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The Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) is the credential given to students who have completed Year 11 and Year 12 of their secondary schooling, in the state of Victoria, Australia. It is considered to be one of the more rigorous secondary education programs in the world and is recognized as a requisite credential for admission to universities in Australia and worldwide. Study for the VCE is usually completed over two years, but it can be spread over a longer period in some cases.
The VCE is organized units. students usually choose to study five or six subjects of two units each year at the VCE level. The range of subjects depends on the school, as each individual school decides which subjects they will offer to their students.
Most, but not all, VCE subjects comprise four units. A unit is studied for one semester, with Units 1 and 2 being studied in Year 11 and Units 3 and 4 being taken in Year 12. Year 11 students can 'accelerate' and study a Unit 3/4 subject early, resulting in a bonus on their final score. Units 3 & 4 of any subject must be studied in sequence, whereas Units 1 & 2 can be mixed and matched in Year 11. Students are not required to complete all the units of a subject as part of the VCE course, however Units 1 & 2 usually must be studied before Units 3 & 4 of a subject can be attempted (unless 'accelerating'). On completing a Unit, a student recieves an 'S' (Satisfactory), or an 'N' (Not Satisfactory).
In order to recieve the VCE and an ENTER, students must have achieved an 'S' result for at least sixteen units, including 4 Units of English, the only compulsory subject (although there are variations, such as English Second Language or Literature that can count towards the English requirement). The ENTER (Equivalent National Tertiary Entry Rank) recieved ranges from 0 to 99.95 in increments of 0.05. Approximately 20 students recieve each incremental rank. The ENTER is calculated from a series of Study Scores recieved for each Unit 3/4 subject successfully completed, ranging from 0 to 50.
Universities provide a Clearly-In and a Fringe ENTER for each course, denoting the range of scores required to gain a place in a course.
