Tertiary Entrance Exam

The Tertiary Entrance Examination (TEE) was the standard academic examination for secondary students completing their twelfth year of schooling in Western Australia. The exam results were used to determine the Tertiary Entrance Rank and the Tertiary Entrance Score. These metrics were used to determine eligibility for entrance to the tertiary institutions in the state.

From 2010 onwards,^[1] WACE is now the umbrella term given to the set of final examinations that are completed by Year 12 students, replacing the TEE (Tertiary Entrance Exam). All previous TEE courses and corresponding examinations how now been converted to the new WACE curriculum, as well as the TER (Tertiary Entrance Rank) being replaced with the Australian national standard entrance score, the ATAR.

Tertiary Entrance Rank (TER)

The TER was normally derived from the Tertiary Entrance Score by a mathematical procedure approved by the Academic Board. A TER was also derived for applicants who have taken the normal university entrance qualification akin to the TEE in another state of Australia or in New Zealand or who have the International Baccalaureate Diploma. In these cases the TER was considered equivalent to the Western Australian TER.

It was a number between 99.95 and zero that reports a student's rank position relative to all other students.

The TER (Tertiary Entrance Rank) was replaced by an Australian national standard entrance score, the ATAR, in 2010.

Tertiary Entrance Score (TES)

The TES was a score out of 510 as of 2008 however it is now out of 400, calculated on the basis of a person's TEE exam results.

Previously, the TES was calculated by multiplying an applicant's best mean scaled score over four or five Tertiary Entrance subjects, with at least one subject from each of List 1 and List 2 contributing to the score, by 5.1. Prior to 1998, 500 marks came from the subjects as above, while the remaining 10 came from the Australian Scholastic Aptitude Test (ASAT) score. In 2006, the first of the Course of Studies (COS), Aviation was allowed as a TEE Subject and the first external exam was performed, although the average exam mark was an appalling 36%. In 2007, three other COS's will be externally examined upon for the first time; English COS (replacing English TEE Subject), Engineering Studies and Media, Production and Analysis. In 2008 the TES was calculated on an applicant's best four TEE subjects, abolishing the previous list 1/ list 2 approach, however all candidates still had to complete 2 units of TEE English or English literature.

The TEE and COS subjects are broken into 2 lists; List 1-Humanities and List 2-Quantitative. If a student wants to qualify for a TER, they must pick at least 4 subjects, with at least one subject from List One and at least one subject from List Two.

References

• University of Western Australia - Regulations for Admission and Transfer to Undergraduate Award Courses
• Curriculum Council information directory