Senior School

The senior years mark an evolution for students learning. This is where students begin their senior certificates; Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE), VCE Vocational Major (VM) or the Victorian Pathways Certificate (VPC). It is an important time in a student academic career as each certificate is built to support different aspirations and educational needs. Please refer to the table below to explore the differences between these three certificates.

	VCE (traditional)	VCE Vocational Major (VM) – Previously VCAL	Victorian Pathways Certificate (VPC)
Is this a recognised senior secondary qualification?	YES	YES	NO (students receive a certificate of Year 11 and 12 participation)
Length of qualification	2 Years	2 Years	UP TO 2 Years (students can leave early if they successfully complete the required number of units)
Number of units (or modules) that need to be successfully completed	16	16	12
Other prerequisites to complete the certificate	Successfully complete: 3 units from the English group, including a Unit 3–4 sequenceat least three other sequences of Unit 3–4 studies, which can include further sequences from the English group	Successfully complete: 3 VCE VM Literacy or VCE English units (including a Unit 3–4 sequence)2 VCE VM Numeracy or VCE Mathematics units2 VCE VM Work Related Skills units2 VCE VM Personal Development Skills units, and180 hours of VET	Successfully complete: at least two units of VPC Literacy (or units from the VCE English group including VCE Vocational Major Literacy)at least two units of VPC Numeracy (or units from the VCE Mathematics group including VCE Vocational Major Numeracy)at least two VPC Personal Development Skills unitsat least two VPC Work Related Skills units.
Do you need to do the GAT	YES	YES	NO
Do you need to sit other exams?	YES	NO	NO
Will you complete a VET course at school	NO	YES (Business and Workplace Skills*)	YES (Active Volunteering*)
Do you NEED to do a VET to successfully complete the course?	NO	YES	NO – however students can CHOOSE to take one
Do you NEED to undertake structured workplace learning?	NO	YES	NO – however students can CHOOSE to do this
Can you pick subjects?	Yes only English is compulsory	No – all students will complete Literacy, Numeracy, Work Related Skills and Personal Development Skills, Industry Specific Skills BUT you do choose the VET course	No* – all students will complete Literacy, Numeracy, Work Related Skills and Personal Development Skills, Industry Specific Skills
Can you access University after successfully completing this certificate?	YES (if you meet the prerequisites of the course for example you have the required subjects and/or ATAR)	SOMETIMES (Limited institutions accept the VCE VM)	NO (Students would need to go to TAFE first)
Can you access TAFE after successfully completing this certificate?	YES	YES	YES (Will depend on the certificate level)