Building Academic Confidence with the CoRE Learning Model

CoRE is emerging as an effective pathway to support ATAR and university preparation. And it’s not by accident.

Across regional and metropolitan schools, something interesting has been happening. Students who step into CoRE classrooms aren’t just learning science, or problem-solving, or teamwork. They’re building the habits, confidence and academic readiness that higher education quietly expects but rarely teaches.

Courtney Evans, a CoRE Educator from Geraldton Senior High School, explained that this focus is deliberate: "By situating advanced, project-based STEM education in regional schools, CoRE ensures that students (outside metropolitan centres) access the same quality and opportunity." Her efforts contribute to CoRE’s focus on inquiry-based, innovative learning that equips students with practical STEM skills, wherever they are learning.

You can feel it when you talk to CoRE teachers. You can see it in the way students present their research, work in teams, and take ownership of their learning. And you can trace it back to a simple idea: when young people engage in real-world STEM challenges, they rise to the level of that world.

This statewide message draws directly from the insight and groundwork of Suzy Urbaniak OAM (Co-Founder of CoRE Learning Foundation, Founder of the CoRE Learning Model) and CoRE Coordinator Courtney Evans from Geraldton Senior High School, whose contributions shaped the detail, accuracy and direction of what follows.

A Pathway That Prepares Students

For years, schools have been asked to prepare students for ATAR, university and a rapidly changing workforce. But most preparation relied on rote learning, stressful exams, or abstract “study skills”.

CoRE takes a different path.

Instead of drilling through textbooks, it immerses students in relevant, industry-aligned problems. Instead of content-first learning, it builds the mindsets that make ATAR success possible in the first place: hands-on learning, deep questioning, data interpretation, communication, and the ability to work through ambiguity without shutting down.

And underneath it all, something more subtle is happening. Students begin to see themselves as capable learners. They build an academic identity long before they choose subjects. That shift alone changes who ends up believing they belong in ATAR and university pathways.

Suzy Urbaniak OAM is clear on the CoRE Learning Model's goal: “CoRE gives students real-world problem solving, research and communication skills. The higher-order thinking that universities value. While targeted, content-mapped learning ensures students master the specific knowledge they need to succeed in ATAR and university. In short: CoRE builds thinkers, and it can create workforce that thrive in all communities”

This preparation is validated by CoRE alumni Sylvia Blakeway: “The CoRE Earth Science program was instrumental in developing my career with BHP. From catering for my initial interests in earth sciences, to providing me the tools to become a successful student, the program made a significant impact towards shaping my career as a mine geologist today.”

Survey feedback from 12 CoRE alumni further demonstrates that CoRE effectively equips students with the knowledge and high-performance capabilities for future academic and professional success. In the survey, 75% of alumni felt the program successfully prepared them for secondary school exams, while 67% completed CoRE with a strong readiness for both ATAR subjects and University studies. Additionally, 92% of alumni credited the program for developing their problem-solving and critical thinking skills. Alumni also felt the program improved their research and data analysis skills, creativity and science knowledge.

These capable learners aren’t just more engaged; they’re more prepared. They walk into upper-school science subjects with an advantage most students don’t realise they’re missing: they already know how to think like senior students.

ATAR Readiness Starts Earlier Than We Think

One insight highlighted from Courtney and Suzy's observations is this: by the time students select ATAR pathways, their confidence, habits and sense of capability are already formed.

The CoRE Learning Model intervenes early and gives students a practice ground for key ATAR-level behaviours years before they sit in a Year 11 classroom. Things like:

• interpreting multi-layered briefs

• Performing well  under time constraints

• Interpreting data from multiple sources

• presenting findings to industry experts

• reflecting on their work through personal performance management reports

These aren’t simply “nice to haves”, they’re the difference between doing ATAR and being prepared for university.

And because CoRE is inclusive for all learners by design, students who may never have seen themselves going into ATAR have a way in. Their first experience of success isn't tied to a test; it’s tied to capability. Suzy Urbaniak OAM confirms this focus on independence, saying: "In CoRE we steer away from ‘spoon-fed’ learning so that students challenge themselves by doing things for themselves to achieve their outcomes.”

University Readiness Looks Different 

Starting university often requires students to develop skills like independent learning, purposeful writing, problem-solving, time management, and working confidently with others.

CoRE’s STEAM (STEM + art) framework isn’t just a curriculum structure, it’s a cognitive one where students are taken out into the field to communicate and learn from scientists, engineers, and technicians working in industry.

They move between investigation, analysis, collaboration and applied outcomes often enough, that by the time they reach university-level tasks, the format feels familiar rather than intimidating.

Even better, they’re already used to having their thinking challenged, defended and improved. They know how to navigate feedback, ask questions that matter, act autonomously and are self-starters. CoRE empowers them with the confidence to do independent research, modelling and more.

Suzy Urbaniak OAM, notes a significant advantage for CoRE graduates: "Our alumni report that group work comes easily to them, particularly in Engineering Courses; they are better prepared and less frustrated than their team members as a result of the Business Unit (BU) structure and understanding of Project-Based Learning (PBL) in CoRE and its interdisciplinary nature."

This is why teachers are reporting that CoRE students transition into ATAR and university with a sense of readiness that is noticeable. They’ve already lived through the kind of learning that universities wish more first-year students arrived with.

A Statewide Solution For a Statewide Need

Western Australia needs more students choosing STEM, staying in STEM and succeeding in STEM. Industry knows it. Schools know it. Universities definitely know it.

This need is becoming a crisis in critical areas like Geoscience. The national education pipeline is currently failing to meet the workforce demand, highlighted dramatically by the news that Federation University in Melbourne is closing its geology course, one of the oldest in Australia, due to a significant decline in student enrollment. This decision was largely driven by a lack of student familiarity and perceptions among young people, despite industry experts screaming out for geoscientists in critical minerals needed for renewables and sustainability.

CoRE is addressing this need by bridging the gap between primary and secondary school learning and ATAR decision-making and university expectations. It does it in a way that elevates every student’s capacity, not just the high achievers. And it does it while strengthening regional equity, engagement, capability,  and aspirations.

In 2023, Kent Street Senior High School showed exactly how powerful the CoRE Learning Model can be. Metro CoRE Coordinator Kathleen Booth praised the 2023 ATAR Earth and Environmental Science cohort for their commendable WACE results. Starting the program in Year 7, the cohort's average scaled WACE score was 10% higher than that of similar state schools. This statistic serves as a powerful testament to the program, demonstrating that the foundational skills built through the CoRE Learning Model directly translate into superior advantages for students navigating the ATAR pathway.

This is why more schools want it, why industry supports it, and why the model is now recognised by WA educators as a genuine ATAR pathway, not just a program.

CoRE’s Influence on ATAR Pathways 

Data from Tom Price Senior High School highlights the strong influence of CoRE on students’ senior secondary pathway choices. In 2025, Tom Price SHS’s ATAR Science courses contained 24 students, 20 of whom had completed CoRE in Year 10 (80%). This demonstrates a clear link between participation in the program and progression into academically rigorous subjects. This trend is reflected across other learning areas, with CoRE students comprising 66% of the Mathematics Applications ATAR cohort, and forming the majority in both English and Geography ATAR classes. These figures emphasise how CoRE plays a significant role in building student confidence and capability to pursue ATAR pathways across multiple disciplines (Data: Liam Wesson, Tom Price Senior High School).