The Queensland boarding school that lets students set their own course

Year 11 students at Scots PGC College are incredibly clear-sighted when they talk about the paths they plan to pursue when their school days are done.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the campus’s location in south-west Queensland’s agricultural heartland, the three students I speak with plan to work with animals and/or agriculture – and they’ve already started the tertiary training to get them there.

Day students Emily Miller and James Buchan started planning for their careers in Year 7, when they started at Scots. James wants to pursue agribusiness, while Emily has her sights set on the University of Queensland’s veterinary science degree. 

Both have signed up to Scots’ UniWay program, a new take on senior schooling that prioritises a strong ATAR and prepares students for the future with lessons in study skills and time management, a curriculum designed in partnership with the University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ). The partnership with UniSQ means Scots students can also undertake university subjects and earn credit points to put towards a future degree. 

“I’ve always loved the academic side of things,” says Emily, who has enrolled in several science subjects, including ag science. She says she chose UniWay because, “I really wanted to experience some uni work before I head off to uni – just to ease into it a bit.” 

Their classmate Cash Cody Bennett, who hails from the Gold Coast, chose the second option available under the new program, called Scots, MyWay. Under the WorkWay program, Cash will graduate with a suite of professional qualifications (including Certificate IIs in engineering and business, plus Certificate IIIs in information technology and agriculture) instead of an ATAR. Scots is a registered training provider, which means Cash can earn industry-recognised qualifications on campus (students can also complete an apprenticeship and work placement through Scots). 

Earlier this year, Cash considered leaving school; he planned to head north and find work on a station. But when his grandfather learned of the Scots program, Cash decided to enrol as a boarder and continue his schooling, with a focus on gaining professional work-ready skills. 

It means he gets all the camaraderie and co-curriculars that come with being a school student, plus he’ll graduate with papers that will put him in good stead when he does travel north.

“My parents and other adults, they all said to me, ‘Just go to Year 12, graduate and if you want to take a gap year, go into station work.’ If something happens, like if I get injured and I’m unable to work up there for a while, I will have my certificate qualifications to fall back on.” 

Cash spends much of his week at the school’s agricultural precinct, a part of the 36 hectare Prep to Year 12 campus that includes sheep, cattle, tractors, a tech shed and a small cropping operation. As part of the WorkWay program, he has learned practical skills for the years ahead, including how to write a resume, budget for a loan and prepare a tax return. 

Just as Cash will graduate with nationally recognised qualifications, Emily and James will leave Scots with an ATAR and a head start on their tertiary qualifications. Both are working towards a Certificate III in Agriculture, which supplements their ag science classes with hands-on skills, such as fencing, working cattle and vaccinating sheep. “We need to get to the point where a boss or manager can give us a list of tasks and we can go out by ourselves and do it,” says James. 

Thinking back on his family’s decision to enrol at Scots, James says the ag precinct was a major drawcard. “A lot of the high schools we looked at, if I wanted to do ag, they didn’t have as much or it wasn’t onsite,” he says. Co-curriculars, including the school’s competitive cattle team, fuelled a passion that has become a career path — and now James is gaining the qualifications to follow that path. 

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