• Victorian Certificate of Education
• Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning
• Apprenticeships and Traineeships

• About the VCAL
• What I need to know
• What do I study?
• What counts towards my VCAL?
• How is the VCAL assessed?
• What must I do to be awarded a VCAL certificate?
• How are my results reported to me?
• Where can the VCAL take me?
• Student Success Stories
• VCAL pathways in languages other than English
• Glossary

Glossary

There are a few special terms used in this book. This is what they mean.

Equivalent National Tertiary Entrance Rank (ENTER)
The overall ranking on a scale of 0–99.95 that you receive, based on your study scores (see below). The ENTER is used by universities and TAFE institutes to select students for their courses.

General Achievement Test (GAT)
The test that is done by all students doing a VCE Unit 3 and 4 sequence or scored VCE VET Unit 3 and 4 sequence.

Graduation requirements
The program and standard required to qualify for the VCE or VCAL.

Office of Training and Tertiary Education (OTTE)
The office responsible for the planning, regulation and delivery of a range of education and training programs and services.

Outcomes
What you are expected to know and be able to do, by the time you have finished a VCE unit.

Registered Training Organisation (RTO)
An institution that has been approved by OTTE to deliver specified training programs.

Satisfactory completion
This means you have achieved the outcomes for the unit. You get an ‘S' for the satisfactory completion of a unit. If you do not satisfactorily complete a unit, you get an ‘N' for it.

Semester
One half of the academic year. Most units last for one semester.

Sequence
The order in which you do your VCE units, for example a Unit 3 and 4 sequence.

Statement of Attainment
A record of recognised learning which may contribute towards a qualification in the VET sector.

Statement of Results
A set of documents which formally state the results you achieved in the VCE and/or VCAL, and whether you have graduated.

Studies
The subjects available in the VCE.

Study design
The description of the content of a study, and how students' work is to be assessed. A study design for each VCE study is published by the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority. Schools and other VCE providers must adhere to the study designs.

Study score
A score with a maximum of 50 which shows how you performed in a VCE study or scored VCE VET programs, relative to all other students doing that same study. It is calculated using the scores achieved in each of the three graded assessments for the study.

Units (VCAL)
Accredited units in Literacy, Numeracy, Personal Development and Work Related Skills that contribute as credits towards the VCAL.

Units (VCE)
The parts of a study in the VCE. There are usually four units in a study, numbered 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA)
The Victorian State Government agency responsible to the Minister for Education for the management of the VCE and VCAL.

Vocational Education and Training (VET)
This refers to nationally recognised vocational certificates.