Parents, students to check exam topics after bungle makes history books

Parents and senior students have been told to keep track of history test topics and not rely on schools after 140 Queenslanders were taught the wrong subject theme last year.

The Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA) discovered in October nine schools had incorrectly taught their ancient history students about the Roman emperor Augustus instead of studying the prescribed topic: his great-uncle Julius Caesar.

Students were given as little as 24 hours to prepare for the correct topic, and the state rushed to grant them special consideration.

On Wednesday, in a government committee hearing reviewing the report released in December, QCAA acting chief executive Claude Jones said he was confident new checks and balances would prevent a future bungle.

“Our aim is to ensure schools receive clear, timely and simple information and are able to act on it with confidence,” he said.

Schools teaching history subjects under the syllabus in 2026 needed to register one of two chosen topics – Julius Caesar or Cleopatra.

“We’ll publish each school’s selected topics in our online portal and show each student their school’s topic in their own learning account,” Jones said.

The topics would be visible on the portal’s home page, which had versions for teachers and students.

The topics would also be printed onto the exam timetables – released in May – and were outlined in the ancient and modern history syllabuses which were already published on the QCAA website.

“This syllabus is now the single point of truth for these subjects,” he said.

“These steps give schools, teachers, students and parents more opportunities to check and confirm the right topic information.”

Jones said about 90 per cent of schools had already registered their chosen ancient history topic, following a February 17 memo urging schools to lock in their choices.

He said the assessment authority had not required topic verification for history subjects previously, as only one topic was available, unlike English subjects where schools picked from multiple approved texts.

Jones said the assessment authority was also refining its website and communication with schools, following recommendations from the December panel report.

“Trying to find the perfect website I think is not an easy thing to do, but we have started the process of getting feedback from our stakeholders,” he said.

The report recommended four “best-practice pillars”, including predictability, consistent messaging, more precise checking and oversight, and collaboration between the QCAA and schools.

It outlined two key findings, and said the nine schools experienced overlapping issues, and the QCAA’s communication had failed to cut through teachers’ “confirmation bias that Augustus was the external examination topic”.

Between December and January, Education Department director-general Sharon Schimming sent copies of the panel report to state schools and private sector bodies promoting the recommendations.

In letters to state school principals, Schimming also called for specific risk-management protocols, including asking schools to consult directly with regional directors.

In November, the education minister switched up the QCAA board, ousting union leaders Cresta Richardson and Terry Burke in favour of former Rockhampton Catholic Education Diocese director Leesa Jeffcoat and hotelier and former Advance Australia lobbyist James Power.

The state confirmed on Wednesday that 122 of the affected ancient history students sat their exams, none failed, 42 per cent received an A grade, and one achieved a perfect test score.

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