The curriculum content of Australian primary and secondary schools is carried out from the perspectives of academics, sports and society, mainly covering eight important subjects: English, Mathematics, Society and Environment, Science, Arts, Second foreign language, Technology, Personal Development and Health and Sports. In addition to local high school courses in Australia, many private secondary schools also offer IB courses. When studying, students can choose local college entrance examination courses, or they can choose IB courses to apply to overseas institutions (including the United States, the United Kingdom, etc.).
Both the public and private schools provide a wealth of extracurricular activities to help students explore their interests and develop their social viability. The school will provide opportunities for social practice activities, such as camp training, traffic safety, social experience and so on. The flexible and diverse social practices organized by the school can help students expand their horizons and discover their favourite development directions.
The Australian Education System is largely similar to the UK. It consists of 6 years of primary school (Year 1 to Year 6), 6 years of middle school (Year 7 to Year 12, that is, 3 years of junior high school and 3 years of high school) and about 3 years of university. Students need to complete secondary education (i.e. meet high school graduation requirements) before entering university studies. After graduating from high school, Australian students can also choose university courses or college courses for early employment according to their circumstances.
In addition to the compulsory courses in junior high school, each school also offers a wide range of specialized or technical elective courses for students to choose from. Usually only English is a compulsory course, and students can choose the remaining 4-5 courses according to their situation or interests. Most students will choose courses that are more suitable for them according to their hobbies and development directions. For example, students who want to study law can choose high school law courses in advance; students who want to study finance can also choose economics, accounting and other courses in advance. The Australian education system is better at teaching students by their aptitude. From middle school, students are helped to understand their interests and strengths through a variety of social activities and curricula. Therefore, students can adapt to university courses smoothly after graduating from high school.
New South Wales, as ‘Australian No.1 State’, its high school graduation certificate exam is called HSC (Higher School Certificate Examination). The HSC exam stipulates that students must study four compulsory subjects and one or two elective subjects. The final HSC test score is composed of the students’ usual scores and final examination scores in twelve education years. The final score is reflected in the ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admission Rank), which is summed up by the total HSC scores of each subject, and then ranked according to the proportion to obtain the student’s ATAR score. ATAR refers to a student’s state-wide ranking, with a maximum of 99.95 and the top 1% state-wide.
Exam Time: From mid-October to mid-November each year.
Exam Content: There are many HSC exams, and students can choose the subjects they take to take the exam.
Exam Form: mainly includes written test, listening, interview (oral, performance, etc.), submission of design proposals, etc.
The Victorian High School Certificate is called VCE (Victoria Certificate of Education). VCE system is famous for its diversity in that the examination methods, examination contents, and scoring methods fully demonstrate the students’ independent choices and humanized education methods. The Victorian College Entrance Examination Assessment Authority (VCAA) will review and evaluate students’ test scores, and issue a VCE certificate after passing. VCE currently has more than 100 subjects for students to choose from. Its curriculum is not only consistent with domestic mathematics, historical geography, physics and other courses but also offers more such as economics, design technology, food technology, drama and health. Courses are suitable for the development of students with diverse interests. In addition, to complete the VCE program, students must complete 5-6 VCE subjects, English or English as a Second Language as the compulsory course. The scoring method adopts the same ATAR ranking method as NSW.
Exam Time: from mid-to-late October every year and lasts until mid-November.
Exam Content: There are a large number of VCE exams, and students can choose the subjects they take to take the exam.
Scoring Method: It is mainly divided into two parts – one part comes from the students’ usual grades, and the other part comes from the students’ examination results.
