Victorian Certificate of Education - Structure of The VCE

Structure of The VCE

The Victorian Certificate of Education is generally taught in Year 11 and 12 of secondary college in Victoria, however some students commence their VCE studies in Year 10 or earlier if the school allows it.

All VCE studies are organised into units (VCE subjects typically consist of four units; each unit covers one semester of study). Each unit comprises a set number of outcomes (usually two or three); an outcome describes the knowledge and skills that a student should demonstrate by the time the student has completed the unit. Subject choice depends on each individual school. Unit 3/4 of a subject must be studied in sequential order, whereas Unit 1/2 can be mixed and matched. Students are not required to complete all the units of a subject as part of the VCE course, meaning they are able to change subject choice between Year 11 and Year 12.

On completing a unit, a student receives either a 'satisfactory' (S) or 'non-satisfactory' (N) result. If a student does not intend to proceed to tertiary education, a 'satisfactory' result is all that is required to graduate with the VCE. If a student does wish to study at a tertiary level then they will require an ATAR. In order to gain an ATAR a student must satisfactorily complete three units of any subject in the English field (at least one English field subject is compulsory) and sixteen units in any other subjects.