The curriculum in ACT schools, explained for parents.

This one is refreshingly simple. Some states take the national curriculum and rework it into their own version. The ACT doesn't. Canberra schools teach the Australian Curriculum written by ACARA, and since the start of 2024 that has meant Version 9.

The move to Version 9 was agreed across all three sectors, so public, Catholic and independent schools worked to the same date: the first day of Term 1, 2024.^[1] If your child started school in Canberra after that, Version 9 is the only curriculum they've known.

What "as written" means for your family

The topics in each year are the national ones, in the national order. A Year 4 fractions lesson in Belconnen covers the same content as a Year 4 fractions lesson in Hobart or Darwin. Teachers still choose how to teach it: the examples, the projects, how fast the class goes. But the list of what children should know by the end of the year comes straight from ACARA.

It also makes the curriculum easy to look up. ACARA publishes every content description, so you can read exactly what Year 5 maths includes.^[5]

How to read a curriculum code

You'll see codes on worksheets, in newsletters and on our lessons. Every one follows the same pattern. Here's AC9M4N04, taken apart:

Maths has six strands: Number (N), Algebra (A), Measurement (M), Space (SP), Statistics (ST) and Probability (P).^[5] English has three: Language (LA), Literature (LE) and Literacy (LY).^[6]

Reading an ACT report

ACT public schools send a written report at the end of each semester. From Year 1 to Year 10, each subject gets a grade from A to E, judged against the Australian Curriculum achievement standard for that year.^[2][4]

These descriptions are the ACT Government's own.^[3] The grade parents worry about most is C, and they shouldn't. A C means your child is where the curriculum expects them to be. A run of Ds in one subject is the thing to raise with the teacher.

The Education Directorate has said a new report format for Kindergarten to Year 10 is on its way, so the layout may change.^[2] The A to E scale is set in policy.^[4]

Where NAPLAN fits

NAPLAN sits alongside all this, not inside it. It's a national test in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9, the same in Canberra as anywhere else. Our NAPLAN guide covers it.

Moving to or from Canberra

Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory also teach Version 9 with the same year levels, so moving between them is usually smooth. New South Wales and Victoria shift some topics between years. Coming from either, a small gap or a repeated topic in the first term is normal and nothing to worry about.