Alia College offers an engaging and diverse VCE curriculum. Class sizes are often small, allowing for dynamic class discussion and a tailored teaching approach. Our teachers go above and beyond to support each student in achieving the most out of their VCE years.
VCE – What is it?
VCE stands for “Victorian Certificate of Education”. VCE is awarded by the State Government of Victoria. Only students who successfully complete Years 11 and 12 obtain their VCE. VCE results (called ATAR scores) are used by many tertiary institutions to select students for many of their courses. A student’s ATAR score is calculated by school coursework, called SACs, and an external examination.
ATAR stands for Australian Tertiary Admission Rank. It is a number from 0-99.95 which indicates roughly the percentage of students based on the number in the Year 12 cohort Australia wide that you beat in the VCE assessments. It is used by many tertiary courses to select students. For many academic courses the ATAR score is all that matters. For many creative courses it is less important than the student’s portfolio.
The VCE is widely recognised and accepted in the world. See this list of renowned universities worldwide.
VCE is not the final decider of a person’s value. We are proud of the academic results, but we are equally proud of the students’ personal development in a world that so values confidence and the ability to speak up.
VCE at Alia
We pride ourselves on helping students achieve the outcomes they desire. We encourage our students to do the things they choose to the best of their abilities. Almost all students seem to get better results than they or their parents had expected. For some students merely completing their VCE was something that their parents had not dared to hope for.
We have not restricted students from taking VCE at Alia on the basis that they were not sufficiently capable. We have even taken students who have been encouraged out of other schools due to low performance (or, as they can say, due to the school’s inability to provide a suitable course.)
The Alia College VCE 2024 Handbook, which outlines how VCE at Alia College functions, and the options for students, including subjects on offer, can be found here.
The great majority of our students get into the course of their first choice and most at the least get into a tertiary course. Having said that, we encourage students to be their best selves, which may be about developing as a person rather than focusing on numbers at the end of their schooling life. As we know, there are many pathways into the adult working world and we support students who don’t necessarily follow an entirely academic route. To have developed as a confident human being is just as valid and we encourage our students in their personal development.
VCE Baccalaureate
The VCE-Baccalaureate provides further information about the kind of senior secondary program of study a student has undertaken within the VCE. It provides an additional form of recognition for those students who choose to undertake the demands of studying both a higher level mathematics and a language in their VCE program of study.
To be eligible to receive the VCE-Baccalaureate the student must satisfactorily complete the VCE and receive a study score for each prescribed study component.
The VCE program of study must include:
- a Units 3 and 4 sequence in English or Literature or English Language with a study score of 30 or above; or a Units 3 and 4 sequence in EAL with a study score of 33
or above - a Units 3 and 4 sequence in either Mathematical Methods or Specialist Mathematics
- a Units 3 and 4 sequence in a VCE Language
- at least two other Units 3 and 4 sequences.
In 2015, two Alia College students were awarded the VCE Baccalaureate for their studies.
After Alia
Graduates from Alia go on to do all kinds of things. We have alumni who have earned doctorates in science and medicine, others who have completed bachelors and masters degrees in various fields. Some go on to find success in the arts, winning awards for short films and photography. A few have had children, some are married, some have bought houses, some have travelled overseas. One student has pursued his archeological studies at a foreign university. Some have set up their own businesses as tradespeople, caterers, therapists, web designers. Alia students can be found contributing to many fields, following many careers. A number of alumni now work at Alia, either as teachers or administrators.
Alia maintains contact with our alumni through annual end-of-year alumni gatherings. We invite all previous students, whether they graduated from Alia or were only here for a few months, to come back to visit with their families and partners.
