No SAC ranking?! **rant**

[lach_chau04]

 So I just found out today that my school doesn't give out SAC rankings (only SAC results) because it's confidential and I'm very angered by it because I really want to know where I am in my cohort and since I'm a Year 11 doing Year 12 Methods I am very conscious of my scores. I got an 84 for my SAC apparently but that means nothing to me because I don't know if I did good or bad compared with the rest of the cohort, which forms the basis of my study score.

Transcript:
[2:46 PM] Me
    Hi Ms *****, I was just wondering are we allowed to have our SAC ranking (on top of our results) if we want to know for 3/4 SACs?
​[4:14 PM] Teacher
    Hi Lachlan. No we don't tell students the SAC ranking. Is confidential. Sometimes students do share their results with the rest of the class, and from that and class average you sort of know where you are sitting. However, that's up to students discretion. Not all are comfortable in sharing.
[4:18 PM] Me
    I want to ask why the SAC ranking can't necessarily be shared? What happens if a student wants to know where they lie in the cohort in a particular subject? Isn't it their right to know as well?
​[7:12 PM] Teacher
    As previously explained, most students have an idea or an estimate where they are even though we don't formally tell students the ranking. The ranking can also change, so it's very difficult to tell students their definite ranking.
The best way is to get feedback from your teacher as to how you are doing in the subject. It's far more better knowing where the improvement can be than your ranking.

I barely know the Year 12s in my Methods class so can't ask them. Surely there's no harm in giving out the SAC ranking too right? Yes, I always seek for improvement but again knowing your cohort ranking is nice too.

Have any of you guys faced similar experiences? Does your school give out SAC rankings? Any advice you would give (and also emotional support pls)? Please reply to this, I need to talk to other students.

Mod edit: removed all caps from title.

[whys]

Teachers not disclosing sac ranks are very common. People tend to internalise sac rankings and either think they’re really ahead of everyone else and may slack off, or may believe there’s no point in trying if they find out they’re ranked quite low. I’ve never known my sac ranking for any subject, but we get told the highest score for some sacs in some subjects so we can sort of figure it out. It’s completely normal for teachers not to give out rankings - you should focus on improving yourself from your scores, and knowing your ranking won’t do much anyway (apart from predicting your study score). You could try asking your teacher for things like the average or highest score if you really want to figure out around where you’re ranked, but don’t worry too much about it.

Good luck for the rest of the year.

[K888]

SAC rankings weren't given in any of my subjects at school. You'd get an idea from speaking to classmates about their marks but that was it. I think teachers not giving out rankings is quite common, like whys said. Some teachers might give an indication (eg: lower, middle, higher) but honestly I think that's it. IMO you don't get much benefit out of knowing your rank.

Again, like whys said, don't stress too much about it. The only thing you can influence and control in VCE is how hard you work - you can't control how anyone else does. It's much better for your stress levels to forget about competing with others and just focus on your performance (and even help your peers if you can).

[eloisegrace]

I second K888 and whys. Don't stress about ranking too much, yes they matter but performance matters a heck of a lot more. Just try to improve yourself to the best of your abilities.

Most schools don't give out rankings. I think this can harm a lot of students. If I knew that I was at the bottom of the cohort, especially if I was trying, it would be very disheartening. Teachers sometimes give averages, although not always. Heck, I didnt even get numerical grades for one of my methods and further SACs. I think you can often determine how "well" you have done by looking at the difficulty of the SAC and where you went wrong.

Also want to mention, 84% on a methods SAC is very good. Do not worry about the numbers, the only thing that matters is how hard you try and your determination.

[heids]

I agree with the above that it's definitely not something that you're owed by your school - it wasn't available for us either.  It's also not necessarily helpful - you should be doing your best no matter what, and knowing your ranking changes nothing.

I understand that it's frustrating because VCE is stressful, and it's nice to have some kind of reassurance of where you sit because it's all so uncertain.  But I think teachers are trying to avoid the negative, infighting kind of competition that can happen which makes things even more stressful for everyone.

You'll come out of the year okay.

[jammol7]

My bio teacher told me my rank last year for the first SAC, then when I asked her again after the second SAC she said she's not allowed to give out rankings. So I assume someone told her not to give out rankings when they found out about it.

Definitely frustrating though, especially when in NSW everyone seems to know their rank. If you want a rough idea of where you are you can try asking for the average score?

[The Cat In The Hat]

it wasn't available for us either

If I ask, I get my ranking... is that unusual? Some give it out straight away, others you have to ask, but I don't think I've yet asked and got told no, only maybe if a teacher isn't sure. But they definitely don't give it out to all and sundry, just if you ask/are in the top three or something. And sometimes (especially English) tells the whole class who got the top mark.