Extension Studies in the VCE
What are extension studies?
Extension studies are university subjects taken with the VCE. They build on VCE studies to first-year university level. Aimed at the most able students, they are a great way to extend your interest in a subject a step beyond the VCE.
Why do extension studies?
Extension studies are there to challenge the best students. If you are among the most able students and are fascinated with a subject and looking for a way to take it further, extension studies could be the way to go. An extension studies program will let you study your area in depth to university level.
As well as the intellectual rewards, there are a number of other benefits that come from doing an extension studies program.
If you pass an extension studies program you will ordinarily be able to take up your subject at second-year level if you are selected for the course to which the subject belongs.
Who can do extension studies?
Extension studies are for the most able students. In any one year it is likely that less than two per cent of VCE students will be eligible. These students are selected by schools using university guidelines. The guidelines help to ensure that selected students are capable of completing their VCE and an extension studies program.
Getting ready for extension studies
A key to selection is your achievement in the 'preparatory study' for the extension studies program you want to do.
The preparatory study is the one that gives you the necessary background for the university subject in your extension studies program. This study will be a Units 3 and 4 sequence which you will normally need to have completed in Year 11 with a study score of at least 41 out of 50.
If you haven't had the opportunity to complete the preparatory study in Year 11 you will need to take it as part of your Year 12 VCE program. Your school will also need to be satisfied that you will achieve a study score of at least 41 out of 50.
Students undertaking an extension study are also expected to have the same prerequisites required for undergraduates enrolling in the same study. For further information on this please contact the relevant university offering the extension study.
Extension studies mean a bigger workload as well as more advanced work. All extension studies programs are at least 20 per cent of a full-time first-year program at university. It's a big commitment, but the rewards are also great.
Making programs accessible
To help you fit extension studies in with your VCE, programs are offered in a variety of ways. They may be offered on campus, through schools, through distance education or through distance education and tutorials, depending on the institution.
Who teaches the programs?
Programs are taught either by university staff or by secondary school teachers who are recognised by the institutions as qualified to teach at that level.
Extension Studies and Completing the VCE
It is important to realise that extension studies do not contribute to the requirements of the VCE. They are not VCE units, so you can't count them as one of the sixteen units needed for satisfactory completion. It comes back to the fact that extension studies are there to extend your capabilities beyond the VCE.
That said, extension studies results will be reported on your Statement of Results at the end of the year, and they do contribute to your Equivalent National Tertiary Entrance Rank (ENTER).
Extension Studies and Tertiary Selection
The ENTER is the main means by which universities select their students for degree courses. A university subject completed as part of an extension studies program will contribute to your ENTER as a sixth study.
An extension studies program will contribute from 4 to 5.5 points to the aggregate underpinning your ENTER depending on how well you pass.
Where to go for more information?
Note: These websites take you out of the VCAA site to a site not maintained or funded by the VCAA.
Monash University
http://www.monash.edu.au/pubs/enhancement
University of Melbourne
http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/umep/
Victoria University
http://www.vu.edu.au/extensionstudies
