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WACE Year 12 ATAR · Western Australia

English as an Additional Language or Dialect Scaling WACE 2026: Does It Scale Up or Down?

TISC scales every WACE subject before an ATAR is calculated. The TISC scaling report is the authority on what this subject did.

Does WACE English as an Additional Language or Dialect scale up or down?

TISC scales every WACE subject before an ATAR is calculated.

TISC does not publish a per-subject raw-to-scaled conversion for this course in a form we can quote exactly, so there is no figure on this page — the direction above is sourced from the TISC scaling report linked below, and should be read as directional rather than numeric.

You can't change the scaling. You can change the raw mark.

Scaling is decided by your cohort, after the exam, and nothing you do moves it. The raw mark is the only part of this you control — and the English as an Additional Language or Dialect hub is 20 full-length model exams with mark-by-mark answer guides, revision notes, practice questions and flashcards, built for exactly that.

Preview English as an Additional Language or Dialect free →TISC ATAR calculator

The hub shows a sample revision note extract, one full exam question with its worked answer and the complete list of every exam and note title — no account needed to look around. Unlocking English as an Additional Language or Dialect for life is $20 once, or $50 for any three subjects. See what's included →

What English as an Additional Language or Dialect actually asks of you

Units 3 and 4 are assessed through school-based tasks (Investigation 15%, Common oral assessment task 10%, Oral production 10%, Written examination 30%, Response 15%, Written production 20% of the school mark) and one ATAR course written examination (10 minutes reading time, 3 hours working time) that is combined with the moderated school mark. The examination has four parts weighted 25/25/20/30 of the written examination whatever the raw marks: Section One - Listening (two aural texts, each played twice, short-answer questions including 1-2 multiple-choice; 35 minutes suggested; 31 marks on the 2026 cover), Section Two - Reading and viewing (two prose texts and one visual text, short-answer questions and one extended synthesis; 55 minutes; 24 marks), Section Three Part A - Speech (one of two questions, one from each unit; 35 minutes; 24 marks) and Section Three Part B - Essay (one of two questions, each requiring two studied texts; 55 minutes; 25 marks). Raw section marks change every year (2023 115 raw marks, 2024 113, 2025 107, 2026 cover 104). You may bring one print English language dictionary or English learning dictionary with no notes in it; bilingual and electronic dictionaries are not allowed.

The English as an Additional Language or Dialect exam is Friday 30 October 2026, 2.00 pm (3 hours working time (10 minutes reading time)). Source: WACE timetable.

The 7 areas of study you are examined on

From the English as an Additional Language or Dialect ATAR Course Year 12 Syllabus (for teaching from 2024).

  • Listening (Section One)
    Two aural texts on Unit 3 or Unit 4 themes - conversations, lectures, narratives, interviews, explanations or news broadcasts, with different voices and accents - each played twice. Questions follow the order of information in the text and range from one-mark multiple choice and 'state' items to 2-3 mark outline/explain items and tables. You may take notes at any time; notes are not marked.
    In the exam: 2025 used a lecture on changing Australian childhoods and an interview about a community mending group; 2024 an interview on community refugee sponsorship and a speech on the environmental cost of AI (with two 6-mark tables); 2023 a radio interview with a chef about heritage and a speech about a refugee swimming program.
    Where marks go missing: Writing everything you heard. The 2024 report warns that extra elaboration or several guesses can cost the marks for the correct part; the 2025 report says many candidates answered only one component of multi-part questions. Count the marks, use the question's verb and give exactly that many precise points.
  • Reading and viewing (Section Two)
    Two prose texts and one visual text on a shared theme. Short-answer questions draw only on the text named; then a 15-mark synthesis (2023-2025) asks for three main ideas common to the texts, in your own words, with your own knowledge and/or experience and reference to all three texts.
    In the exam: Themes: bilingual education (2025), teaching Indigenous languages (2024), ageing and ageism (2023). Short items included fact or opinion, finding quotations for a perspective, why an expert's quotes persuade and findings from a graph.
    Where marks go missing: Summarising each text in turn instead of synthesising ideas across texts (2025 report), repeating a text's opinion as 'own experience', and writing a full introduction and conclusion that earn nothing (2024 report).
  • Extended writing: speech (Section Three Part A)
    One speech from two questions, one tied to each unit, written for the audience and purpose in the prompt. Marked on how fully it addresses the key terms with support, control of speech conventions, grammar and punctuation, register, vocabulary and spelling. Studied texts are not required.
    In the exam: 2025: listening to First Nations stories, or keeping a first language after migration. 2024: the changing role of social media, or advice on culture shock. 2023: what it means to be Australian, or persuading politicians to hear young people.
    Where marks go missing: Writing an essay with 'Good morning' added (2024 report), giving a memorised speech on another topic, and spending too long on the speech, which is worth less than the essay (2023 report).
  • Extended writing: essay (Section Three Part B)
    One essay from two questions (one per unit), each requiring reference to two texts studied in the course. Marked on addressing the key terms with evidence from both texts (9), essay conventions - thesis, topic and tieback sentences, cohesive devices (6) - grammar and punctuation (5), vocabulary (3) and spelling (2).
    In the exam: 2025: representations of multiculturalism, or how texts changed your attitude to a contemporary issue. 2024: texts that inspired connection with cultural heritage, or why students should read diverse texts. 2023: benefits of a multicultural life, or how language influences and persuades.
    Where marks go missing: Prepared essays that ignore the question, plot retell, and 'firstly, secondly, thirdly' structures; the 2024 report says mentioning key words only in topic sentences capped the content criterion at 5 of 9.
  • Language skills (the Language table)
    The syllabus makes its Language table examinable: grammatical structures (modality, nominalisation, voice, conjunctions, reported speech), punctuation, vocabulary (collocations, idioms, register) and spelling. These are scored directly in the speech and essay keys.
    In the exam: Grammar and punctuation is 5 marks, vocabulary 3 and spelling 2 in both 2025 extended-writing keys, with register 2 in the speech.
    Where marks go missing: Errors creeping in towards the end of long answers (2025 report). Leave the proofing minutes the paper suggests.
  • Unit 3: Australia as a cultural community
    Contexts: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples; migration; identity; commonality and difference; Australia's place in the global community - explored through cultural schemas and how culture shapes the way people see the world.
    In the exam: Supplies one speech and one essay question every year and many listening and reading themes (refugee settlement, multiculturalism, First Nations stories).
    Where marks go missing: Writing about multiculturalism in another country when the question is about Australia (2023 report).
  • Unit 4: Language and empowerment
    Suggested contexts: the power of language; language and culture; contemporary issues; challenges such as language loss and culture shock - how language can privilege or marginalise people and how persuasive devices create power relationships.
    In the exam: Supplies one speech and one essay question every year (e.g. how language persuades, social media, contemporary issues) and themes such as language maintenance and Indigenous languages.
    Where marks go missing: Writing a general 'language and empowerment' essay that does not answer the actual question (2023 report).

Full English as an Additional Language or Dialect study-design guide →

How scaling works in Western Australia

In Western Australia, the SCSA moderates your school mark against the examination results, averages the moderated school mark and the examination mark 50/50 into a combined mark (a course with a practical examination combines each component 50/50 and weights the two as its syllabus states), and standardises it. TISC and the SCSA then scale every course at once with TISC's Average Marks Scaling: each course's mean scaled score is set to the mean its own students achieved across all their courses, so after scaling the mean of all scaled scores is 60 and a course mean above 60 has been scaled up. Your Tertiary Entrance Aggregate is your best four scaled scores plus 10 per cent of your Mathematics Methods, Mathematics Specialist and highest LOTE scaled scores, whether or not those courses are in your best four, to a maximum of 430; the ATAR is your rank on that aggregate against the whole Year 12 school-leaving-age population. Scaling is redone every year from that year's cohort, so a published scaled mean describes one past cohort and is never a guarantee.

What scaling is not

Scaling is not a difficulty rating and it is not a bonus. It compares how the students in one subject performed across every other subject they took, so a subject moves because of its cohort, not because of the paper. The consequence is practical: you cannot scale your way out of a weak result. The only lever you control is the raw mark, and the fastest way to move that is full-length timed practice against the real exam format.

WACE English as an Additional Language or Dialect practice examsTISC ATAR calculator

Questions

Does WACE English as an Additional Language or Dialect scale up or down?

TISC scales every WACE subject before any ATAR is calculated. We do not publish a figure for this subject; the TISC scaling report is the authority.

How does subject scaling work in Western Australia?

In Western Australia, the SCSA moderates your school mark against the examination results, averages the moderated school mark and the examination mark 50/50 into a combined mark (a course with a practical examination combines each component 50/50 and weights the two as its syllabus states), and standardises it. TISC and the SCSA then scale every course at once with TISC's Average Marks Scaling: each course's mean scaled score is set to the mean its own students achieved across all their courses, so after scaling the mean of all scaled scores is 60 and a course mean above 60 has been scaled up. Your Tertiary Entrance Aggregate is your best four scaled scores plus 10 per cent of your Mathematics Methods, Mathematics Specialist and highest LOTE scaled scores, whether or not those courses are in your best four, to a maximum of 430; the ATAR is your rank on that aggregate against the whole Year 12 school-leaving-age population. Scaling is redone every year from that year's cohort, so a published scaled mean describes one past cohort and is never a guarantee.

Should I choose English as an Additional Language or Dialect because of how it scales?

Scaling adjusts a whole cohort, not one student, so choosing a subject you will struggle in because it scales up is usually a worse trade than doing well in one that scales down. Check the prerequisites for the course you want first, then your interest and workload, and treat scaling as a tie-breaker. Scaling is also recalculated every year, so the figures in any report describe a past cohort rather than the year you are sitting.

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