Western Australian Curriculum and Assessment Outline

Western Australia, Australia

The Outline sets out the mandated curriculum, guiding principles for teaching, learning, and assessment for all students from Kindergarten to Year 10 in Western Australia. It is an adaptation of the Australian Curriculum, contextualized to meet the specific needs of Western Australian students and teachers.

Western Australian Curriculum and Assessment Outline

The Outline sets out the mandated curriculum, guiding principles for teaching, learning, and assessment for all students from Kindergarten to Year 10 in Western Australia. It is an adaptation of the Australian Curriculum, contextualized to meet the specific needs of Western Australian students and teachers.

Governing Body: School Curriculum and Standards Authority (SCSA)

Year Adopted: 2014 (Current version undergoing phased update to Version 9 as of 2024-2026)

Grade Levels Covered

Kindergarten, Pre-primary, Year 1, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4, Year 5, Year 6, Year 7, Year 8, Year 9, Year 10

English

Pre-primary

AC9EPLA01 Language

Understand that English is one of many languages spoken in Australia and that different languages may be spoken by family, classmates and community.

Key skills: intercultural awareness, language identification
AC9EPW01 Language: Phonic and word knowledge

Recognise and name upper- and lower-case letters of the alphabet and know the most common sounds that they represent.

Key skills: letter recognition, phonics, decoding

Year 3

AC9E3L01 Literature

Describe the effects of ideas, text structures and language features of literary texts on different audiences.

Key skills: text analysis, audience awareness, literary devices
AC9E3LY01 Literacy

Plan, create and edit imaginative, informative and persuasive texts, demonstrating a consolidating capacity to use punctuation and grammar correctly.

Key skills: writing process, persuasive writing, editing

Year 6

AC9E6LA05 Language

Understand how authors use language features, including literary devices, to influence audience response.

Key skills: critical analysis, literary devices, evaluating texts
AC9E6LY01 Literacy

Use interaction skills, including varying conventions of spoken language, to influence an audience.

Key skills: public speaking, oral communication, persuasion

Year 9

AC9E9L02 Literature

Analyse and evaluate how different perspectives are represented in texts and how these representations shape meaning.

Key skills: perspective analysis, critical evaluation, synthesis

Mathematics

Pre-primary

AC9MPN01 Number

Subitise, name and represent small collections of objects and use number names to count collections of up to 20.

Key skills: subitising, counting, representation

Year 3

AC9M3N01 Number

Recognise, represent and order numbers to at least 10,000 using knowledge of place value.

Key skills: place value, ordering numbers, estimation
AC9M3M01 Measurement

Measure, order and compare objects using familiar metric units of length, mass and capacity.

Key skills: metric measurement, comparison, unit selection

Year 6

AC9M6N05 Number

Solve problems involving all four operations with whole numbers and describe strategy use.

Key skills: problem solving, mental computation, multi-step operations

Year 9

AC9M9A01 Algebra

Extend and apply the index laws with integer indices to numerical expressions and variables.

Key skills: algebraic manipulation, index laws, simplification

Science

Pre-primary

AC9SPS01 Science Understanding

Observe and describe the way objects move and how their movement can be changed.

Key skills: observation, descriptive language, physical science

Year 3

AC9S3U01 Science Understanding: Biological

Compare the characteristics of living and non-living things and examine the life cycles of animals and plants.

Key skills: classification, life cycles, biological comparison

Year 6

AC9S6U03 Science Understanding: Earth and Space

Investigate how the relative positions of the sun, Earth and moon cause observable phenomena including day and night, seasons and eclipses.

Key skills: modeling, spatial reasoning, scientific investigation

Year 9

AC9S9I01 Science Inquiry

Formulate questions or hypotheses that can be investigated scientifically, including identifying variables to be changed, measured and controlled.

Key skills: hypothesis formulation, variable control, experimental design

Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS)

Year 3

WAHASS31 Civics and Citizenship

Identify the role of local government and how it makes decisions for the community.

Key skills: civic knowledge, community awareness

Year 6

WAHASS65 History

Examine the causes and effects of Federation in Australia and the development of the Australian Constitution.

Key skills: historical inquiry, cause and effect, political history

Year 9

WAHASS91 Geography

Analyse the interconnections between people and places and the impact of these on the environment and human wellbeing.

Key skills: spatial analysis, sustainability, interconnection

Implementation Notes

The Western Australian Curriculum is currently in a phased transition. English and Health and Physical Education (based on Australian Curriculum v9) are available for implementation in 2025. Mathematics, Science, and HASS (v9) are available for implementation in 2026. Schools must follow the SCSA timeline for reporting and assessment. Kindergarten programs are guided by the 'Kindergarten Curriculum Guidelines' which align with the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF).

Assessment

Student achievement is assessed using 'Judging Standards' which provide achievement standards and grade descriptors. National assessment includes NAPLAN (Years 3, 5, 7, 9). Secondary students (Years 10-12) participate in the Online Literacy and Numeracy Assessment (OLNA) and work towards the Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE).

About This Standard
Added:
January 13, 2026

This standard was generated using AI with grounded search to find official, accurate information. While we strive for accuracy, please verify important details with official sources.

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