In Queensland, senior secondary students will study for QCE (Queensland Certificate of Education) qualifications. These are internationally-recognised qualifications that students gain at the end of Year 12 after studying in Years 11 and 12 for them.
These are also the qualifications that the Australian Tertiary Entrance Rank (ATAR) system can use to rank students for university admissions. Students who completed Year 12 in 2019 or earlier may have an OP, but they can get their ATAR from the QCAA.
This wasn't the only change to education in Queensland for 2020 as the maths streams for QCE also changed.
Here, we'll quickly look at the old system for comparison before diving into what makes up the new QCE Maths streams, which option you should choose, and how you can get help with QCE Maths.
The Old QCE Maths System
Before 2020, QCE students would have studied Mathematics A, B, or C depending on their level and abilities. Maths A was the simplest of the three whereas Maths C was an option for further study if students were looking to go to university for maths-heavy subjects.
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Mathematics A
As the simplest of the three mathematics QCEs, Mathematics A focused predominantly on practical maths and its applications in the real world.
This qualification was mainly for students who didn't like maths, weren't planning on using abstract mathematical knowledge in the future or weren't able to study either of the other maths streams.
It combined maths with practical applications like money and included skills that would be useful in several different careers.
Mathematics B
Mathematics B included more abstract mathematical concepts and theories than Mathematics A like statistics, logarithms, integration, calculus, etc.
Students had the option to study it alongside Maths A or Maths C but they couldn't study all three maths streams.
Maths B was often a requirement for university courses in Queensland, especially for courses in subjects related to maths like science and engineering.
Mathematics C
Finally, Maths C took the topics taught in Maths B to a higher level with some pure maths.
Maths C was studied in addition to Maths B and wasn't necessarily more difficult; it was just more maths for students to tackle in the event they were planning on studying a lot of maths at university.
It should be noted that when the new maths QCE structure came into place, it wasn't designed to perfectly line up with the old Maths A, B, and C system.
The New Maths QCE System
In 2020, when the system was introduced for QCE maths, they included 3 main maths subjects that sort of lined up with the old system, but there's also Essential Mathematics, which doesn't necessarily equate to any of the previous maths subjects.
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The three main subjects are General Mathematics, Mathematical Methods, and Specialist Mathematics and while there is some equivalency between them and Maths A, B, and C respectively, there are also some key changes that make them different.
Essential Mathematics
Essential Mathematics is a foundational maths subject for students who wouldn't be able to do any of the other maths subjects or have no interest in maths in any way. However, even if the latter applies, it would still be worthwhile studying one of the other maths subjects if they can.
In Essential Maths, students will only really learn the maths that they need for everyday life and very little else. Maths is a very useful subject and maths teachers regularly mention this fact, but for some students, especially those with learning difficulties such as dyscalculia, for example, maths can be very challenging and not worth studying at any level higher than this.
The rationale behind this course is to teach students things they should know to be somewhat mathematically proficient in the real world by teaching them that and only that.
The Essential Maths syllabus will include topics like managing money, representing data, summarising and comparing data, loans and compound interest, and other mathematical concepts that are useful in our everyday lives.
Essential Maths is classified as an “applied” subject. Only one Applied subject can be used in your ATAR calculation. It should also be added that this stream doesn't involve any external assessment and students will be tested and assessed by their school.
General Mathematics
General Mathematics is another foundational maths stream with a lot of everyday applications for mathematics being taught as part of the syllabus.
While this is the most basic of the three main maths streams, it's actually more demanding and difficult than the old Maths A qualification.
The stream is designed for students either looking for tertiary studies, vocational education, or work straight out of school and like the following two mathematics streams, General Maths is subject to external assessment. 50% of the course is through external with the rest being formative and summative internal assessments.
Students will cover topics such as money, consumer arithmetic, trigonometry, data analysis, earth geometry, sequences and change, loans, investment, annuities, etc.
Like with all maths streams, you can find the full syllabus and further information on the QCAA website.
Mathematical Methods
Mathematical Methods is the maths stream that's supposed to be for the majority of students and is often a requirement for a lot of university courses. While some courses will also require Specialist Mathematics, Mathematical Methods could be considered the standard maths stream for students in Queensland.
Of course, every student is different and if Mathematical Methods isn't right for you, that's fine, but if you can, it's a good idea because it'll keep a lot of doors open for you in the future.
Any students interested in maths, engineering, science, medicine, IT, economics, business, or finance should probably make sure that they're studying Mathematical Methods.
Students at this level are assumed to have good foundational knowledge in mathematics and will study some of the more abstract concepts of maths. Whilst the previous two maths streams focused a lot on maths you can use every day, Mathematical Methods looks at some of the more advanced aspects of maths.
Students will be faced with algebra, statistics, functions, and calculus and 50% of their qualification will be through summative external assessment.
The expectation is that Mathematical Methods students will be able to recall, understand, use, and analyse the abstract maths concepts making up the syllabus, employ critical thinking in problem-solving and decision-making, and be able to effectively communicate mathematical ideas and concepts.
Specialist Mathematics
Finally, the last maths stream, Specialist Mathematics, works quite similarly to the old Maths C. In addition to Mathematical Methods, students can also study Specialist Maths, which covers some of the mathematical concepts that are included in and related to other fields such as the hard sciences, engineering, etc.
The idea behind this stream is to offer further study for students looking for careers and academic programs in fields that are closely related to or heavily involved with mathematics.
The topics and units studied include combinatorics, vectors, and proof, complex numbers, trigonometry, functions, and matrices, mathematical induction, further vectors, matrices, and complex numbers, and further calculus and statistical inference.
Again, summative external assessment accounts for 50% of the qualification with the other half being through internal assessments and a problem-solving and modelling task.
Choosing the Right Stream
Students will choose their QCE mathematics stream during Year 10 (find out more about getting ready for QCE maths). To choose which stream is right for you, it's important to listen to teachers at your school as well as carefully consider the role you want mathematics to play in your life and future career.
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You also need to consider your own abilities and work ethic. Even if you're very good at maths and looking to do both Mathematical Methods and Specialist Mathematics, you also have to be willing to put the extra work in.
Similarly, if you're willing to put the work in but struggle in maths, you can always start with Mathematical Methods and later choose to change to General Mathematics if it's too difficult or you're going to be unable to pass the assessments. However, this choice should normally be done early into Year 11.
Get Help with QCE Maths
Don't forget that help is available to students. Firstly, your teachers and the faculty at your school should be able to help students who are struggling or students who want to improve their results.
Beyond school, there are also lots of useful resources online through student forums, revision websites, and even the QCAA website itself, which has information on everything from what you're expected to know to FAQs.
You can also look to private tutors to help you with maths. Whether you're struggling or looking to get the best results, a private tutor's job is to make you a better student and get you the results you deserve.
More generally, you can also get tutors to help you with study skills, revision, exam technique, and becoming a better student to get better results in all of your subjects, not just QCE maths!
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