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Advanced Certificate of Education
The Advanced Certificate of Education is a compulsory qualification for all children studying in New England. The certificate is usually taken by children by students as part of their sixth form studies at around the age of seventeen or eighteen. The ACoE is heavily based on the A-level qualifications in the United Kingdom, although influences from the pre-independence Higher School Certificate can be seen in the qualification as well.
The ACoE was introduced in 2014 to replace the existing New South Wales education system, which consisted of the Higher School Certificate. The students reaching sixth form in 2015 the first to be examined in the new system, with old qualification phased out over two years. Completion of the ACoE has been compusory since 2023, and the number of students completing their studies has been at around 98% since that time. Of students completing their ACoE, around 86% recieve a graded mark of 40% or above.
- Grading
- English
- Mathematics
- Science
- Geography & History
- Foreign Languages
- Economics, Business & Law
- Drama, Music and Visual Arts
Grading
The ACoE is graded from A to E, with the vast majority students recieving one of these graded scores. The grading tends to follow a bell curve, where a proportion of candidates will achieve certain grades. In recent years, this has been as follows:
| ACoE Grades | ||
|---|---|---|
| Grade | Score | Percentage |
| A | 80.00% - 100.00% | 10% |
| B | 70.00% - 79.99% | 15% |
| C | 60.00% - 69.99% | 20% |
| D | 50.00% - 59.99% | 15% |
| E | 40.00% - 49.99% | 10% |
There also exist two lower grades, with a conditional pass (CP) and scores of 39.99% or less recieving an ungraded (U) rank. Conditional passes are given to students unable to complete their studies owing to exceptional circumstances such as a medical condition or bereavement. In many cases, students opt to reattempt the subject in a special examination held before easter the following year (a system also known as seventh form).
Ungraded ranks are given to those students who score a mark of 39.99% or less. Currently, 11% of students recieve an ungraded mark in one subject, with 5% recieving an ungraded mark in two or more subjects. The number of students recieving ungraded marks is a highly political subject, with the last election seeing an emphasis on education.
English
English is compulsory for all students. Along with mathematics, english is the only subject that can be studied at an "extended" level by those students deemed to be exceptionally talented in the subject. All levels have a practical element, and aim to instill a love of literature and the English langauge in general. Students are not taught ideological persepedctives or intreprtations of subject matter, a fact that caused a large amount of friction in the days before independence.
General English - The most practical level of English, students studying at the General level are taught the most fundemental skills required for communicating in society. The cirricullum of General English focuses on students being able to write with good spelling and grammar, with an emphasis placed on teaching students basic business and legal terms to help them in their adult lives. There is viurtually no teaching of literature, with teaching material focused on newspapers and magazines in order to give the students a grounding in the day-to-day language of New England.
Intermediate English - Like General students, those studying Intermediate English are given a highly practical syllabus to ensure they have the skills to cope in adult life. However, students here are also given a number of works to comprehend, including some poetry.
Advanced English - The higher a stuydent studies, the more sophistated the works become. Advanced students are given a wider range of works to study, and are exposed more to poetry. At the advanced level, there is less emphasis on the practical as most students at this level have a good command of writing
Extended English - Around 5% students are invited to attempt Extended English by their schools at the beginning of sixth form.
Mathematics
Maths is compulsory for all students.
General Mathematics -
Intermediate Mathematics -
Advanced Mathematics -
Extended Mathematics -
Science
Science is not a compulsory subject, but it is still studied by 80% of students attempting the ACoE every year.
General Science -
Biology -
Chemistry -
Geology -
Physics -
Geography & History
Geography -
Ancient & Medieval History - All history before 1485
Modern History - Study of history since 1485
Foreign Languages
Langauges other than English are offered as part of study in the ACoE. Unlike the lower forms, where foreign language study is compulsory, study at this level is an optional course that any student may chose to undertake. All languages are offered at General, Intermediate and Advanced levels.
- Arabic
- Chinese
- French
- German
- Hindi
- Indonesian
- Italian
- Japanese
- Korean
- Maori
- Modern Greek
- Russian
- Spanish
- Turkish
Three ancient languages are also offered for classical study and theology courses that students may go on to study at the University. These units are Greek, Hebrew and Latin.
