4.1.2 Unforeseen absences

Students absent on the day of a scheduled assessment must contact the college by 8:30am. Depending upon the type of assessment, students should still endeavour to submit the assessment on the due date. These can be delivered to the subject teacher or Academic Leader by a family member/friend or an electronic copy emailed directly to the subject teacher.

For all absences

Students and parents/carers must contact the College as soon as possible and submit the relevant supporting documentation firstly to their subject teacher and then to:

• Year 10 – Academic Leader
• Years 11-12 – Academic Leader and then to Deputy Principal.

A medical certificate and/or all supporting documentation MUST be submitted as soon as possible to the college for all applications.

In accordance with Principal-Approved AARA, students absent for an internal exam will need to sit a different, but comparable exam if an extension has been granted.

A ‘Special Considerations form’ can be found on the College's website:

https://www.gilroysm.catholic.edu.au/students/assessment-extension-forms/

4.2 Managing school-approved absences

Students may engage in a range of learning experiences or activities that exist outside traditional school-based activities. These activities do not meet the requirements for AARA or illness and misadventure applications and may coincide with schedule assessment periods. Where appropriate, schools may approve student engagement in these experiences. If approved the school will:

• Support student access to teaching and learning that will allow students to successfully meet assessment requirements
• Maintain equitable assessment processes
• Meet QCAA quality assurance

Situations that are of the student’s or parent/carer’s own choosing (e.g. family holidays) are not eligible for consideration.

Examples of school-approved absences may include:

• School excursions that cannot be scheduled at another time g. performances being viewed as part of the assessment program
• School, district, regional, state or national representation for school-support sport or artistic endeavors
• Audition or entrance exams (state, interstate or international).

This list of examples is not exhaustive. If students and parents/carers would like to discuss alternate school-approved absences, they are required to contact the College Principal or Assistant Principal for Curriculum.

• Actions applied if school-approved absence is granted
  • For examinations – the College will offer a comparable examination before the due date
  • For non-examinations – students are required to submit/present the assessment on or before the due date

4.2.1 Actions applied if school-approved absence is granted

• For examinations – the College will offer a comparable examination before the due date
• For non-examinations – students are required to submit/present the assessment on or before the due date

4.3 Managing non-submission of assessment by the due date of QCAA accredited subjects

*Section 6 The checkpoints on the instrument-specific task sheets provide details of the evidence that will be collected. In circumstances where a student is enrolled in a subject but does not submit a final response to an assessment (other than unseen examinations) and where there is evidence of student work, the teacher will:

• Make judgements about any work provided by the student for the purposes of authentication during the assessment preparation period. Use of work other than a fully completed original assessment is likely to achieve a lower

Work may include:

• using draft work that has been submitted
• using class work or work in the student’s notebook or laptop relevant to the assessment task
• using teacher observations of student work where appropriate

• If there is no evidence of the student’s original work to make a judgement, the student will not receive credit for the assessment (NR: not rated). In senior subjects, this may result in loss of credit for the entire unit (for Units 1 and 2) and all of year 12 (as Units 3 and 4 are combined), which may place the student at risk of not achieving a

Gilroy Santa Maria College is committed to reducing barriers to success for all students. AARA are actions taken by the school to minimise, as much as possible, barriers for a student whose disability, impairment, medical condition or other circumstances may affect their ability to read, respond to or participate in assessment.

Students with special educational requirements will be able to apply for Access Arrangements and Reasonable Adjustments (AARA) for them to demonstrate their learning on the same basis as other students. Specifically, this describes students with identified special educational needs, where their condition/illness/disability/difficulty significantly affects their access to assessment, both written and/or practical (including school examinations).

Procedures will be undertaken for gathering evidence, making applications and enacting of access arrangements and reasonable adjustments. This will involve consultations between the student, their parents/carers and the Gilroy Inclusive Education Department so there is sufficient evidence of the condition/illness/disability/difficulty available to make appropriate arrangements and/or adjustments.

Early consultation with the Inclusive Education Coordinator and the provision of documentation to the school will be required by parents/carers in order to allow for the College to make reasonable adjustments to all stages of the student's learning.

For VET qualifications, reasonable adjustments will be provided for students with special educational needs (such as disability, medical condition or a learning difficulty) according to the nature of the learning need and the requirements of the relevant Training Package.

If a parent/carer needs to discuss the implementation of specific reasonable adjustments or if the current support needs to be reviewed due to the changing nature of the learning difficulty, please contact the Inclusive Education coordinator directly. If a parent/carer is concerned that a student has not received the discussed appropriate support, then it is most effective to make direct contact with the classroom teacher.

Students eligible for a QCIA pathway should have a history of completing an individual learning program throughout their secondary schooling. Discussions about a QCIA learning pathway must begin with the Inclusive Education Coordinator before a student starts senior secondary schooling, as part of the SET Plan process. A collaborative approach involving school staff, parents/carers and the student is needed to determine whether a QCIA pathway is in the student’s best interest.

5.1 Making Decisions about AARA

Approving AARA for internal assessment will be determined by;

• considering the limitations and restrictions and functional impact of the disability, impairment, medical condition
• considering other circumstances and the specific types of adjustments that allow each student to access the assessment and/or demonstrate what they know or can do. 

The decisions about adjustments may not be the same for every student or the same for each student for every assessment.

Table 5:1    The decisions may involve an adjustment to (but is not limited to):

A partnership between schools and QCAA underpins the quality management system for internal assessment.

Gilroy Santa Maria College’s quality management system ensures valid, accessible and reliable assessment of student achievement. This includes:

• All student results for General, General (Extension), Applied subjects and Short courses are stored in an internal, central and secured
• There is quality assurance of all assessment instruments before they are administered to students using quality assurance tools provided by the
  • All students in years 11 and 12 will complete a total of four (4) Units per Units 1 and 2 will be formative, whilst Units 3 and 4 will be summative (excluding VET).
  • VET assessment instruments are internally audited annually by both the College and industry representatives as well as being externally audited as determined by the QCAA as ambassadors for the

6.1 Endorsement

Endorsement gives the College confidence that our assessment instruments provide valid opportunities for students to demonstrate what they know and can do. All year 12 General and General (Extension) student assessment has been endorsed (approved) by the QCAA prior to distribution to students.

6.2 Confirmation

• The College will submit all requested internal General and General (Extension) senior provisional marks to QCAA for
• The confirmation process reviews a selected sample of student responses to summative internal assessment instruments to check that the application of the instrument-specific marking guide (ISMG) is accurate and
• Confirmed results from the internal assessments are combined with the result from the external assessment, which is developed and marked by the QCAA, to produce the overall subject
• All marks for summative internal assessment for General and General (Extension) subjects are provisional until they are confirmed by the

• Student results will firstly be communicated to schools before becoming available to students in their student learning account and on the compass
• Confirmation by QCAA is the final decision of the student’s

6.3 Review

* Section 11

Gilroy Santa Maria College’s internal review processes for student results (including NR) for all General subjects (Units 1 and 2), Applied subjects, and Short Courses is equitable and appropriate for the local context.

Gilroy Santa Maria College and the QCAA advises students to attend every external assessment. However, both parties do not expect students to attend an external assessment against specific written medical advice. When students are in doubt about attendance to complete an external assessment, they should contact the Assistant Principal for Curriculum.

7.1 External assessment is developed by the QCAA for all General and General (Extension) subjects

*Section 7 *Section 10 See the QCE and QCIA policy and procedures handbook using the links just above to follow the External assessment — administration guide for processes, roles and responsibilities of the school external assessment (SEA) coordinator, teachers and students. The QCAA will notify the school of individual students’ rescheduled arrangements.

7.2 Scheduling External Assessment

*Section 10

External assessment occurs in Term 4. The specific dates for external assessment are determined by the QCAA and made available on the QCAA website at the beginning of each year.

If a student has a timetable clash – that is, more than one assessment timetabled in the same session – the QCAA will resolve the clash. The student is required to report this clash to the Assistant Principal for Curriculum immediately.

Although students are expected to sit external assessments at the College, there may be special circumstances which require the student to apply for a variation to the venue. This may affect individual students who are geographically isolated or representing a country or state for an official duty in sporting, academic, military or cultural events. Events such as family holidays, birthdays and weddings are not considered valid grounds for applying for an alternative assessment venue. Where a student is unable to sit their exam at the College, they must contact the Assistant Principal for Curriculum.

7.3 Illness during external assessment

*Section 6

A student who is ill but able to attend the external assessment should inform the external assessment supervisor of their illness as soon as practical. This may be before, during or immediately after the external assessment session.

7.4 Submitting an application for illness and misadventure for external assessment

*Section 6

Students must attend all components of the examination to receive a result in a Senior External Examination. If a student is absent from either the written or oral component of a language examination, no result is issued.

• No alternative arrangements can be made if a student does not attend a scheduled
• A student who cannot attend the oral component of a language examination must notify the QCAA as soon as practical via the school. Reasons for non-attendance may include illness or misadventure. A telephone examination for the oral component only may be arranged in extenuating
• The QCAA will seek background information and a recommendation from the Principal or Assistant Principal for Curriculum, observers and invigilators where relevant, to verify a student’s application for illness and

7.5 Supporting documentation

 *Section 6

To make an informed decision about an illness and misadventure application, the QCAA requires a report that includes the following details:

• the illness, condition or event (including details of a diagnosis, where applicable)
• date of diagnosis, onset or occurrence
• symptoms, treatment or course of action related to the condition or event
• explanation of the probable effect of the illness, condition or event on the student’s participation in the assessment
• for non-medical claims, written evidence from a relevant independent professional or other independent third party, such as a police

7.5.1 Currency of supporting documentation

Supporting documentation must cover the date of the assessment for which the application is made.

7.5.2 Timelines for applications

Applications for external assessment can be submitted from 14 days before the start of the assessment period, to 7 days after the assessment but should be submitted as close to the assessment event as possible.

Year 11 and 12 reporting will comply with QCAA requirements, syllabus guidelines and college work programs. Year 10 student reporting will comply with the Australian Curriculum, College work programs and the Townsville Catholic Education Office ‘Guidelines for student academic reporting, P-10’ document. Students will be kept informed of their progress throughout enrolment in a course. Parents will be notified when a task is not submitted, submitted late or when the student performs below a satisfactory level on a task. This contact can be via email, phone call or letter. Results are also recorded in students’ diaries.

8.1 Results and Certificates

 *Section 1 *Section 11

• Year 10 reporting will be conducted in accordance with the Australian Curriculum, A-E standards
• Year 11 & 12 General subjects, the final subject result is expressed as a numerical value and an A-E grade. In Applied subjects, only A-E grades are If there is insufficient evidence to award a result, students will receive an NR (Not Rated).
• All Applied subjects will be provided with exit standards (A-E).
• All VET subjects will be reported using progressing, non-progressing, completed and not completed descriptors (P, NP, C, NC).

Students become eligible for a QCE when they have accrued the set amount of learning, at the set standard, in a set pattern, while meeting literacy and numeracy requirements.

For students seeking to continue their studies after school, their final results from a combination of five General subjects, or four General subjects and one Applied subject or Certificate III or higher vocational qualification are used by QTAC to calculate an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) for tertiary selection purposes.

8.2 Reporting periods

*Section 11.2

Reporting occurs throughout the school year and is an important link between the assessment completed and feedback given to students/parents/carers on student progress. This judgement is determined against a set of clearly articulated standards. Student achievement is recognised and celebrated in many ways throughout the school year:

• interim reports
• parent/student/teacher interviews
• formal semester reports
• informal meetings
• Awards Night
• through a student

8.3 Additional school reporting responsibilities

*Section 5 *Section 8

Year 10 Reporting: Reports written for students on an Independent Educational Program (IEP) are reported in accordance with Townsville Catholic Education Office guidelines.

11-12 Reporting:

• Results awarded by the school for internal assessment are provisional and not finalised until confirmed by
• Results for Applied and Applied (Essential) subjects and Short Courses may be subject to advice from the QCAA quality assurance
• VET: Gilroy Santa Maria College is a RTO and therefore, will issue all VET Certificates and Statements of Attainment for courses completed by our RTO in accordance with QCAA directive. The College also records this information in students’ QCAA learning

Reporting via Learning Tasks on Compass for all General and Applied subjects:

• All year 11 and 12 students undertaking Applied and General subjects (including Year 10 RE) now have learning tasks for reporting. This is how reporting will be conducted for these subjects going forward so that it is done in a more timely and ongoing manner. 
• Teachers are required to return marked assessment within 2 weeks from the assessment due date.  
• Teachers have 1 week from when assessment is returned to students for results to be uploaded to compass learning tasks (which will be released by the relevant Academic Leader).
• ‘How to’ guide for students/parents & carers on how to access learning tasks via compass

8.4 Retaining student work

When a student transfers to another school, the original school in which the student was enrolled must retain the student’s responses until required.

8.4.1 VET record retention

Gilroy Santa Maria College will:

• maintain registers of all statements of attainment issued
• retain records of statements of attainment issued for a period of 30 years
• provide the QCAA with reports of its records of statements of attainment

Additional copies of a student’s VET certificate/s will incur a fee. Please contact the College.

8.5 Review of marks and grades

*Section 5 *Section 11

If a student considers that there is an issue about the delivery of the course, the marking of one or more assessment tasks or the grade assigned for a subject, mark and/or grade of a unit or a pair of units they should, in the first instance, discuss the issue with the teacher. If an assessment issue cannot be resolved through discussion with the teacher, then the teacher will review and discuss the student’s concern with their relevant Academic Leader. If a resolution cannot be found, then consultation with the Deputy Principal will occur.

The student or their parent/carer can request, in writing, that the school conduct a formal assessment review, if they consider that the student has been disadvantaged by any of the following:

• the assessment outline does not meet the Australian Curriculum or syllabus requirements
• the assessment procedures used do not conform with this document
• procedural errors have occurred in the determination of the course mark and/or grade
• computational errors have occurred in the determination of the course

This written request should be submitted to the Principal or Assistant Principal for Curriculum, who will initiate a formal review. The reviewer(s) will meet with the student and the teacher independently and prepare a written report. This report will be provided to the student and their parent/carer. If the review upholds a student appeal the school will make any required adjustments to the student’s mark and/or grade and where required, the mark and/or grade of other students and re-issue reports and/or the statement of achievement as necessary.

VET Appeals

Gilroy Santa Maria College’s Registered Training Organisation (RTO) has an appeals policy to manage requests for a review of decisions, including assessment decisions, made by the RTO or a third-party providing services on the RTO’s behalf. If a student wishes to appeal a decision they should, in the first instance, raise the issue with their teacher. If the appeal is not resolved during discussions with the teacher, the student should arrange a meeting with the VET Coordinator to discuss their appeal.

If the student is not satisfied with the outcome of this meeting, they can lodge a formal appeal in writing to the Principal or Assistant Principal for Curriculum stating the reasons for their appeal. If an external RTO has been utilised, then the college will contact them to discuss the appeal. The relevant RTO will follow their guidelines and appeals policy to address the issue in a timely manner and inform the college and/or student of the outcome.

The workflow diagram below will be used below to determine due date AARA) and school-approved extensions.