June 22, 2026 by Doug McCurry from BooBook Education
Strengthening the Vocational Major and other alternative pathways
One of the fundamental changes between the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) and the VCE Vocational Major (VM) was the requirement that VM students do the new GAT Part A literacy and numeracy tests like all other VCE students. The GAT assessment gives VM students an external assessment of their reading, writing and numeracy skills that adds some assessment rigour to the VM and strengths it.
The subsequent decision to report the Part A assessment at the three levels of ‘not demonstrated’, ‘demonstrated’ or ‘demonstrated at a high level’ effectively subverted the decision requiring an assessment of the Victorian Literacy and Numeracy assessment for VM students.
The VM reporting scale is very broad in comparison with the 50 point scale for VCE and other study reporting, and miniscule in comparison with the 1000-point ATAR scale used for tertiary entrance. The lack of meaningful differentiation in the VM reporting scale is compounded by the typical results of about 5% not meeting the standard, 80+% meeting the standard and about 12% exceeding the standard. These results mean the 80+% of all students (and probably a greater percentage of VM students) are said to be at the same standard level, and there is no differentiation between VM students on the 8th percentile and those on the 79th percentile.
VM students are required to do only GAT Part A (and they are unable to elect to do Part B) but VCE students are required to do Parts A and B and they are given a standardised score on a 50 point scales for reading related skills, numeracy related skills and writing skills as well as three Part A levels. If VM students choose to do scored VCE VET units they must do both parts of the GAT. There is no published data on the number of VM students doing VCE VET of VCE studies, but it is believed to be a very small number.
The impact of only reporting the three levels of skill for Part A is to limit the information given by the assessment, reducing its value to the students assessed and reducing the motivation for VM students to develop their literacy and numeracy skills. When 80+% of students get the same assessment there is little incentive for students develop their skills and improve their performance.
A proposal to address the lack of information in the Part A assessment and increase motivation for VM students to improve their skills
It is proposed that the GAT Part A assessment be increased from three levels to one below and four levels above the satisfactory standard. It is further proposed that VM students be able to elect to do both parts of the GAT and as a result get the same standardised and meaningful result as the VCE students.
The rationale for this proposal
The VCE Literacy and Numeracy Standards were designed to build a skills assessment into Victorian Year 12 certificate. The VCAL course lacked assessment rigour and as a result the VCAL qualification was held in low esteem. The VM course was designed to have a more rigorous assessment through GAT Part A, but the limited granularity of that assessment has not added much rigour to the VM, and the VM is in danger having the kind of low esteem given to VCAL.
The GAT Part A reporting needs to be refined to motivate VM students to improve their skills so as perform well on the GAT A and to offer more meaningful information to potential users of a GAT statement of results. An improved and more informative GAT A assessment would be of substantially more value in the progress of VM students into work and further studies. If VM students could elect to do Parts A and B of the GAT they would then have a strong standardised assessment that would offer significant information to be considered in possible transition to tertiary education.
The current VM Part A assessment would be of little value in seeking entry to tertiary education for 80+% of students. A more informative Part A assessment, and more so a rigorous Part A and B assessment, would significantly facilitate VM students applying for higher education courses.
A workaround?
While VM students are not currently able to choose to do the full GAT and get standardised scores, they can choose to do scored VCE VET or other VCE studies and they are them required to do the full GAT.
Increased use of the full GAT scores in transition to further education and work would help mitigate the pressure of the ATAR on senior secondary and further down the secondary school system.
