What is the project?

The SACE Board’s Capabilities & Learner Profile project introduces the recognition of capabilities alongside academic achievement (grades) to provide a more holistic view of students’ achievements. We are making positive progress on a five-year journey to develop, fairly and formally recognise, and certify young people’s capabilities. 

This project is central to the SACE Board’s commitment to enable all students to thrive through provision of a future-focused, and internationally sought-after qualification. 

The Learner Profile will provide a demonstration of students' capabilities that showcases their achievements following 13 years of schooling and enable them to make better decisions about their post-school pathways that match with potential employers and further education providers. 

Pilot 1

During 2022, 23 SACE Change Network schools partnered with us to undertake a pilot to recognise students’ capabilities and to demonstrate this in a Learner Profile.  

Pilot 1 worked with teachers, school leaders, SATAC, TAFE, universities, business, and industry to test how the education system could work together to recognise and celebrate a 360-degree view of student achievement. The project also looked to explore how capability data could support students to make better decisions about their future pathways, and how further education and employers might use this data to better match students to their organisations. 

Over 200 pilot students received capability assessment data in the form of a Learner Profile visualisation at the end of 2022. To support the confidence, consistency, and reliability of this data the pilot schools worked with the SACE Board through a series of quality assurance activities including:  

• developing teacher assessment practice 

• making assessments of capability evidence presented by students 

• benchmarking teachers’ assessment decisions to support making reliable judgements 

• supporting within-school and across-school consistency and comparability. 

Evaluation

An evaluation of pilot 1 validated the direction we are taking in developing, recognising and  certifying student capabilities. The pilot highlighted a number of areas to focus on for the future. Stories from the pilot  share highlights from schools. Our pilot 1 evaluation infographic [PDF 1.6MB] and extended evaluation [PPTX 7.7MB] provide broader insights.

Pilot 2

Our second pilot commenced in term 2 2023, with 42 schools and approximately 1,000 students. During this pilot we are focused on hearing from students to better understand their perspective of the benefits and associated challenges. Through a series of focus group sessions, we asked students about:

• the value of recognising capabilities alongside subject achievement
• opportunities to showcase their capabilities
• support systems they need
• considerations of student wellbeing

Some of the encouraging responses from the students include:

“It accurately shows who you are as a person compared to what subject you chose”.

“It means that students are not just defined as a number and that learning is able to be appreciated as something beyond the classroom, and not just as a transferring of information”.

“It allows for the work I do out of school to be acknowledged and valued”.

Students also looked for assurance that their efforts in developing capabilities will be valued by universities, industries, and employers. The SACE Board has been working with these systems as part of the pilot to ensure that a learner profile will be valued in offering students post-school opportunities.

Our work with teachers during pilot 2 is focused on the assessment and recording of capabilities with access to online tools.

We are excited to continue our work in partnership with SACE Change Network schools to navigate curriculum innovation. Working in partnership, we celebrate the unique capabilities of individual students and work towards a way to demonstrate these to others.

What’s next?

Following pilot 2, learnings and insights will be shared with all schools and inform further development and next steps.