Senior Secondary Certificate Statistical Information 2023

Section 1: Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE)

Section 1: Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE)

Data source: 2023 data were extracted from the VCAA corporate database at 19 January 2024 (Published).

If you have any concerns or comments, please contact the Data Analysis and Reporting Unit by emailing: research.vcaa@education.vic.gov.au.

Section 1

This section provides information about student performance in the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) in 2023. Within the VCE, students have the option to undertake the VCE Vocational Major (VCE VM).

1. Victorian Certificate of Education

VCE completion is calculated on the basis of satisfactory completion of units. Refer to the VCE and VCAL Administrative Hand book for VCE eligibility requirements, the regulations, which can be found on the VCAA website.

Table 1.1: VCE (including the VCE VM) Participation and Completion, 2019 - 2023 ¹
Students	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Eligible to complete the VCE	50,292	51,162	51,746	50,602	59,220
Satisfactorily completed VCE	49,366	50,302	50,774	49,638	57,736
Percentage of VCE completions	98.2	98.3	98.1	98.1	97.5

Table 1.2: VCE (including the VCE VM) Participation and Completion by Gender, 2023
Gender	Eligible	Completions	% Completions
Female	30,505	29,824	97.8
Male	28,294	27,512	97.2
Gender X	421	400	95.0
All	59,220	57,736	97.5

The VCE (Baccalaureate) is an additional form of recognition for those students who choose to undertake the demands of studying both a higher level of mathematics and a language in their VCE program of study. Refer to the VCE and VCAL Administrative Handbook for VCE eligibility requirements, which may be found on the VCAA website.

Table 1.3: VCE Baccalaureate Awarded, 2019 - 2023 ²
	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Number of Students	3,755	3,763	3,574	3,351	3,049

2. Unit Enrolments and Completions

2.1 VCE Units

Table 2.1.1: VCE (including the VCE VM) Unit Enrolments and Completions by Unit Level and Gender, 2023 (excluding credit gained through VET in Senior Secondary Schools)
	Units Enrolled				Units Satisfactorily Completed				% Satisfactorily Completed
Gender	Unit 1	Unit 2	Unit 3	Unit 4	Unit 1	Unit 2	Unit 3	Unit 4	Unit 1	Unit 2	Unit 3	Unit 4
Female	198,876	192,387	158,569	154,836	186,731	182,602	155,529	152,967	93.9	94.9	98.1	98.8
Male	192,899	186,755	144,989	141,027	178,143	175,005	141,495	138,941	92.4	93.7	97.6	98.5
Gender X	2,495	2,306	2,095	2,017	2,127	2,003	2,015	1,958	85.3	86.9	96.2	97.1
All	394,270	381,448	305,653	297,880	367,001	359,610	299,039	293,866	93.1	94.3	97.8	98.7
% Female	50.4	50.4	51.9	52	50.9	50.8	52	52.1
% Male	48.9	49	47.4	47.3	48.5	48.7	47.3	47.3
% Gender X	0.6	0.6	0.7	0.7	0.6	0.6	0.7	0.7

Note that students who withdrew during the year without an outcome recorded against their unit enrolments were removed from the dataset. Section 2 (Satisfactory Completion of VCE Units) provides more detailed information of unit participation and completions by study and sequence.

Table 2.1.2: VCE (including the VCE VM) Units 1 - 4 Total Enrolments and Completions by Gender, 2023 (excluding credit gained through VET in Senior Secondary Schools)
Gender	Enrolments	Completions	% Completions
Female	704,668	677,829	96.2
Male	665,670	633,584	95.2
Gender X	8,913	8,103	90.9
All	1,379,251	1,319,516	95.7
% Female	51.1	51.4
% Male	48.3	48
% Gender X	0.6	0.6

There were a total of 1,379,251 VCE (including the VCE VM) unit enrolments in 2023 of which 95.7% were successfully completed. 145,752 of these unit enrolments were VCE VM, of which 85.4% were successfully completed. With the introduction of the Northern Hemisphere Timetable (NHT) there were 593 students from 17 home schools with total 2,524 unit enrolments at units 1-4 in 2022/2023.

The female completion rate was 96.2% while the male completion rate was 95.2%. Females comprised 51.1% of the total unit enrolments while males comprised 48.3%. Females comprised 51.4% of the total unit completions while males comprised 48%.

2.2 VCE VET Units

Students gain credit toward VCE VET units by successfully completing a prescribed number of hours of Units of Competency.

Table 2.2: Equivalent VCE VET Unit Credits Gained Through VET Units of Competency (UoC), 2023
Gender	Unit 1	Unit 2	Unit 3	Unit 4
Female	18,656	11,272	9,761	7,595
Male	23,063	14,843	10,070	8,201
Gender X	285	187	121	96
All	42,004	26,302	19,952	15,892
% Female	44.4	42.9	48.9	47.8
% Male	54.9	56.4	50.5	51.6
% Gender X	0.7	0.7	0.6	0.6

3. Outcomes of VCE Graded Assessment 2023

Section 3 (Grade Distributions for Graded Assessments VCE) provides more detailed information on the outcomes for each study where Graded Assessment is available. VCE studies at Unit 3 and 4 level have three Graded Assessments, while scored VCE VET programs have two Graded Assessments.

In summary, the most awarded grade in 2023 was B comprising 15.8% of the distribution. The median grade was a B, with 56.2% of grades at a B or higher. Table 3.1 shows the number of grades awarded (N), and the percentage awarded per grade. The table includes data for both VCE Unit 3-4 sequences and scored VCE VET programs.

Table 3.1: Aggregate Grade Distributions All Graded Assessments, 2023 (VCE Units 3 - 4 Sequences and Scored VCE VET Programs)
Grade	UG	E	E+	D	D+	C	C+	B	B+	A	A+	All
N	2,591	5,429	16,808	36,393	64,186	88,795	111,736	117,824	115,946	103,944	81,184	744,836
%	0.3	0.7	2.3	4.9	8.6	11.9	15.0	15.8	15.6	14.0	10.9	100.0

Back to 2023