The South Australian Certificate of Education is awarded to students who have successfully completed their senior secondary schooling in the state of South Australia. The SACE Board of South Australia administrates the certificate. The SACE Board of South Australia is an independent statutory authority of the South Australian Government accredited under ISO 9001:2008. The SACE curriculum is also taught in Northern Territory secondary schools, where it is known as the Northern Territory Certificate of Education and Training. The South Australian Matriculation certificate is a qualification based on the SACE curriculum which is administrated by the SACE Board of South Australia and taught in some schools in Malaysia and China. To get the SACE, students must gain 200 credits from a range of subjects that they take, usually over two years. 20 credits is equal to a full year subject, while 10 credits is equal to a semester long subject. There are two stages: Stage 1, which most students do in Year 11, and Stage 2, which most students do in Year 12. Students may attain a partial SACE certification by gaining the minimum number of credits, yet bypassing the ATAR system. However, this approach will not qualify the student to enter university, nor TAFE.
Importance
Completion of the SACE is a general requirement to get into universities and colleges of technical and further education in South Australia, nationally and internationally. The certificate also provides many study options for students who want to follow a different pathway into the workforce, such as undertaking apprenticeships while still at school.
How the SACE works
There are two stages of the SACE:
Stage 1, which most students do in Year 11, apart from the Personal Learning Plan subject, which most students do in Year 10
Stage 2, which most students do in Year 12.
Each subject or course successfully completed earns ‘credits’ towards the SACE, with a minimum of 200 credits required for students to gain the certificate. Students will receive a final grade from A to E for each Stage 1 subject and A+ to E- for Stage 2 subjects. For compulsory requirements, to gain their SACE they will need to achieve:
a C grade or better at Stage 1
a C- grade or better at Stage 2.
The compulsory requirements are:
Personal Learning Plan
Literacy – at least 20 credits from a range of English subjects or courses
Numeracy – at least 10 credits from a range of mathematics subjects or courses
Other Stage 2 subjects totalling at least 60 credits.
The remaining 90 credits can be gained through additional Stage 1 or Stage 2 subjects or Board-recognised courses of a student’s choice.
Assessment
SACE studies are assessed both internally and externally. All top-tier stage 2 subjects have a 30% external assessment, which may be an exam, investigation or performance. As well as the compulsory subjects, stage 2 school based assessments are centrally moderated to ensure fair and accurate results.
SACE and tertiary studies
SACE results are scaled and then used to calculate a University Aggregate, which is out of 90. This is then converted into an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank, previously a Tertiary Entrance Rank which universities within Australia use to select students who will be offered places in particular courses. A TAFE SA selection score is also calculated for entry into other further education courses. Full details of South Australian university and TAFE entry requirements for 2012 onwards are provided in ‘Australian Tertiary Admissions Booklet 2013, 2014, 2015’, published by the South Australian Tertiary Admissions Centre, the South Australian Government authority which processes applications for tertiary courses in South Australia and the Northern Territory.
Awards
SACE results are announced in December each year. Governor of South Australia Commendations are awarded to people who receive merits in 90 Stage 2 credits or achieved an A in 70 or more credits and displayed "Excellence in the development of one or more SACE capabilities". Merits are awarded to students who receive an A+, and have displayed "exceptional achievement" in individual subjects in their Stage 2 SACE results. Prizes are awarded to the top student in certain subjects, including:
A number of countries utilize SACE as one of the pre-university qualifications.
Malaysia
SACE International offered in Malaysia is effectively an almost similar programme as Australian Matriculation. The difference being their examination board and course structure. AUSMAT is administered by Western Australian Certificate of Education Board while SACE International is administered by South Australian Certificate of Education Board. As for the course structure, AUSMAT consists of 50% coursework and 50% examination, while SACE International consists of 70% coursework and 30% examination. Some of the private universities offering AUSMAT / SACE International in Malaysia include:
