VCE OVERVIEW

Satisfactory VCE Completion

The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) sets the minimum required for a student to graduate with the VCE.

Currently, the minimum required is the satisfactory completion of 16 units. These units must include: 

• Unit 3 and 4 of an English Group subject (English, Literature, English Language, or English as an Additional Language)

• Unit 1 or 2 of an English Group subject (ie. Students must complete a minimum 3 units of English group)

• Three additional sequences of any Unit 3+4 subject. Additional English group subjects may count towards these three subjects.

Satisfactory completion of units

Procedures for the assessment of levels of achievement in Units 1 and 2 are a matter for each school to decide in line with the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) VCE Study Designs. The award of satisfactory completion for a unit is based on a decision that the student has demonstrated achievement of the set of outcomes specified for the unit. This decision will be based on the teacher’s assessment of the student’s performance in the unit. This includes, but is not limited to, student performance in assessment tasks. Students must also abide by all school and VCAA policies, including authentication and attendance policies. The school’s VCE Handbook provides more details about these policies.

In Units 3 and 4, VCAA will supervise the assessment of all students. Students’ level of achievement will be determined by a combination of school-assessed coursework (SACs), school-assessed tasks (SATs) (these are only relevant to a few subjects) and end-of-year examinations, which may be written, oral or performance. Students undertaking a Unit 3/4 sequence will also sit the General Achievement Test (GAT) each year.

To receive a study score, students must achieve two or more graded assessments and receive satisfactory for both Units 3 and 4. The study score is reported on a scale of 0 – 50. This is a measure of how well the student performed in relation to all others who took the study. 

Teachers will provide information about specific assessments and timelines at the beginning of the year in line with the appropriate VCAA Study Design and Assessment Handbooks.

ATAR and Study Scores

In each subject completed, students receive a VCAA study score. This score is normalised relative to all other students in the subject statewide. The study score is reported on a scale of 0 – 50.

To account for differences between the student cohort in each subject, study scores are "scaled" prior to use by VTAC, the body which manages university entry. These score are called VTAC scaled scores. Scaled scores are comparable between subjects.

Finally, scaled scores are tallied into an overall ranking of all students to produce the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR). This is a percentile rank within the cohort of school-leavers. It is primarily used to ration access to tertiary places. In Australia, the most common route into an undergraduate tertiary course is by obtaining an ATAR.

See this page for further information on how Study Scores and ATARs are produced.

Prerequisite Studies for Tertiary Admission

Knowledge of tertiary prerequisites is important because it will help students choose a mix of subjects that will keep their career pathways and options open. 

Prerequisite subject requirements for tertiary courses across Victoria can be found on the VTAC Year 10 Guide website (see section 5).

You can also find a summary of common prerequisite requirements on the SCHS Careers website.

VTAC Coursesearch allows students to explore their study options beyond Year 12.