Your state's senior certificate explained: HSC, VCE, QCE, WACE, SACE, TCE and the ACT

Ask a parent in Sydney and one in Perth what their teenager will earn at the end of Year 12, and you'll get two different answers — the Higher School Certificate in one, the Western Australian Certificate of Education in the other. Australia doesn't have a single national school-leaving certificate. Each state and territory runs its own, with its own name, its own authority and its own rules. This guide explains, in plain English, what your child will actually be working towards in Years 11 and 12, wherever you live — and what these certificates have in common underneath the different badges.

One country, eight systems

There is no national senior secondary certificate. Instead, each state and territory has its own, awarded by its own curriculum or assessment authority. Here's the full map.

The acronyms look like alphabet soup at first, but the pattern is simple: each is the senior certificate for its state, and each has a single authority that sets the rules and issues it. Notice that the Northern Territory doesn't run its own — the SACE Board assesses NT students under the NTCET, a close cousin of South Australia's SACE.

What they all have in common

Different names, same job. Across the country, the senior certificate is the formal qualification that recognises completing Years 11 and 12, and every system shares the same core ideas:

• You earn it over (about) two years, by completing a pattern of approved subjects, courses and — in most states — vocational or applied options.
• There's a literacy and numeracy expectation. Each authority builds in a requirement or standard for basic literacy and numeracy, met in different ways (a compulsory English subject, a dedicated standard, or an online assessment).
• It's nationally recognised as a senior secondary qualification under the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) — the national system that ranks qualifications by level.
• It is not the same thing as the ATAR. The certificate says you finished school; the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) is a separate university-entry rank calculated from your senior results. More on that below.

~2 yearsof senior study behind every certificate

The certificate, state by state

New South Wales — the HSC

The Higher School Certificate (HSC) is awarded by the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) to students who satisfactorily complete Years 11 and 12. Students work through a pattern of preliminary (Year 11) and HSC (Year 12) courses that must include English, and every HSC student must meet a minimum standard of literacy and numeracy. NESA publishes an annual Rules and Procedures Guide that every HSC student is expected to read.

Victoria — the VCE

The Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) is administered by the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA). Victoria has recently reshaped its senior options: the VCE Vocational Major (VM) — a vocational and applied learning program inside the VCE — has replaced the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) at the intermediate and senior levels. Completing the VCE VM means a student has also completed the VCE, with "Vocational Major" noted on the certificate. For students not yet ready to complete a certificate at VCE level, the Victorian Pathways Certificate (VPC) is a flexible foundation option.

Queensland — the QCE

The Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE) is awarded by the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA). It works on a credit system: students accrue 20 credits in a set pattern (including at least 12 credits from completed Core courses), at the required standard, while meeting literacy and numeracy requirements. There's a recent change worth knowing: from 2026, Year 12 graduates must have completed an academic integrity course during their senior schooling as part of QCE eligibility.

Western Australia — the WACE

The Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) is awarded by the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (SCSA) and requires 20 units across Years 11 and 12. Its literacy and numeracy standard can be met through the Online Literacy and Numeracy Assessment (OLNA) or by reaching the required level in the Year 9 NAPLAN (National Assessment Program — Literacy and Numeracy) tests. In 2026, there are three pathways for Year 12 students to achieve the WACE — an academic (ATAR) pathway, a vocational pathway, and a General-course pathway.

South Australia and the NT — the SACE (and NTCET)

The South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE) is run by the SACE Board and is built on 200 credits, of which at least 60 must be at Stage 2 (the Year 12 level). Its compulsory components are distinctive:

The SACE Board also assesses students in the Northern Territory, where the equivalent is the NT Certificate of Education and Training (NTCET) — same framework, NT badge.

Tasmania — the TCE

The Tasmanian Certificate of Education (TCE) is issued by the Office of Tasmanian Assessment, Standards and Certification (TASC). It asks for a minimum of 120 credit points (at least 80 at Level 2 or higher), and students must meet the Participation and Achievement Standard along with the Everyday Adult Standards — practical reading, writing and communication, mathematics, and use of computers and the internet.

ACT — the ACT Senior Secondary Certificate

The ACT Senior Secondary Certificate is awarded by the ACT Board of Senior Secondary Studies (BSSS). The ACT does something the other systems don't: assessment is continuous, school-based, with no external subject examinations. Students who want an ATAR sit the ACT Scaling Test (AST) and receive a separate Tertiary Entrance Statement.

Vocational and applied pathways count too

A common worry is that a vocational or applied program is somehow "outside" the real certificate. It isn't. Across the states, Vocational Education and Training (VET) and applied-learning options sit inside the senior certificate. Victoria's VCE Vocational Major is the clearest example — finishing it is finishing the VCE — and every other state recognises VET study, school-based apprenticeships and structured workplace learning towards the certificate. For a student headed to TAFE (Technical and Further Education), an apprenticeship, or straight into work, these are genuine pathways in their own right.

How the certificate connects to the ATAR

This is the distinction that trips up the most families, so it's worth stating plainly: the certificate and the ATAR are two different things.

• The certificate (HSC, VCE, QCE, and so on) is the qualification for completing senior school. Most students who satisfy the requirements receive it.
• The ATAR is a rank used mainly for university entry, calculated from senior results by the state's tertiary admissions centre — UAC in NSW and the ACT, VTAC in Victoria, QTAC in Queensland, SATAC in SA and the NT, TISC in WA, and the University of Tasmania directly. (Each of these is its state's tertiary admissions centre.)

You can complete your certificate without an ATAR, and many post-school pathways don't need one — including apprenticeships, TAFE, and a growing range of direct and early-entry university routes. The certificate is the foundation; the ATAR is one optional layer on top for students aiming at ATAR-based university selection.

One thing not to do is compare the certificates by their numbers. A SACE "credit", a TCE "credit point", a QCE "credit" and a WACE "unit" are not the same size — each authority counts in its own currency, so "200 credits" in South Australia and "20 units" in Western Australia both simply mean "a full senior program". The numbers describe how each state is structured, not how demanding it is.

What this means if you move interstate

Because each authority sets its own rules, subjects and credit don't always transfer cleanly when a family moves between states during the senior years. There's usually a way through — authorities handle recognition case by case — but it's not automatic. If an interstate move is likely during Years 10 to 12, contact the receiving state's authority early, before enrolling, so the certificate pathway is mapped out rather than discovered late.

The short version

Whatever it's called where you live, your child's senior certificate does the same job: it recognises two years of senior study, builds in a literacy and numeracy expectation, and sits underneath — not the same as — the ATAR. The names and the fine print differ by state, and they change over time, so the one reliable move is to read the rules from your own state's authority. The table near the top of this guide tells you exactly which one that is.