Latest news with #MajorVCE
Sydney Morning Herald
27-04-2025
- General
- Sydney Morning Herald
Thousands of high school students shun ‘two years of hell' in favour of vocational VCE
High school students are shunning the 'hell' of ATAR-scored final exams and flocking to the vocational VCE in their thousands, with the alternative stream experiencing a surge in enrolments of almost 20 per cent last year. The growth of the Vocational Major VCE (VM) looks set to continue, with more than 26,600 students now combining job-ready vocational training with their high school studies. But the state government is facing calls to do more to promote the option to year 11 and 12 students seeking an alternative to the stress of pursuing an ATAR score and university place. The VM was introduced in 2023 to replace the Victorian Certificate of Higher Learning (VCAL) which had developed a serious image problem, and was often described as the 'poor cousin' to an ATAR-scored VCE. Loading The government worried that the stigma attached to the VCAL discouraged schools from offering the stream, leaving too many students with no choice but an unscored VCE. But nearly all government schools are mandated to offer the VM, a move intended in part to address the patchy availability that dogged the VCAL. The state government says the growing numbers of Year 12 completions of vocational majors – from 6454 in 2023 to 8290 students last year – has helped boost overall year 12 completion rates, which were at just 91.7 per cent in 2021, to 97.5 per cent in 2024.
The Age
27-04-2025
- General
- The Age
Thousands of high school students shun ‘two years of hell' in favour of vocational VCE
High school students are shunning the 'hell' of ATAR-scored final exams and flocking to the vocational VCE in their thousands, with the alternative stream experiencing a surge in enrolments of almost 20 per cent last year. The growth of the Vocational Major VCE (VM) looks set to continue, with more than 26,600 students now combining job-ready vocational training with their high school studies. But the state government is facing calls to do more to promote the option to year 11 and 12 students seeking an alternative to the stress of pursuing an ATAR score and university place. The VM was introduced in 2023 to replace the Victorian Certificate of Higher Learning (VCAL) which had developed a serious image problem, and was often described as the 'poor cousin' to an ATAR-scored VCE. Loading The government worried that the stigma attached to the VCAL discouraged schools from offering the stream, leaving too many students with no choice but an unscored VCE. But nearly all government schools are mandated to offer the VM, a move intended in part to address the patchy availability that dogged the VCAL. The state government says the growing numbers of Year 12 completions of vocational majors – from 6454 in 2023 to 8290 students last year – has helped boost overall year 12 completion rates, which were at just 91.7 per cent in 2021, to 97.5 per cent in 2024.
