Year 12 Subject Selection

At Pulteney, students undertake 5 subjects within Year 12. This will provide students with the opportunity to obtain 100 SACE credits (each individual subject being worth 20 credits each).

Students will undertake one Wellbeing line which includes House, Chapel and Wellbeing programs, Futures education, supported study with access to subject experts, as well as other experiential learning opportunities for students to develop their agency as learners.

Students are able to tailor all other subjects to their individual passions and interests.

Year 12 students will then have an additional study line through which to manage their own time. If this line falls in the morning or afternoon students are welcome to study at home. However, attendance at all wellbeing lessons, along with whole school celebrations (such as whole school assemblies) is compulsory for all Year 12s.

Note: To achieve an ATAR, students must successfully complete to the best of their ability a total of 90 credits (4 subjects + the better score of Research Project – worth 10 credits or half of their 5th subject’s score. This is automatically calculated by SATAC).

By studying 5 subjects, students have the ability to maximize their opportunities for success. It also allows students to pursue a subject for passion or skill development in preparation for their tertiary studies, without concern over any potential impact on their ATAR.

Yes, you can. For more information including how VET is calculated for an ATAR, please see our VET page.

Find out more about Headstart on the Support for individual learners page or visit the University of Adelaide Headstart page.

Our students are encouraged to be aspirational and aim for success across the full load of subjects in order to gain the most out of their senior secondary studies.  However, in some circumstances they may need to reduce, and students have the opportunity to withdraw from a subject at any time up until the end of Term 3 pending they still meet the requirements for SACE credits, ATAR or tertiary pre-requisites.  

Should a student wish to make the decision to withdraw, they are to approach their subject teacher and Head of House to have detailed discussion regarding the potential consequences. Following this discussion, students must obtain written parent approval for the final decision to be considered and potentially approved by the Head of one ninety. 

Alleviations to subject loads are more readily considered should a student be undertaking (or have undertaken) a VET course or other external course(s) which will award (or have awarded) SACE credits. 

Students may have the opportunity to change from one subject to another at the beginning of the year. However, this change must take place before the end of the second week of Term 1. Following this, changes will not be considered. 

Should a student wish to change courses, they are to approach their subject teacher and Head of House to have a detailed discussion regarding the potential consequences.  

Following this discussion, students must obtain written parent approval for the final decision to change subjects to be considered and potentially approved. 

Students are, however, encouraged to plan their subjects carefully the year before and avoid disruptions to the start of studies by requesting changes at the start of the year. 

Tertiary course prerequisites are different for each individual institution. Further differences exist from state to state. Students are therefore strongly encouraged to contact the individual institutions they are considering or visit their website, to gain up-to-date information. 

Subject counselling is a round table discussion involving the student and the people who know them best as a person, and a learner: parents and caregivers and Heads of House. Expert advice from the Coordinator of Futures, SACE coordinator and Head of Inclusive education 7-12 is available on the day. The partnership formed between parents and the school is vital in supporting students to plan a study program which will best enable their academic success. As such we welcome parents to attend the subject counselling interview.

However, many students are certain of their subject choices and their career pathways and have discussed these regularly with their parents. In recognition that senior students should be responsible and empowered to have carefully considered their pathway in consultation with their parents, parent attendance on the day is not mandatory.

The subject selection process at Pulteney follows this pattern each year (click on the image to enlarge):

What do I do next to support my child in selecting their subjects? (click on the image to enlarge)

To further assist you with subject selection, a list of contact addresses can be found below. Subject specific questions should be directed to the Learning Area Leader.

More general enquiries should be directed to your child’s Head of House.