The Office of the Board of Studies will continue its languages eligibility monitoring program in 2010. Schools participating in the 2010 program will be notified in Term 4, 2009.

The purpose of the program is to monitor the implementation of the Board's policies in relation to the eligibility criteria for Beginners languages courses and Continuers courses in languages where there are Background Speakers courses.

In Term 2 of 2009 the monitoring program was conducted with several government and non-government schools. The following were identified as 'best practice' in implementing the Board's policies. Schools should consider adopting these practices to ensure they have effective procedures for determining a student's eligibility to undertake a Beginners course or a Continuers course in a language that has a Background Speakers course.

The school should have:

• accurate and comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the eligibility criteria and scrupulous adherence to the criteria
• clearly articulated and thorough procedures for determining eligibility
• full and detailed student background information through meticulous completion of eligibility declaration forms and statutory declarations
• additional documentary evidence such as school enrolment forms, school reports, student interview records, targeted assessment and travel documents used to support the principal's eligibility determination
• a record of the procedure and evidence used to determine the course eligibility of each student.

Principals have the authority (delegated to them by the Board of Studies) to make eligibility determinations in accordance with the Board's policies. The policies on language course eligibility are stated in the Assessment Certification and Examination (ACE) Manual (8.2.2.2.1 and 8.2.2.3).

Every student wishing to enrol in a Continuers course in a language that has a Background Speakers course, and every student wishing to enrol in a Beginners language course must complete the relevant Languages Eligibility Declaration form (including the Statutory Declaration). Documentary evidence (such as school reports, a copy of the student's birth certificate and evidence of years of residency in Australia and/or overseas) must be available to support the principal's eligibility determination and must be retained by the school for the purpose of monitoring by the Board of Studies.

If a principal has any doubt about an individual student's eligibility for a particular language course, the principal is able to refer the case to the Office of the Board of Studies for a determination. Referrals to the Office should include the student's completed Languages Eligibility Declaration form (including the Statutory Declaration) and other documentary evidence of the student's language background.