SACE
The South AustralianCertificate of Education(SACE)
The South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE) is awarded to students who successfully complete their senior secondary education. Students usually complete their SACE over two years but may take longer. The SACE is a qualification that paves the way for young people to move from school to work, or further training and study.
SACE Certificate Structure & Credit System
The certificate is based on two stages of achievement:
- Stage 1: Normally undertaken in Year 11.
- Stage 2: Normally undertaken in Year 12.
- A subject that runs for a semester is worth 10 SACE credits.
- A full-year subject is worth 20 credits.
SACE Journey at St Joseph’s School
- All students will commence their SACE journey in Year 10 by completing their Personal Learning Plan (PLP), soon to be known as Exploring Identities and Futures (EIF).
- Additionally, our students complete their Stage 2 Research Project (Activating Identities & Futures) in Year 11 to enable more flexibility for subject selections in Year 12.
Your SACEJourney
Compulsory Subjects (Completed by end of Year 11)
- Exploring Identities & Futures (PLP): 10 credits (Year 10)
- Activating Identities & Futures (Research Project): 10 credits (Year 11)
- English subjects: 20 credits (Year 11)
- Mathematics subjects: 10 credits (Year 11)
(All compulsory subjects must be completed at a C grade or better)
Additional Credits (Completed in Year 11 and 12)
- Year 11 (Stage 1) subjects or VET courses: 90 credits
- Year 12 (Stage 2) subjects: 60 credits (C- grade or higher)
- Certificate III VET course: Up to 150 credits
VET Courses and ATAR
- Up to 150 SACE credits can be achieved through VET courses.
- 20 credits from a Certificate III course can count towards a student’s ATAR.
University & TafePathways
University
Qualifying for an ATAR
Selection into university courses is based on both eligibility and rank. Eligibility allows the student to be considered for selection; rank determines whether the student is competitive enough to be selected.
Eligibility
To be eligible for selection into a university course/program the student must:
- Qualify for the SACE
- Obtain an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR)
- Meet any pre-requisite subject requirement for the course/program.
Competitiveness
A student's competitiveness in relation to other applicants is based on their selection rank, which is made up of their ATAR, after any bonuses (for which they are eligible) have been applied. The ATAR is a rank given to students on a range from 0 to 99.95 and is calculated from the university aggregate. Students must:
- Qualify for the SACE
- Comply with the rules regarding counting restrictions
- Comply with the rules regarding precluded combinations
- Complete at least 90 credits of study in Tertiary Admissions Subjects (TAS) and Recognised Studies at Stage 2
- Include in these 90 credits:
- A minimum of 60 credits must be achieved through 20 credit TAS subjects
- A maximum of 20 credits can be achieved through Recognised Studies such as a VET course
Prerequistites & Assumed Knowledge
Certain university courses may need students to complete specific Stage 2 subjects at a satisfactory level before they can be considered for admission. These required subjects are called ‘prerequisites.’ To meet a prerequisite, a student must achieve a grade of at least C-
Many university courses/programs recommend that commencing students have background knowledge in one or more specified Stage 1 or Stage 2 subjects or have an identified skill which will enhance the student’s understanding of the course/program content. This is known as ‘ assumed knowledge’.
ATAR Calculations
Calculating the University Aggregate
The university aggregate is calculated from scaled scores. These are the numeric measures of student performance in TAS which are derived from student grades for each subject and are recorded out of 20.0 for 20 credit subjects, and out of 10.0 for 10 credit subjects.
Converting the University Aggregate to an ATAR
The university aggregate is converted to an ATAR. The ATAR is an indicator of how well a particular student has performed relative to other students. It is calculated as follows:
- The group of students who have qualified for a university aggregate in each year is the cohort for that year.
- For each university aggregate score (in the range of 0 - 90.0) obtained by the students in this cohort, the percentage of students who obtained that score or better is calculated. This is known as calculating the 'percentile distribution'.
- Each score in the range 0 - 90.0 now has a corresponding percentile rank in the range 0 - 100. For example, if a score of 78.0 or better out of 90.0 has been obtained by 10% of the cohort, the score of 78.0 will correspond to a percentile rank of 90.0 (100-10).
- The cohort each year may differ from that of other years in that it may represent a smaller or larger percentage of the population of the same age group. The percentage from the given year is known as the ' participation rate'. It is calculated using population statistics obtained from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and measuring these against the size of the cohort.
- The percentile rank is then adjusted to consider the participation rate and the result is the ATAR.
This process ensures the ATAR is comparable from year to year.
When the calculations are completed, a student's relative position on the ATAR range is unchanged from the student's relative position on the university aggregate range.
It is important to remember that a rank is not a score, and an ATAR cannot be calculated arithmetically from a university aggregate.
Reporting the University Aggregate and ATAR
The university aggregate is reported to students on a score range of 0 - 90.0 with intervals of 0.1. The ATAR is reported to students on a percentile scale, i.e. on a range of 0 - 99.95 with intervals of 0.05. The university aggregate and ATAR are reported only to students who qualify for the SACE or NTCET.
Adjustment Factors (Bonus Points)
SATAC offers two bonus point schemes: the ‘University Equity Scheme’ and the ‘Universities Language, Literacy and Mathematics Bonus Scheme.’ St Joseph’s students receive 5 bonus points through the Universities Equity Scheme due to their remote location. The Language, Literacy, and Mathematics Bonus Scheme awards 2 to 4 points based on specific subject achievements.
Students can earn 2 to 4 bonus points in any of the following four categories:
- 20 credits of a Language Other Than English (LOTE) in the Languages Learning Area (Two 10-credit Australian indigenous language subjects can be paired instead of a
- 20-credit LOTE). Note: "Language and Culture" does not attract a bonus.
- 2ESH20 English or 2ELS20 English Literary Studies
- 2MHS20 Mathematical Methods
- 2MSC20 Specialist Mathematics
A maximum of 9 bonus points can be earned across both schemes, added to the university aggregate for selection rank calculation. However, these adjusted ranks are not included in the Tertiary Entrance Statement for SACE/NTCET students as they are specific to SA/NT courses/programs. Refer to SATAC Tertiary Entrance Booklets for eligible universities and courses.
60 Credits
The scaled scores from three 20 credit Tertiary Admissions Subjects (TAS) are used.
Normally, 10 credit subjects do not count towards this requirement but, some 10 credit subjects in the same subject area, when studied in pairs, can substitute for a 20-credit subject. These are called ‘valid pairs’ Such subjects are identified in the SATAC Tertiary Entrance Booklet.
30 Credits
The score for the flexible option is the best 30 credits of scaled scores or scaled score equivalents from:
- The scaled score of a 20 credit TAS
- Half the scaled score of one or more 20 credit TAS;
- The scaled score of one or more 10 credit TAS;
Scaled score equivalents for Recognised Studies to value of 10 or the maximum or 20 credits.
The university aggregate is the best possible score calculated from the above options subject to counting restrictions and precluded combinations. Subjects with scaled scores of 0.0 can be used in the calculation of the university aggregate.
Adjustment Factors (Bonus Points)
SATAC offers two bonus point schemes: the ‘University Equity Scheme’ and the ‘Universities Language, Literacy and Mathematics Bonus Scheme.’ St Joseph’s students receive 5 bonus points through the Universities Equity Scheme due to their remote location. The Language, Literacy, and Mathematics Bonus Scheme awards 2 to 4 points based on specific subject achievements.
Students can earn 2 to 4 bonus points in any of the following four categories:
- 20 credits of a Language Other Than English (LOTE) in the Languages Learning Area (Two 10-credit Australian indigenous language subjects can be paired instead of a
- 20-credit LOTE). Note: "Language and Culture" does not attract a bonus.
- 2ESH20 English or 2ELS20 English Literary Studies
- 2MHS20 Mathematical Methods
- 2MSC20 Specialist Mathematics
A maximum of 9 bonus points can be earned across both schemes, added to the university aggregate for selection rank calculation. However, these adjusted ranks are not included in the Tertiary Entrance Statement for SACE/NTCET students as they are specific to SA/NT courses/programs. Refer to SATAC Tertiary Entrance Booklets for eligible universities and courses.
Tafe
Students can access a range of vocational education and training courses and degrees at TAFE SA. Each course may have particular admission criteria – TAFE SA Admissions Criteria can be found at:
https://www.tafesa.edu.au/apply-enrol/admissions-criteria
For more information on for TAFE and alternative pathways to university refer to The SATAC Guide: www.satac.edu.au.The South Australian universities may also offer foundation courses which can prepare prospective students for university study.