VIC VCE — curriculum reference
The Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) is taken by Year 11 and 12 students in Victoria. Study scores from Year 12 contribute to the ATAR via VTAC scaling.
Syllabus authority
VCAA — Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority publishes the official syllabuses for VIC VCE. We do not republish syllabus content — for the formal syllabus documentation, go to the authority directly: https://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/curriculum/vce/Pages/Index.aspx.
Scaling for VIC VCE is calculated annually by VTAC. See our VIC VCE ATAR scaling page for the full 2024 data.
Subjects with 2024 ATAR scaling data
78 subjects are listed below. Each links to its dedicated scaling page where you can see the verbatim 2024 percentile distribution, scaled mean, and standard deviation.
| Subject | Scaling page |
|---|---|
| Accounting VCE subject (General) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Agricultural & Horticultural Studies VCE subject (General) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Algorithmics (HESS) VCE subject (General) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Ancient History Year 12: Egypt, Greece, Rome, the Near East. Focus on source interpretation. Less popular than Modern History but with similar essay-writing demands. | Scaling → |
| Applied Computing: Data Analytics VCE subject (Applied Computing) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Applied Computing: Software Development VCE subject (Applied Computing) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Arabic VCE subject (Languages) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Art Creative Practice VCE subject (Arts) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Art Making and Exhibiting VCE subject (Arts) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Auslan VCE subject (Languages) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Australian History VCE subject (History) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Australian Politics VCE subject (Politics) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Biology Year 11: cells, organisms, ecosystems, genetics. Year 12: heredity, inheritance, infectious disease, non-infectious disease, immunity, biotechnology. Heavier on memorisation than other sciences. | Scaling → |
| Business Management VCE subject (General) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Chemistry Year 11: chemical reactions, stoichiometry, periodic table, organic chemistry intro. Year 12: equilibrium, acid-base reactions, organic chemistry depth, analytical techniques. Calculation-heavy. | Scaling → |
| Chinese First Language VCE subject (Languages) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Chinese Language Culture and Society VCE subject (Languages) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Chinese Second Language VCE subject (Languages) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Chinese Second Language Advanced VCE subject (Languages) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Classical Studies VCE subject (Humanities) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Dance VCE subject (Arts) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Drama VCE subject (Arts) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Economics Year 11: introduction to economics, micro and macro foundations. Year 12: Australian economy in detail, economic issues, policies, global economy. Numerical, analytical, current-affairs heavy. | Scaling → |
| English Reading and creating texts; analysing argument; comparative analysis. Required for ATAR eligibility in VIC. | Scaling → |
| English Language Linguistic analysis of contemporary Australian English — registers, dialects, discourse. Generally higher-scaling than English. | Scaling → |
| English as an Additional Language Adapted English course for students whose primary language was not English in primary school. Same modules as English with adjusted assessment. | Scaling → |
| Environmental Science VCE subject (Sciences) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Extended Investigation VCE subject (General) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Food Studies VCE subject (General) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Foundation Mathematics Practical maths — money, measurement, data, geometry. Designed for students not continuing into university quantitative courses. Lowest-scaling VCE maths. | Scaling → |
| French VCE subject (Languages) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| General Mathematics Year 11 foundation course covering data analysis, recursion, networks, matrices, geometry. Pathway to Year 12 General Maths (Further Maths). | Scaling → |
| Geography VCE subject (Humanities) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| German VCE subject (Languages) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Global Politics VCE subject (Politics) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Greek VCE subject (Languages) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Health and Human Development VCE subject (General) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Hebrew VCE subject (Languages) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Hindi VCE subject (Languages) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Indonesian Second Language VCE subject (Languages) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Industry and Enterprise VCE subject (General) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Italian VCE subject (Languages) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Japanese Second Language VCE subject (Languages) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Karen VCE subject (Languages) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Khmer VCE subject (Languages) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Korean Second Language VCE subject (Languages) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Latin VCE subject (Languages) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Legal Studies Year 12: crime, human rights, family law, workplace, world order. Heavy on case-citing essays. Aligns well with future Law or Politics study. | Scaling → |
| Literature Close reading of canonical and contemporary literary texts. Analytical and creative responses. Higher-scaling than English; lower than English Language in some years. | Scaling → |
| Mathematical Methods Calculus, functions, probability, statistics. The standard quantitative VCE prerequisite for STEM and business university courses. Consistently one of the higher-scaling VCE subjects. | Scaling → |
| Media VCE subject (Arts) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Music Composition VCE subject (Arts) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Music Contemporary Performance VCE subject (Arts) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Music Inquiry VCE subject (Arts) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Music Repertoire Performance VCE subject (Arts) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Outdoor and Environmental Studies VCE subject (General) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Persian VCE subject (Languages) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Philosophy VCE subject (Humanities) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Physical Education VCE subject (General) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Physics Year 11: kinematics, dynamics, waves, thermodynamics. Year 12: advanced mechanics, electromagnetism, the nature of light, quantum and special relativity. Heavy on calculation, light on memorisation. | Scaling → |
| Product Design and Technologies VCE subject (Technologies) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Psychology Year 12: how the brain functions, learning and memory, mental health, social cognition. Increasingly popular VCE subject. | Scaling → |
| Punjabi VCE subject (Languages) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Religion and Society VCE subject (Humanities) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Revolutions VCE subject (History) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Russian VCE subject (Languages) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Serbian VCE subject (Languages) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Sinhala VCE subject (Languages) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Sociology VCE subject (Humanities) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Spanish VCE subject (Languages) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Specialist Mathematics Vectors, complex numbers, mechanics, advanced calculus, kinematics. The hardest senior maths course in VIC. Highest-scaling VCE subject in most years. | Scaling → |
| Systems Engineering VCE subject (Technologies) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Texts and Traditions VCE subject (Humanities) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Theatre Studies VCE subject (Arts) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Turkish VCE subject (Languages) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Vietnamese First Language VCE subject (Languages) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Vietnamese Second Language VCE subject (Languages) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
| Visual Communication Design VCE subject (Arts) with 2024 scaling data published by VTAC. | Scaling → |
If your subject is not listed
Subjects with fewer than 40 students per year are omitted from the published scaling tables (this is the threshold the tertiary admissions centres themselves use — small-cohort statistics are not reliable). These subjects are still part of the qualification; they simply do not have the same published-scaling reference data. See the syllabus authority's own page for details.