Could a ‘Learner Profile’ Replace the ATAR? Maybe!

The profile wouldn't be solely focused on academic achievement.

The coronavirus pandemic has caused significant disruption to the school year, with students across Australia forced to study from home and learn virtually. 

It has been particularly stressful for Year 12s, who are preparing to sit their ATAR exams. In fact, at one point we weren't even sure if exams would go ahead in 2020. 

With these disruptions in mind, it's only natural that people have started to question whether ATAR is the best reflection of a student's achievements.

But what could we actually replace the ATAR ranking system with? 

Here come the calls for a 'Learner Profile'.

As reported by The Age, a federally commissioned report titled "Looking to the Future" wants students to focus on building a "learner profile" instead of worrying about their ATAR ranking.

The proposed learner profile would reflect the skills and knowledge they have acquired throughout their 13 years of education. As well as academic results, the portfolio would also include extracurricular achievements like work, sport and volunteering. 

This extracurricular experience would reflect skills such as collaboration and problem solving.

It'd be presented like a digital education passport, which students could keep adding their new experience and qualifications to. 

This isn't the first time that a report has advocated for a learner profile. In October 2019, there were also calls to replace ATAR with a learner profile. 

Among the many recommendations in this transformational report is the introduction of a #learnerprofile which we floated in our #beyondATAR report. Read the full Education Council report here: https://t.co/wMeP5bSPLi

— ALL_learnAU (@ALL_learnAU) July 23, 2020

Why would a learner profile be better?

That's an excellent question.

Well, a review of pathways from high school to work released by federal Education Minister Dan Tehan has revealed that schools need to strengthen their career advice so students fully understand their options after senior school.

The review's chairman, Peter Shergold, told The Age that students often chose easier or unsuitable subjects to inflate their ATAR, adding that while the ATAR shouldn't be scrapped completely, a learner profile would help students focus on developing skills like leadership, collaboration and problem-solving through other activities (like netball). 

ATAR is trending idk why but as a year 12 student graduating this year, i hope to god our ATAR results aren't as important as previous years. Covid has made this year incredibly difficult, I hope some unis dont require ATAR for entry

— ♱ Biohazard ♱ (@cosplaymusichoe) July 24, 2020

Of course, it's important to note that the learner profile is only a proposed change at this stage. 

Due to COVID-19, some universities have announced they'll allow graduating Year 12 students entry to bachelors degrees without an ATAR. Others are allowing students to apply with their predicted ATAR from Year 11.

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