Year 12 ancient history students from at least eight Queensland schools have discovered just before their final test that they’ve been learning the wrong topic for the whole semester.
Curriculum administrators were checking with all 172 high schools in the state ahead of Wednesday’s external exam to make sure more students hadn’t been taught about the Roman emperor Augustus instead of Julius Caesar.
The stuff-up appears to have been first discovered at the highly regarded Brisbane State High School on Monday, when parents were told 45 students had spent half the year studying the wrong Roman leader.
The test counts for 25 per cent of the students’ marks.
9News understands the change in the curriculum led to the confusion as up until this year, students had been tested on Augustus.
Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority, which is responsible for the curriculum and external testing, said schools were told of the change more than a year in advance through “memos, syllabus resources, e-newsletters and at webinars and face-to-face workshops for heads of department and subject teachers”.
