Opportunity class placement profile score

You can complete an online Request for scores form to receive further details of your child's scores in the opportunity class placement process. This will be available when outcome advice is released in late October.

 What is the calculated profile score?

The calculated profile score is a mark out of 300 which is used to rank candidates applying for opportunity class placement. For most students the calculated profile score is provided at the bottom of the letter or email advising the outcome of their application.

What other scores can I ask for?

Further details of a student's profile score can be provided only where the profile score was shown on the outcome advice.

If the calculated profile score is not shown on the outcome advice one of the following situations has occurred:

• the application was late
• the student did not sit the test
• the student is not currently enrolled in Year 4

Where the profile score is shown on the outcome advice you can complete a Request for scores form and, apart from the calculated profile score you will receive a letter or email detailing the following:  

1. School assessment scores

Schools provide school assessment scores based generally on the student's performance on the school's curriculum in Year 3 and up to June of Year 4. Schools have the discretion to set their own assessment criteria.The scores are provided for:

  2. Test scores

Students take the Opportunity Class Placement Test and receive the following set of scores:

What do the school assessment scores mean?

The school assessment scores for English and mathematics rank all candidates from a particular school applying for opportunity class placement in order of merit showing the relative gaps between the students.

For example, a school with five candidates may provide the following school assessment scores:

How does the selection committee use the school assessment scores?

These scores tell the selection committee how the students are performing in their own school environment, but the selection committee needs to see how that performance ranks with the performance of all other candidates in the other schools in the state.

Therefore, as part of the calculation these school assessment scores are moderated to make them meaningful across the state and to give them the same weight as the scaled test marks.

How are the school assessment scores moderated?

The mean  (average) and standard deviation (spread of scores) of the English and mathematics tests are calculated for all of the students from each primary school who sat the test.

The mean and standard deviation are applied to the school assessment scores for English and mathematics.

What happens to the test scores?

For each test component, the test score is scaled to a mean of 60 and a standard deviation of 12. In other words the average score correct out of 20 for English is scaled to 60 out of 100 and all other scores are calculated relative to that score of 60. The process does not convert the test score to a percentage score.

What happens next?

The rest of the score processing averages the moderated school assessment scores and the scaled test scores for English and mathematics, rescales them to a mean of 60 and a standard deviation of 12 and adds the scaled general ability score. The three scores out of 100 are combined to make the calculated profile score out of 300. The average score of the candidature is therefore always set to 180.

What happens if my school can't or won't provide a school assessment score?

If your child attends a government school with more than one candidate for opportunity class placement and you applied before the closing date and your child has been at the school long enough to be assessed validly, it is mandatory for the school to provide school assessment scores. The High Peforming Students Unit will follow this up where schools have overlooked that part of the processing.

If your child attends a non-government school you must present your application to the school for processing. In some cases the principals of non-government schools may refrain from providing school assessment scores as a matter of policy. In these cases parents must write a letter to the selection committee explaining the circumstances. It should be noted that where it is discovered that other candidates applied for and received school assessment scores but you did not, your application may not be accepted by the selection committee.

Where school assessment scores are not provided and the selection committee determines that exemption has been granted or that provision of school assessment scores is not appropriate, the application will normally be considered on the basis of the test scores only.

Can I compare my child's score with the score of a child from another school or a previous year?

No, each school's candidature is used to moderate its own school assessment scores quite separately from any other school so comparisons between students at different schools are not valid. Comparisons between students at the same school in previous years are similarly invalid as each year has a totally different test and totally different school candidatures.

Is the calculated profile score the only score used for opportunity class entry?

For most students the calculated profile score is the score on which students are considered. However, for a small group of students, selection committees have the discretion to consider factors which may have prevented students from showing their true academic merit. These factors may include a student's disability, language or cultural background or any illness suffered during the test.

What happens if my child cannot sit the Opportunity Class Placement Test?  

If your child misses the test through circumstances that were unforeseen and the selection committee determines that satisfactory documentary evidence has been provided, the student will be considered on moderated school assessment scores where these are available (where two or more students from the same school sat the test and had school assessment scores). Note parents who apply while living outside NSW or Australia must use the interstate and overseas procedure.

What happens if neither moderated school scores nor Opportunity Class Placement Test scores are available?

Where neither moderated school assessment scores nor test scores are available the parent should try to provide the results of an individual IQ test. Where this alternative is not available the selection committee will consider the student on the basis of any evidence of academic merit provided.

What score does a student have to gain to be successful for opportunity class placement?

There is no set score which students have to achieve to be successful for opportunity class placement. The minimum entry score for each opportunity class depends on the score achieved by the candidates for that class and can vary from school to school and from year to year. 

The number of vacancies can be found at: www.det.nsw.edu.au/media/downloads/reports_stats/oppclass.pdf