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Airdate: My Year 12 Life

No producers, no camera crews, just 14 students documenting their year, their way, in ABC's bold new 'vlogumentary.'

Next week ABC premieres its bold new ‘vlogumentary’ series My Year 12 Life, in which 14 students from 4 states were given cameras to film their final year of high school, without any on-set influence from producers or crew.

The series by Princess Pictures has been described as raw and ground-breaking.

ABC Head of Progamming & Digital Rebecca Heap recently told TV Tonight, “It was originally commissioned as a children’s program. But when it delivered it was such an extraordinary program, it’s not only entertaining for primary school children.

“It is absolutely extraordinary how it has all come together as an emotional, hilarious in parts, series.”

It will be available to consume across various platforms:

* ABC ME – Mondays to Wednesday at 7.30pm from Monday, February 20
* ABC – Sundays at 6.30pm from Sunday, February 26
* ABC iview and ABC ME app – will house all full episodes as catch-up from February 20 as well as over 400 pieces of additional content. The additional content will be live from February 10 as an introduction to the 14 students.
* ABC ME YouTube – will also be used to distribute My Year 12 Life to the widest possible Australian audience

At the start of 2016, the ABC and Princess Pictures launched an unprecedented television experiment. After scouring the country and watching hundreds of auditions, they gave cameras to a diverse group of 14 teenagers to film the most dramatic 12 months of their lives – Year 12.

The resulting ‘vlogumentary’ series is packed with emotion, hilarity, heartbreak and suspense – what will their Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) numbers be? What will they go through to achieve these results?

Pioneering a new form of storytelling, there were no film crews, nor producers on the ground, just 14 teenagers self-documenting their stories straight to camera in their own way. The resulting footage captures the raw drama of their final year of school, and reminds us how pivotal Year 12 is, what the future looks like at 18, and shines a light on how this has changed over the years.

Inspired by the serious stress the ATAR is putting on kids, this series aims to start a national conversation about the pressures of Year 12 and explores how our education system prepares young people to enter further studies or the workforce.

In each episode the students talk about the issues they’re facing, including the pressure of the impending ATAR exams– and how they feel this will define their future; parental, cultural and school pressures; body image; stress and anxiety; and school and social life balance. The vlog diaries give the students an avenue to vent about these issues – their honest, candid, often humorous, and sometimes heartbreaking confessions will hit a nerve with all viewers.

Episode one: Monday, February 20 at 7.30pm on ABC ME
Meet 14 students as they learn to document themselves going through their final year of high school through daily video diaries. From Sydney to the Kimberley, and everywhere in between, the stresses of this launch-pad year start on day one as they delve into the pressures of the big score they will receive at the end of the year – the ATAR.

Episode two: Tuesday, February 21 at 7.30pm on ABC ME
The countdown has begun with 36 weeks until final exams. Tom is finding it hard to make it to school on time juggling two jobs, photography expeditions and late nights but resolves to perfect a side flip. Charlie is stressed about passing his drivers’ licence and Trianna feels the pressure of falling behind in subjects at her competitive school. Meanwhile, Shianna grapples with dropping modern history and raves about the injustice of creative subjects being marked down.

Episode three: Wednesday, February 22 at 7.30pm on ABC ME
With 33 weeks until final exams, the pressures of juggling school, family and a social life set in. Alfie knows he must curb his party-going ways if he’s going to please his Mum but is finding study a challenge. Zoe struggles with the demands of homework and the need to move between her parent’s houses. Kayla is stressed over an increasing workload and arguments with Mum but receives a terrific gift and Ben gets excited about his 18th birthday celebrations.

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