For students who are going to start VCE in their near distant future, a great question to start thinking about prior to beginning their VCE journey is about the number of VCE subjects that should be completed.
But before answering this question, it is important to first understand how ATARs are calculated for VCE.
How to calculate ATARs in VCE?
ATARs in VCE are calculated using the scaled study scores that were obtained for each unit 3/4 (year 12 subject), where scaled study scores are your raw study scores (ranking against all students who also completed the same subject) that would be adjusted based on either how difficult the subject is (such as specialist maths and languages) and how competitive the students cohort is for that subject.
Once the scaled study scores are calculated for each subject, then an aggregate score would be calculated by adding the following:
- Scaled study score of one English subject (English/English Language/Literature/English as an Additional Language (EAL))
- Scaled study scores from the three highest scaled scoring subjects
- 10% of scaled study scores from up to two subjects
These aggregate scores would afterwards be compared against the aggregate scores from the rest of Victoria. Then, your aggregate score compared to the rest of the state would become your ATAR. For instance, if someone got a 80 ATAR, this would mean that their aggregate score was better than 80% of the year 12 Victorian students for that year.
NOTE: The four subjects (that has to include one English subject) that has the highest scores would be referred to as the ‘top four’. Whilst, the other two subjects that would only have 10% of their scores counted towards the aggregate scores are called the ‘bottom two’. So even if the English subject has a lower scaled score than the ‘bottom two’ subjects, the English subject would still remain in the ‘top four’.
How does this relate to the number of VCE subjects that I should do?
So based on how aggregate scores are calculated, it seems that doing six unit 3/4 subjects would be the best number of VCE subjects to do. This is because you would be able to make use of the maximum of two 10% scaled scores. Although these 10% of scaled scores seem small, they can make a difference to one’s ATAR, where as you can see below completing four or five unit 3/4 subjects generally leads to getting lower ATARs than completing six unit 3/4 subjects.ATAR: 86.89
NOTE: The following ATARs were calculated using the Deakin University ATAR calculator.
Six Subjects – ATAR: 86.89
| Subject | Raw Score | Scaled Score | Points for Aggregate Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Literature | 31 | 33 | 33 |
| Chemistry | 35 | 39 | 39 |
| Business Management | 39 | 37 | 37 |
| Visual Communication Design | 37 | 34 | 34 |
| Mathematical Methods | 25 | 28 | 2.8 |
| English | 25 | 22 | 2.2 |
| Aggregate Score | 148 |
NOTE: This example highlights that if students complete more than one English subject, the highest scoring English subject would have to remain in the ‘top four’ subjects.
Five Subjects – ATAR: 85.52
| Subject | Raw Score | Scaled Score | Points for Aggregate Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Literature | 31 | 33 | 33 |
| Chemistry | 35 | 39 | 39 |
| Business Management | 39 | 37 | 37 |
| Visual Communication Design | 37 | 34 | 34 |
| English | 25 | 22 | 2.2 |
| Aggregate Score | 145.2 |
Four Subjects – ATAR: 84.31
| Subject | Raw Score | Scaled Score | Points for Aggregate Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Literature | 31 | 33 | 33 |
| Chemistry | 35 | 39 | 39 |
| Business Management | 39 | 37 | 37 |
| Visual Communication Design | 37 | 34 | 34 |
| Aggregate Score | 143 |
Are six unit 3/4 subjects the maximum number of VCE subjects that I can do?
No, technically you can do more than six unit 3/4 subjects. However, the highest six scoring subjects would be counted towards the aggregate score and the ATAR.
So if you didn’t like a score for one of the unit 3/4 subjects, you may choose to complete extra unit 3/4 subjects to get better scaled scores and higher ATARs.
What if I don’t want to complete six unit 3/4 subjects because that is too stressful for me?
If this is the case, it is completely fine to complete four to five unit 3/4 subjects instead of six subjects. This would enable you to focus on fewer subjects which may help you get higher scaled scores to get great ATARs.
Is there meant to be a definite answer to the question: ‘How many year 12 VCE subjects should I do?’
No. Ultimately, it is up to you to choose the number of unit 3/4 subjects you’ll complete throughout VCE. However, it is still important to better understand some of the advantages and disadvantages of choosing to complete four, five, six or seven subjects, before making a final decision during one’s VCE journey.
Credit:
This blog was written by our tutor, Emily. You can find her tutor profile here.
