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An investigation into how nine Queensland schools taught the wrong topic for a year 12 exam will now be widened to probe why a report to the education department about another school making the same error two months ago was not further investigated. Rochedale State High School, in Brisbane's south, realised earlier this year it had been teaching year 12 ancient history students the previous year's topic on Augustus, instead of the correct subject, Julius Caesar. The school then began teaching the correct topic ahead of Wednesday's external exam, which was worth 25 per cent of students' final marks. In August, a parent at the school complained to the Metropolitan South region's director about the school having taught the wrong topic and its handling of the error. Despite that warning, the issue was not flagged with the education department's central office or the education minister's office and did not prompt an investigation into whether other schools had also made the same mistake. Nine schools across Queensland only discovered this week they had been teaching the wrong topic, affecting 140 students. It followed media reports on Tuesday that Brisbane State High School — the first of the schools to become public — had written to students and parents Monday night to apologise. The other schools were Flagstone State Community College, James Nash State High School, Kuranda District Secondary College, Meridian State College, Redcliffe State High School, St Teresa's Catholic College, West Moreton Anglican School, and Yeronga State High School. The Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA) has since contacted all 172 schools that teach the subject and confirmed the problem only occurred in those nine schools. The QCAA, which sets the external exams, has repeatedly said schools are notified of exam topics more than 12 months in advance. The QCAA told the ABC it has no record of being contacted by or about Rochedale State High School about the issue. Three memos were sent to schools outlining Julius Caesar was the topic for this year's exam, in August 2023, April 2024 and earlier this year. Communications to be reviewed On Tuesday Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek announced there would be an investigation into how the QCAA communicates changes in the syllabus with schools. Now the minister has said he's directed the education department's director-general "to undertake a full investigation" with the QCAA. "It will include reviewing communications, procedures and verification processes to ensure that schools are confirming awareness of topic changes for any curriculum," he said in a statement. The education department was asked about the issue at Rochedale State High School and why the error was not more broadly investigated to check other schools had not made the same error but did not answer those questions. The nine schools who taught students the wrong topic will make a "misadventure application" so students exam marks can be scaled, so they are not disadvantaged. Exam 'extremely difficult', student says Speaking after the exam on Wednesday afternoon, a mother at Redcliffe State High School said her daughter had found the exam "extremely difficult", especially because she had two exams that day. "She said she could write basic information, but she felt there were questions she couldn't answer at all because she hadn't studied specifically for that." A student at Yeronga State High School, Ellie Sinclair, was mostly positive after the exam, despite finding out less than a day earlier they'd been taught the wrong topic. "The exam itself was alright," she said. "I feel like if our teacher hadn't prepared us as much ... we all would have been pretty confused." "Obviously, it was quite stressful in the moment."
