What is VCE - The Curriculum Offered in Victoria, Australia?

I’m currently a Year 11 high school student attending Peninsula International School Australia in Malaysia since 7th grade. I wanted to organize my thoughts about the “VCE” curriculum from Victoria, Australia that I’m studying, as it’s quite complicated.

What is VCE?

First, VCE is an education certificate provided by Victoria, the Australian state famous for Melbourne.

Victorian Certificate of Education - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Australian higher education goes up to Year 12, and VCE takes the final two years to complete, starting after Year 10. As some might notice, VCE is longer compared to other curricula.

Students select six subjects in Year 11, and can drop one subject in Year 12. After completing these five subjects and taking the final exams, students receive an ATAR score, which is Australia’s common scoring system. This score can then be used to enter Australian universities.

About ATAR

Here’s a good link about ATAR:

ATARを通して理解する日本とオーストラリアの教育の違い｜梅屋敷

オーストラリアの大学受験は、大学や専門学校の入学を希望する生徒に通っている学校の成績と最終学期に行う卒業試験の得点を加味した得点をATARというポイントにして、上位の生徒から希望する大学に入学するシステムになっています。 ATARとは、Australian Tertiary Admission Rank の略です。Tertiaryは第三次という意味で、イギリスやオーストラリアでは、小学校をプライマリー　primary education 中学高校をセカンダリー　secondary education 大学や専門学校をターシャリー tertiary educationと区分しています。

note.com

VCE Pros and Cons

The biggest advantage of VCE is that it offers elective subjects. Unlike Japan where certain subjects are mandatory, in VCE you can choose subjects you’re good at to improve your scores (though some core subjects are required). The ATAR score ranks students against their peers across Australia. For example, a score of 80 means you’re in the top 20%, 90 means top 15%. This provides a relatively fair measure of academic ability.

The main disadvantage is its high difficulty level. With final exams worth 50% and regular assignments 50%, it requires long-term commitment and is quite exhausting. The final exam is one-shot with no retakes, so that score stays with you. Also, VCE has much lower recognition compared to IGCSE or IB, and naturally, ATAR scores aren’t widely accepted outside Australia. If returning to Japan, additional tests like TOEFL are required.

Whether it’s an advantage or disadvantage, having Year 12 means you don’t need to attend college (foundation, diploma, or pre-u programs) - though this turned out to be a major disadvantage for me, as I’ll explain later.

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