Senior Year 10, 11, 12 BYOD Laptop Programme

If you are planning to purchase a laptop for your student entering Year 10, 11 or 12 and are unsure as to your best options, our recommendation is to contact the College to gain advice on which laptop might be appropriate for your child’s senior years, taking into consideration the subjects they may be studying, and the minimum set of specifications required by College IT. Due to the large number of laptop and operating system combinations available, it is not possible for the College to pre-test or to guarantee that your particular laptop / operating system combination will operate effectively on the College network.

A minimum required set of laptop specifications follows:

  • A laptop device running either Windows 10 or MacOS 11 Big Sur (as a minimum) operating system.
  • The College recommends a mainstream brand laptop not exceeding 5 years old.
  • Android tablet devices and Google Chrome devices will not be acceptable as laptop devices.
  • The laptop must be capable of running the 802.11ac or 801.11n WiFi standard.
  • Please check the rated battery life will last a full school day.
  • A sturdy laptop carry case to protect the device from physical damage.
  • The College will provide at no cost Microsoft Office for the student BYO laptop.

For Windows laptops:

  • Windows 10 OS minimum version of Windows supported on a Windows laptop.
  • Antivirus software – at a minimum, Windows Defender Antivirus must be enabled on Windows 10, and virus definitions kept up to date.
  • The College currently also recommends Malwarebytes or Sophos antivirus clients for Windows.

For Apple MacBook laptops:

  • MacOS 11 (Big Sur) OS minimum version supported on an Apple MacBook laptop.
  • Antivirus software – Antivirus must be installed on Mac OS, and virus definitions kept up to date.
  • The College currently recommends Malwarebytes or Sophos antivirus clients for Mac.

The College is not responsible for any damage that may occur to the BYO laptop device brought to school. Students are encouraged to take good care of their laptop and to provide a strong, durable case for their device to protect against damage. The College recommends parents purchase accidental damage insurance ADI (if not covered under home contents) and three year extended hardware warranties on BYO laptops if possible.