VCE Vocational Major and Victorian Pathways Certificate Provision

Policy

This policy outlines the provision expectation for the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) Vocational Major and Victorian Pathways Certificate (VPC) for Victorian government secondary schools.

Summary

• All students should be supported to choose and access the senior secondary pathway that best aligns with their strengths, interests and aspirations at their local government school.
• All Victorian government secondary schools are expected to provide:
  • the VCE Vocational Major and
  • the VPC where it is a suitable pathway for students at the school.
• Provision of the VCE Vocational Major and VPC means that Literacy, Numeracy, Work Related Skills and Personal Development Skills studies are delivered on-site by the school.
• The department and the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) are supporting Victorian government schools to deliver the VCE Vocational Major and VPC.
• There are limited exceptions to the certificate provision expectation, namely selective entry, specialism, specialist and specific purpose schools, and schools not providing education to Years 11 and 12 students. While the certificate provision expectation will not apply to these schools, they are encouraged to provide the VCE Vocational Major and VPC where it is suitable for their student cohort.
• In limited circumstances, a school may seek a time limited exception from the certificate provision expectation (refer to the ‘Student enrolments in the VCE Vocational Major and VPC’ section below).

Details

The Year 11 and 12 certificate framework

In 2023:

• the VCE Vocational Major replaces the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning at the Intermediate and Senior levels. The VCE Vocational Major is a 2-year vocational and applied learning program that will enable transitions into apprenticeships, traineeships, further education and training and university (via non-ATAR pathways)
• the VPC has been introduced as an inclusive Year 11 and 12 certificate and replaces Foundation VCAL. It is designed to meet the needs of a smaller number of students who, for various reasons, are not able or ready to undertake the VCE, including the VCE Vocational Major. The VPC is benchmarked at Australian Qualifications Framework Level 1 and is not recognised as a senior secondary certificate of education. This certificate should be provided to students on an as-needs basis, with discussions about the VPC’s suitability for a student best conducted between the school, student and their family.

For more information on these changes and the certificates, refer to the VCAA’s Senior Secondary Certificate Reform website.

VCE Vocational Major and VPC curricula and support materials are available on the VCAA’s website.

The VCAA has developed the VPC Suitability Guidelines (DOCX) to inform decision-making regarding the appropriateness of the VPC for individual students before they are enrolled in the certificate. More information on the VPC is available on the VCAA’s About the VPC website.

Certificate provision expectation

VCE Vocational Major

All Victorian government secondary schools are expected to provide the VCE Vocational Major.

Certificate provision of the VCE Vocational Major means that VCE Vocational Major Literacy, Numeracy, Work Related Skills and Personal Development Skills studies are delivered on-site by the school.

Victorian Pathways Certificate

All Victorian government secondary schools are expected to provide the Victorian Pathways Certificate (VPC) where it is a suitable pathway for students at the school.

Certificate provision of the VPC means that VPC Literacy, Numeracy, Work Related Skills and Personal Development Skills studies are delivered on-site by the school.

In the case of single or low student enrolments in the VPC, schools can determine how to deliver the VPC according to their context and operational requirements. For example, schools may choose to deliver the VPC with VPC students working in the same classroom as other students, such as those undertaking the VCE Vocational Major.

VCAA guidance on co-delivery of the certificates is included in the support materials in the VPC Curriculum Designs and VCE Vocational Major Study Designs.

Vocational Education and Training delivered to school students

Schools will continue to be able to provide access to Vocational Education and Training (VET) components off-site through a third-party provider, such as a TAFE, registered training organisation or on the campus of another school.

Schools are being supported to provide access to a set of priority VET pathways that align with jobs growth areas, school priorities and local industry needs. However providing access to a set of priority VET pathways is not a requirement to deliver the VCE Vocational Major or the VPC. More information on the priority VET pathways is available on the Vocational Education and Training pathways in schools website.

Exceptions to the certificate provision expectation

Schools that are excepted from the certificate provision expectation are encouraged to provide the VCE Vocational Major and VPC where it is suitable for their student cohort.

The following schools are excepted from the provision expectation for the VCE Vocational Major and VPC:

• selective entry schools
• specialism schools
• schools registered as specialist schools with the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA)
• schools registered as specific purpose schools with the VRQA
• secondary schools that do not provide education for students in Years 11 to 12 (for example, Year 7 to 10 schools).

Delivering the new certificates

Support for schools to deliver the new certificates

The department and the VCAA are supporting government schools to deliver the VCE Vocational Major and VPC. All schools will be able to access:

• VCAA professional learning, available on the VCE VM and VPC Professional Learning Platform
• 1.5 days of teacher time release per VCE Vocational Major and VPC teacher in 2023 and 2024, and 1 day in 2025, to participate in professional learning and to support certificate delivery, with reimbursement available through the Schools Targeted Funding Portal
• leadership mentoring and coaching program delivered by the Victorian Applied Learning Association
• enhanced region and area-based support to schools, including from Area Jobs, Skills and Pathways Managers
• support for communicating with students and school communities, available on the Resources tab.

Contact the Provision team in the department’s Senior Secondary Pathways Reform Taskforce for more information on these supports – refer to the contacts section below.

Schools not currently registered or permitted to deliver the new certificates

Schools that are expected to provide the new certificates, or wish to provide one or both certificates, need to be:

• registered by the VRQA for the VCE (if not already registered) and/or the VPC
• permitted by the VCAA to deliver the VCE Vocational Major and/or the VPC.

Schools that need to expand their registration and apply for permission to deliver the new certificates should contact the department’s School Registration Unit as early as possible to find out more information about the process – refer to the contacts section below.

Schools previously registered and permitted to deliver VCAL

Schools that were previously registered and permitted to deliver VCAL have had their registrations and permissions to deliver automatically transferred to the corresponding certificate. If the school delivered:

• Intermediate and/or Senior VCAL, it was automatically registered for the VCE (if not already registered) and permitted to deliver the VCE Vocational Major
• Foundation VCAL, it was automatically registered and permitted to deliver the VPC.

Student enrolments in the VCE Vocational Major and VPC

Students should be supported through their school’s career education program to:

• make informed certificate and subject choices for their senior years
• undertake the certificate that best aligns with their strengths, interests, and aspirations.

Decisions regarding enrolment in the VCE Vocational Major and VPC should be made in partnership between students and their school, with input from parents and carers.

Schools should finalise timetabling and staffing decisions following student certificate and subject selection processes.

Schools with provision challenges for the VCE Vocational Major and the VPC should discuss these with their area’s Jobs, Skills and Pathways Manager as early as possible.

Limiting enrolments in the VCE Vocational Major and VPC

Schools must avoid using enrolment practices for the VCE Vocational Major and VPC that:

• restrict or ‘cap’ enrolments if students’ decisions to undertake the VCE Vocational Major or VPC are informed and appropriate
• compel students to enrol in a certificate that does not align with their informed and appropriate decision
• result in students transferring or withdrawing from school because the school has limited students’ certificate choices.

Time-limited exceptions to the certificate provision expectation

Schools should promote the VCE Vocational Major to build awareness and demand for this certificate ahead of student certificate and subject selection.

There may be instances where, despite strong awareness and balanced course counselling, secondary schools have no, or very low, student demand for the VCE Vocational Major in a particular year. Similarly, as the VPC will be provided on an as-needs basis, a school may not have student need for the VPC in a particular year.

While all Victorian government secondary schools in scope of the certificate provision expectation need to offer the VCE Vocational Major and VPC to their students, schools will not be expected to provide the VCE Vocational Major if there isn’t student demand and will not be expected to provide the VPC where there is no student need.

If this is relevant to your school’s circumstances, please contact your area’s Jobs, Skills and Pathways Manager for support and advice.

In circumstances where there is no demand for the VCE Vocational Major, or demand is so low that it would compromise program quality, the regional director may endorse a one-year time limited exception from the provision expectation.

If this is relevant to your school, your area’s Jobs, Skills and Pathways Manager will work through the following process with your school:

• reviewing provision and identifying provision concerns (Terms 1 and 2)
• identifying and implementing supports throughout the year to overcome provision concerns
• reviewing key school data and information, for example, current class sizes, exit data
• confirming level of student demand through Term 3 certificate and subject selection processes
• seeking endorsement from the regional director.

There are no time-limited exceptions for provision of the VPC – if there is student need for the VPC at the school, it should be provided to those students.

Definitions

Selective entry school
For the purposes of this policy, selective entry school means a Victorian government school where prospective students must sit an entrance exam in Year 8 and meet specific selection criteria to be admitted. There are four government selective entry schools in Victoria – the Mac.Robertson Girls’ High School, Melbourne High School, Nossal High School and Suzanne Cory High School.

Specialism school
For the purposes of this policy, specialism school means a Victorian government school that focusses on a specialist subject or activity and has specific enrolment criteria. There are 2 government specialism schools in Victoria – John Monash Science School and the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School.

Specialist school
For the purposes of this policy, specialist school means a Victorian government school that is established for the main purpose of providing instruction for students with disability or for students with social, emotional or behavioural needs.

Specific purpose school
For the purposes of this policy, specific purpose school means a Victorian government school that provides an alternative educational program.

Related policies

• Minimum Standards and School Registration
• Selective Entry and Other Specialism Schools and Programs

Relevant legislation

• Education and Training Reform Act 2006 (Vic)
• Education and Training Reform Regulations 2017 (Vic)

Contact

For further information on this policy or certificate provision supports, contact the Provision team in the department’s Senior Secondary Pathways Reform Taskforce: sspr.provision@education.vic.gov.au

For further information on the curriculum, certificate design and professional learning for the VCE Vocational Major and VPC, contact the VCAA’s Senior Secondary Reform team: vcaa.seniorsecondaryreform@education.vic.gov.au

For advice and support with registration and permission to deliver for the VCE Vocational Major and/or the VPC contact the department’s School Registration Unit: school.registration@education.vic.gov.au