2026 BSC Curriculum - VCE Requirements

Curriculum updates in preparation for the 2026 school year are currently underway and will be complete by Monday July 28 2025

2026 BSC Curriculum

VCE Pathways, Requirements, Assessment & ATAR

VCE

The VCE is recognised internationally and provides pathways to employment as well as to further study at university and TAFE (Technical and Further Education). VCE is usually completed in Years 11 and 12, but can be started in Year 10 via the VCE Early Start Program.

VCE Pathways

The learning pathways at BSC take students on the journey of their choice toward achieving the Victorian Certificate of Education, depending on their career goals, ambitions, interests and preferences.

In 2024, senior students can choose to pursue a VCE pathway or the VCE Vocational Major pathway.

Students entering either Year 11 or Year 12 and pursuing the VCE pathway will study subjects from across the VCE Learning Areas. Successful completion of this study will reward them with a Victorian Certificate of Education.

Students entering Year 11 who wish to undertake vocational learning will study the VCE Vocational Major. Successful completion of this study will reward them with a Victorian Certificate of Education - Vocational Major.

This graphic illustrates that in 2024, the VCE and VCE Vocational Major pathways can lead to the award of a Victorian Certificate of Education. It also describes the further opportunities each pathway will provide to students.

VCE Requirements

To be awarded the Victorian Certificate of Education, as a continuing student, you must satisfactorily complete a minimum of 16 units of study.

These units must include one of the following

• 3 units of English selected from any of English/EAL Units 1- 4, English Language, Literature Units 1 – 4 or Vocational Major literacy stream. Students must gain a satisfactory completion of Units 3 and 4 in the same year.

• 3 sequences of Units 3 and 4 in studies other than English, which may include any number of additional English sequences once the English requirement has been met.

• No more than 2 units of English/EAL Units 1&2 may be counted towards English requirement.

A VCE program will usually be completed in two years. In Year 11, you will be expected to complete 12 units of study - that is 6 units per semester. In Year 12, you will be expected to complete 10 units of study - that is 5 units per semester.

For more detailed information eg attendance, redemption & review, scored and unscored VCE, please see Senior School Guidelines for Students - VCE and VCE Vocational Major.

VCE Assessment

There are two ways in which VCE units are assessed:

• by satisfactory completion of a unit

• by levels of performance

VCE studies are assessed using Outcomes and School Assessed Coursework (SACs) and/or School Assessed Tasks (SATs) together with Examinations.

Satisfactory completion:

• For each unit of study, students will receive an S (completed satisfactorily) or N (not completed satisfactorily). This result depends on whether students have satisfactorily achieved all outcomes related to the unit and have met the attendance requirements.

• Students must meet a 90% attendance requirement in each unit of study.

• Every VCE unit of study includes a number of outcomes. The decision about satisfactory completion of outcomes is based on the teacher’s assessment of the student’s overall performance on set work and assessment tasks designated for the unit.

• In order to satisfactorily complete a VCE Unit of Study a student must satisfactorily achieve each outcome for the unit. The decision to award an S for the unit is distinct from the assessment of levels of achievement.

Levels of performance:

There is a system of graded assessment, from A+ to U/G, based on SAC, SAT and Examination results. The examination component will be assessed externally by the Victorian Curriculum Assessment Authority (VCAA) at the end of Unit 4.

At the end of the Year 11 and 12 each student will receive a Statement of Results indicating the units studied and the S or N result for that unit. In Year 12, the certificate will also give the letter grades obtained for each SAC, and External Examinations. These will provide the basis for a Board of Studies calculated Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank (ATAR) which is required for direct entry in University education post Year 12.

Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR)

The Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank (ATAR) is a score that is generated from a student’s result. This score is used by most tertiary institutions as a primary criterion for selection purposes.

The ATAR is based on up to six VCE study results. The results do not all have to be from one year.

The ATAR is calculated using:

• The best score in any one of the English studies plus

• The scores of a student’s next best three permissible studies (which together with the English study make the ‘Primary Four’), plus 10 percent of the scores for any fifth and sixth study which a student may have completed (these are called increments).

Students with the Primary Four will receive an ATAR. VTAC will use up to six results in calculating the ATAR. If a student has more than six results, the six scores that give the highest ATAR are used.

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