There are concerns that senior drama courses are disappearing from Queensland high schools, as Arts educators say the state’s university entrance system is driving students away from the subject.
Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority data shows 276 schools offered senior drama or drama in practice in 2026, down from 318 in 2019. As reported by the ABC, that is 42 fewer schools since the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank was introduced in Queensland.
Drama Queensland President Scott Andrews, who teaches at a Brisbane private school, told ABC Brisbane the state was facing an ‘enrolment crisis in drama’. He said enrolments had dropped by almost 40% since the ATAR’s introduction.
Senior drama Queensland rates – quick links
Why are students dropping drama?
According to Andrews, the main culprit is subject scaling, which adjusts students’ results so that subjects can be compared for university entry.
Senior drama scales down sharply. Andrews said students who achieved a perfect raw score of 100 in drama in 2025 saw it scaled down to around 85.
He said this has led schools to steer students away from subjects that scale poorly, because high ATARs make a powerful marketing tool for universities and so they are inclined to look more favourably on students who have them. The result of trying to game the numbers is a narrow range of subject choices for students.
Research supports these concerns. In a submission to the Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre’s review of ATAR scaling, a coalition of Queensland arts teacher associations cited research by Gattenhof and Saunders. It found Queensland recorded the largest decline in Year 12 arts enrolments in the country, with enrolments falling 45% between 2015 and 2023.
The coalition’s student survey also found 61% of students said scaling had influenced their senior subject choices.
What does this mean for the arts sector?
National Advocates for Arts Education Chair Dr John Saunders told the ABC that the focus on short-term scores was robbing the state of its future artists and arts workers. He warned that schools were increasingly geared towards producing high ATARs at the expense of a broad education.
Saunders said the Queensland Performing Arts Centre was already struggling to find skilled workers in technical and production roles, skills that are developed through arts education.
He also pointed to the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and the cultural program planned in the lead-up to them. He said the state would need a skilled arts workforce to deliver it.
What are the authorities saying?
Saunders said the National Advocates for Arts Education had been lobbying for change for around seven years. It is calling for a review of the ATAR system and subject scaling, which is now under way, and for an overhaul of the senior drama syllabus.
A Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority spokesperson told the ABC the authority valued drama’s role in students’ learning and creativity. The spokesperson said its syllabuses were developed with teachers, academics and other experts, and that schools decide which subjects to offer based on student demand, teacher availability and resources.
A Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre spokesperson said scaling exists to allow fair comparisons between students who studied different subject combinations. The spokesperson said scaling doesn’t measure the value or merit of any subject. The admissions centre encouraged students to choose subjects based on their strengths and interests rather than chasing a particular rank.
The centre said it would share more information when its forthcoming ATAR study report is ready for release.
What happens next?
The outcome of the review will be closely watched by arts educators across the country. Declining enrolments in senior arts subjects are a national trend, but nowhere more so than in Queensland.
For senior drama teachers, the stakes are clear: every school that stops offering the subject is one less pathway into the state’s theatres, festivals and creative industries.
