Section 5: Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL)
Data source: 2020 data were extracted from the VCAA Assessment Processing System (APS) database at 4 January 2021 (Published).
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Section 5
Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning
There were 26,386 enrolments in VCAL certificates in 2020. Students were enrolled with 475 providers. About 61.2% of VCAL certificate enrolments were students enrolled in Government schools.
Table 5.1: Numbers of Schools Providing VCAL and VCAL Certificate Enrolments by Sector, 2020
| Home Sector | Schools | VCAL Certificate Enrolments |
|---|
| Government | 297 | 16,139 |
| Catholic | 87 | 4,202 |
| Independent | 59 | 2,874 |
| Adult | 31 | 3,155 |
| Other Providers | 1 | 16 |
| Total | 475 | 26,386 |
With respect to the level of certificates studied (see Table 5.2) 26.8% of VCAL students were enrolled in Foundation and 44% in Intermediate level certificates. Senior and Senior Extension enrolments comprised 29.2% of enrolments.
Table 5.2: VCAL Enrolments by Certificate, Gender and Level, 2020
| | Gender | |
|---|
| Level | Title | Female | Male | Gender X | All |
|---|
| Foundation | VCAL (Foundation) | 2,471 | 4,569 | 26 | 7,066 |
| Intermediate | VCAL (Intermediate) | 4,314 | 7,279 | 25 | 11,618 |
| Senior | VCAL (Senior) | 3,164 | 4,520 | 18 | 7,702 |
| All | Total | 9,949 | 16,368 | 69 | 26,386 |
Gender
About three in five VCAL student enrolments in 2020 were male (62%).
Unit Completions
In 2020 there were a total of 120,370 VCAL unit completions (See table 5.3).
VCAL units are not the full range of curriculum that contributed towards the attainment of a VCAL. Students enrolled in any VCAL certificate can also gain credit from VET and VCE studies towards their VCAL qualification. VCAL students enrolled in VET and VCE units are included in the participation and completion reports for those units and certificates.
VCAL Personal Development units (28.1%) and VCAL Work Related Skills units (25.5%) accounted for the majority of enrolments in VCAL units.
Overall 75.9% of VCAL units were satisfactorily completed. The overall completion rates for each major unit were as follows: Literacy Skills (75.3%); Numeracy Skills (73.7%); Personal Development Skills (77.2%) and Work Related Skills (76.4%).
Table 5.3: VCAL Unit Completions by Level, 2020
| | Unit Completions |
|---|
| Description | Unit Enrolments | Completed | % Completed |
|---|
| Advanced Numeracy Skills (S) | 121 | 115 | 95.0 |
| Literacy Skills (F) Oral Communication | 5,430 | 3,158 | 58.2 |
| Literacy Skills (F) Reading and Writing | 5,539 | 2,981 | 53.8 |
| Literacy Skills (I) Oral Communication | 9,776 | 7,648 | 78.2 |
| Literacy Skills (I) Reading and Writing | 10,052 | 7,749 | 77.1 |
| Literacy Skills (S) Oral Communication | 7,197 | 6,184 | 85.9 |
| Literacy Skills (S) Reading and Writing | 7,528 | 6,561 | 87.2 |
| Numeracy Skills (F) | 5,368 | 2,779 | 51.8 |
| Numeracy Skills (I) - Unit 1 | 8,706 | 6,679 | 76.7 |
| Numeracy Skills (I) - Unit 2 | 4,691 | 3,425 | 73.0 |
| Numeracy Skills (S) - Unit 1 | 5,693 | 4,897 | 86.0 |
| Numeracy Skills (S) - Unit 2 | 2,893 | 2,355 | 81.4 |
| Personal Development Skills Unit 1 (F) | 5,729 | 3,557 | 62.1 |
| Personal Development Skills Unit 1 (I) | 10,420 | 8,379 | 80.4 |
| Personal Development Skills Unit 1 (S) | 7,465 | 6,581 | 88.2 |
| Personal Development Skills Unit 2 (F) | 4,814 | 2,690 | 55.9 |
| Personal Development Skills Unit 2 (I) | 9,950 | 7,781 | 78.2 |
| Personal Development Skills Unit 2 (S) | 6,160 | 5,391 | 87.5 |
| Portfolio Enhancement and Presentation (SE) | 50 | 49 | 98.0 |
| Skills for Further Study (S) | 620 | 503 | 81.1 |
| Work Related Skills Unit 1 (F) | 5,425 | 3,347 | 61.7 |
| Work Related Skills Unit 1 (I) | 9,954 | 7,894 | 79.3 |
| Work Related Skills Unit 1 (S) | 6,181 | 5,457 | 88.3 |
| Work Related Skills Unit 2 (F) | 4,508 | 2,672 | 59.3 |
| Work Related Skills Unit 2 (I) | 8,616 | 6,610 | 76.7 |
| Work Related Skills Unit 2 (S) | 5,768 | 4,928 | 85.4 |
| Total | 158,654 | 120,370 | 75.9 |
Note: F=Foundation, I=Intermediate, S=Senior and SE=Senior Extension
Where a student has formally withdrawn from the Unit, these have been excluded from the above table.
Certificate Completions
There were 14,552 VCAL certificate completions out of 20,047 enrolments which were eligible to complete in 2020. This is a completion rate of 72.6% (See Table 5.4). A student is eligible to complete a qualification if they have completed sufficient units or modules, or are enrolled in sufficient units or modules that, if completed satisfactorily, would meet the requirements for satisfactory completion of the qualification. Students may also gain credit towards their VCAL from VCE units and VET units of competence.
Table 5.4: VCAL Certificate Completions by Level, 2020
| Level | Eligible Enrolments | Completed | % Completed |
|---|
| Foundation | 3,423 | 1,775 | 51.9 |
| Intermediate | 9,403 | 6,513 | 69.3 |
| Senior and Senior Extension | 7,221 | 6,264 | 86.7 |
| Total | 20,047 | 14,552 | 72.6 |
Of those students who completed a VCAL certificate, 61.3% were male and 38.4% were female. This is a reflection of the enrolment pattern.
Table 5.5: Percentage of VCAL Certificate Completions by Gender, 2020
| Level | % Gender |
|---|
| Female |
| Foundation | 33.2 |
| Intermediate | 37.1 |
| Senior and Senior Extension | 41.3 |
| Total | 38.4 |
| Male |
| Foundation | 66.4 |
| Intermediate | 62.7 |
| Senior and Senior Extension | 58.5 |
| Total | 61.3 |
| Gender X |
| Foundation | 0.3 |
| Intermediate | 0.2 |
| Senior and Senior Extension | 0.2 |
| Total | 0.2 |
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