WACE

Western Australian Certificate of Education

At the end of Year Twelve, all students aim to achieve their WACE. The table below shows exactly what is required.

Requirement

Details

Completion

Complete at least 20 units or equivalents (endorsed programs, VET programs). The 20 units must include:

four course units from English, Literature and/or English as an Additional Language/Dialect in Year Eleven and Year Twelve: a pair of which must be completed in Year Twelve.
one pair of course units from List A (arts/languages/social sciences) and one pair from List B (mathematics/sciences/technology) completed in Year Twelve.
students must do TEN course units in Year Eleven, four of which can be counted from VET credit transfer or endorsed programs.
students must do TEN course units in Year Twelve, four of which can be counted from VET credit transfer or endorsed programs.
Endorsed programs may only account for four unit equivalents in total over Year Eleven and Twelve (two in Year Eleven and two in Year Twelve).
complete at least four Year Twelve ATAR courses, or at least five Year Twelve General courses (or a combination of General and up to three Year Twelve ATAR courses) or equivalent, or a Certificate II (or higher) VET qualification in combination with ATAR, General or Foundation courses.

Achievement standard

Achieve at least 14 C grades or higher (or the equivalent) in Year Eleven and Twelve course units, with a minimum of six C grades or the equivalent in Year Twelve.

Grades are based on a semester.

Literacy and Numeracy requirements

Students must meet minimum requirements in the Online Literacy and Numeracy Assessment (OLNA). Students may repeat this assessment each semester from the end of Year Nine until they achieve the minimum standard. Minimum standard may be achieved before Year Ten through NAPLAN in Year Nine.

Students undertaking OLNA will be required to satisfy both the reading and writing component in order to demonstrate the minimum WACE literacy standard. If students do not demonstrate the literacy and numeracy standard by the time they exit secondary school, they can apply to the Authority to re-sit the assessment at any age. However, if OLNA requirements are not met, students will not achieve WACE.

Examinations and

Externally Set

All Year Twelve students enrolled in an ATAR course are required to sit the required examination(s). If examinations are not completed, the completion result for the course will not be recorded and a grade will not be awarded. This may result in the student not achieving their WACE.

Students enrolled in General courses must complete an Externally Set Task (EST) for each General course undertaken.

VET courses

Vocational Education and Training (VET) programs are nationally accredited and consistent with the requirements of the Australian Quality Training Framework (AQTF). All VET programs require registered training organisation (RTO) delivery, assessment and quality control under the AQTF.

Endorsed Programs

Students may also wish to complete endorsed programs in addition to their other courses to count towards their achievement of the WACE. Endorsed programs include such activities as participation in Country Week, part-time work, completion of Duke of Edinburgh, a Leeuwin voyage, participation in school productions and the like. Please check with your Head of House if you would like to complete an endorsed program.