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QCE Queensland

Background

  • Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE), is a high school diploma certificate program in Queensland, Australia (QLD).     

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  • In Queensland, junior high school consists of grades 7-10 and high school is consisdered grades 11-12. Students are required to obtain a certificate from the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority, Internationally recognized Queensland high school diploma issued by Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA). You must complete the 11th and 12th grade courses.   

  

  • There are three main types of QCE courses: (1) Academic ATAR; (2) Personalised Pathway ATAR; (3) Vocational Pathway. Since most universities will only accept students who are studying Acedemic ATAR, students who are going to go to university all must choose this QCE course.

Requirements to Obtain a Certificate

  • To obtain the QCE certificate, students must achieve at least 20 credits. Normal schools require students to take six subjects. (Each subject can reach up to four credits)but in the end only the best five subjects will be used to calculate the results.      

     

  • Twenty credits = At least 12 credits of Core Subject (students need to complete at least 3 subjects [total 4 units]) + 8 extra credits (credits can be taken from the Core subject)

            

  • Mathematics and English are compulsory courses. Students must complete a series of modules 1 to 4 and meet the basic requirements of literacy by achieving a minimum of C+ in English and mathematics in order to obtain ATARA scores.

Evaluation Criteria

When the 12th graders study Units 3 and 4, there will be 3 internal assessments and 1 external examination for each subject. QCE exam scores are calculated in two equal parts =     

  • Mathematics + science subject evaluation distribution: internal assesments (50%) and external assesments (50%)*

    

  • Distribution of all other general subject assessments is as follows: internal assesments (75%) and external assesments (25%)*

How is the ATAR Ranking Calculated?

  • QCAA will calculate the Aggregate Score based on the students' best 5 General Subjects. 

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  • English subjects may not be included in the calculation of Aggregate Score. The QTAC (Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre) will calculate again to obtain the national common score (ATAR) of each candidate, and then rank the students’ national positions according to the ATAR scores.

  

  • *External assessment is scored by QCAA **Achievement level (A = 90, B = 70, C = 50, D = 30, E = 10)

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