Queensland has scrapped annual public reporting of year 12 results in league tables.

Queensland schools are transitioning to the national Australian Tertiary Admission Rank, or ATAR system of tertiary entrance scores.

The class of 2020 was the first cohort of Queensland students to be given an ATAR, leaving behind the former OP (overall position) system. OP results were published and widely compared.

OP figures were made public and became a common point of comparison between schools. Education Minister Grace Grace says this is not possible with ATAR scores.

“There's a slight difference with the new ATAR score,” Ms Grace said.

“Students 'own' their score – so some schools may not receive the approval of their students to give that score to their school.

“Unfortunately it makes it difficult – and this is the same all over the country – to compare schools when possibly around 15 per cent or more of those schools may not have the results that they require for a true comparison.”

Ms Grace said academic results will no longer be the most accurate measure of a school.

“If parents want information on the school they are choosing for their child they are certainly able to do so at that school,” Ms Grace said.

“League tables do not give the full story of the competency or otherwise of the individual school or the state as a system, they are unnecessary, and honestly, in most cases they are inaccurate.”

Ms Grace said a school’s catchment area, curriculum and subjects on offer could guide parents’ decisions. 

Queensland’s opposition education spokesman Christian Rowan described the changes as “secretive”.

“It's an important accountability mechanism of government because it gives a clear indication of how schools are going, how our education system is performing, and what changes can be made for subsequent students coming through the system,” Dr Rowan said.

“Parents have a right to know how students and schools are performing, and the education system in Queensland is really falling victim to secrecy over transparency.”

Dr Rowan suggested school-to-school ATAR comparisons could also be used to back infrastructure and support-related decisions.

Ms Grace said ATAR results are not used in deciding resource allocations.

“Let me tell you, when schools need additional resources, they are absolutely given as required,” she said.