TEE is also an initialism for the Tertiary Entrance Exams. Similar to the American SAT system, the TEE is held in Western Australia every November and for many WA students, the culmination of five long, hard years of high school. The TEE is run by the Tertiary Institutions Service Centre and is used in calculating a TES (Tertiary Entrance Score) and and TER (Tertiary Entrance Rank) which university places for WA universities are decided on.
Unlike some other states final examinations, the TEE is half of the score used to make up a TES. The other half coming from the rest of a students year 12 mark. TEE's are not always multiple choice. English, History and associated subjects usually have 4 or 5 essays to write, while Calculus and Physics have longer calculation questions.
To gain a TES, a student has to pass some requirements:
Sit four TEE subjects
Sit in at least one List 1 and one List 2 subject. These subjects are:
- List one:
- Ancient History
- Art
- Chinese: Advanced
- Chinese: Second Language
- Drama Studies
- Economics
- English Literature
- French
- Geography
- German
- History
- Indonesian: Advanced
- Indonesian: Second Language
- Italian
- Japanese: Advanced
- Japanese: Second Language
- Malay: Advanced
- Modern Greek
- Music
- Political & Legal Studies
- List two:
- Accounting
- Applicable Mathematics (basic linear algebra)
- Biology
- Calculus
- Chemistry
- Discrete Mathematics (kinda like Applicable but easier)
- Geology
- Human Biology
- Information systems
- Physical Science
- Physics
- Unlisted:
- English (doesn't count for either)
Pass either English or English Literature.
The marks from the TEE's are then added to the students school marks and then scaled according to subject difficulty (e.g. a 70% in Calculus is worth a lot more than a 70% in Information Systems) and school performance (i.e if a student did well but their school did shit, the student goes down with the school; it's unfair, I was a victim of this as well). The combination to get the best up scaling is: Calculus, Applicable, Physics, Chemistry, English Literature and Economics (aptly named the super six).
Much like the SAT scores, the TES is quite often used as a dicksize war between graduates, although by the time the university semesters start (around March) most students have already forgotten about the whole process.