Redesigning the secondary–tertiary interface - Extract: Recommendations and major features of proposed redesign - 2nd edition

Sep 5, 2026

Uploaded by Bintang

A review examines the need to redesign Queensland senior secondary assessment and tertiary entrance, arguing that the current OP system no longer meets future requirements. The report preserves existing strengths, especially classroom teachers’ judgments, while identifying shortcomings in translating OP theory into practice, inequities in ranking, limited discrimination for high-demand courses, and reduced transparency. Proposed changes discontinue OP-related calculations and the QCS Test, replacing them with subject results reported on a finer scale for university selection decisions.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages26

Reading Time1 h 6 min

AccessFree to download

Recommendations and major features of proposed redesign

Recommendations

The current OP system

Recommendation 1

Redesigning the secondary–tertiary interface Queensland Review of Senior Assessment and Tertiary Entrance Extract: Recommendations and major features of proposed design Report submitted to the Queensland Minister for Education, Training and Employment By the reviewers Gabrielle Matters and Geoff N Masters Australian Council for Educational Research October 2014 Second Edition Cover image: Kite Flying Ian Fairweather, 1958 Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane Synthetic polymer paint and gouache on four sheets of cardboard on hardboard, 194 x 129.4 cm. The graphic used in this report is by Ian Fairweather (1891–1974), considered a giant among Australian painters and revered by fellow artists. Fairweather lived for twenty years in a hut on Bribie Island, Queensland, where this artwork was created. A Scottish-born artist, Fairweather’s work is shaped by European modernism. He was also drawn to Asia, living in Shanghai and Peking in the 1930s, and along with his study of Chinese writing, developed a distinctive linear style. Kite Flying was chosen as a graphic for the Queensland Review of Senior Assessment and Tertiary Entrance. This work represents a modern piece steeped in history, distinctive in design and earthy colour tones, and by a renowned local artist with a global perspective. It is an abstract artwork capturing the free-flowing adventures and childhood associations of flying a kite, which calls us to focus on the young adults, those in their final years of schooling, who experience senior assessment and seek entry to tertiary institutions now and into the future. © Ian Fairweather/DACS. Licensed by Viscopy, 2014. Extract Recommendations and major features of proposed redesign Recommendations A general conclusion of this Review is that senior secondary assessment and tertiary entrance in Queensland are in need of attention. It is more than twenty years since the current OP system was designed, and the broad features of the senior assessment system have been in place even longer. Over the past two decades, assessment and tertiary entrance processes have been the subject of ongoing modifications. Although the current processes have served Queensland well, we believe that they will be less adequate in meeting future needs and that the time has come for a redesign. Any redesign must recognise and preserve strengths of the current arrangements. The challenge is to design senior assessment and tertiary selection processes appropriate to Queensland in the 21st Century, rather than attempt to reconstruct arrangements from the past or to adopt solutions from elsewhere. We include among the strengths of existing Queensland arrangements the use of classroom teachers’judgments of students’ performances and work, and believe that this aspect of the current system must be preserved as a significant element of future assessment arrangements. The following recommendations list major features of our proposed redesign. It has not been possible in a Review of this kind to develop detailed implementation plans to accompany these recommendations. We recognise that this more detailed work is essential and will need to be undertaken prior to implementation. We also recognise that our recommendations have resourcing implications. A higher level of investment will be required to build the 21st Century system we envisage. And beyond this, there are likely to be implications for capacity building within the responsible agencies: QCAA and QTAC. Extract: Recommendations and major features of proposed redesign 1 The current OP system It is clear to us that the current OP system no longer functions as originally envisaged and is reaching the end of its usefulness. Shortcomings identified by the Review include: • difficulties in translating the OP’s theoretical basis into practice, with almost 50% of Year 12 completers being considered for university entrance on the basis of criteria other than the OP,

FAQs

Why is a redesign of Queensland senior secondary assessment and tertiary entrance required?

The review concludes the current system needs attention because it is based on arrangements designed more than twenty years ago and no longer functions as originally envisaged.

What strengths does the report say must be preserved in any redesign?

It highlights the use of classroom teachers’ judgments of students’ performances and work as a significant element that should be preserved.

What key changes does Recommendation 1 propose for the OP system and the interface to university selection?

It proposes discontinuing the OP system and redesigning the interface, ending generation of SAIs, OAIs, OPs and FPs, discontinuing the QCS Test, and reporting Subject Results on a finer scale for university selection decisions.

Sep 5, 2026

Uploaded by Bintang