Subject Selection – 10 to 11 – 2025-6
The QCE Phase of Learning, comprising of Years 10-12, marks the final step towards the completion of secondary schooling. During this time, students are exerting greater independence over their learning choices, and exploring those subjects that they enjoy, are good at, and provide stable foundations for future pathways. Students at MacKillop Catholic College are afforded the opportunity to complete their QCE through academic, vocational, or combined pathways, and all students can complete a course of study that is aligned with their future ambitions, whether they be university, trade or employment.
Our QCE program provides courses of study, resources, programs and support structures to assist students to develop into capable and confident young people who are optimistic, self-aware and adaptable, with a strong sense of compassion and social justice.
What is the QCE?
Students may be eligible for a Queensland Certificate of Education
(QCE) at the end of their senior schooling. To be awarded a QCE, a student must complete a significant amount of learning, to a set standard
and in a set pattern, while meeting literacy and numeracy requirements.
In order to afford all students with the opportunity of successfully obtaining a QCE, MacKillop provides a curriculum that offers a range of subjects that cater to the diverse needs, interests and abilities of the range of students. This includes Essential, General, and Extension subjects.
The new QCE system continues Queensland’s decades-long tradition of involving teachers in all stages of the assessment process.
This involvement enables quality learning experiences for all students and strengthens our culture of high expectations.
Year 10 is the start of the senior phase of learning. In Year 10, students make important decisions about their senior secondary schooling and education, training and career goals.
Schools work with students and their parents/carers to develop a senior education and training (SET) Plan. This process can support students to reflect on and make important decisions about:
- Structuring their learning in Years 11 and 12 around their abilities, interests and ambitions
- Mapping their pathway to a QCE or, if eligible, a QCIA.
Year 10 is the final year of the Australian Curriculum, which forms the foundation knowledge and skills required for senior schooling.
The MCC Year 10 program ensures students:
- Complete the P–10 Australian Curriculum prerequisite knowledge and skills
- Receive the necessary advice, guidance and preparation to start senior studies
MCC supports students’ preparation for senior studies by:
- Identifying opportunities within the Year 10 Australian Curriculum to introduce concepts and skills that provide a foundation for the corresponding senior syllabus (for Years 11 and 12)
- Selecting and modifying the assessment techniques and conditions from the senior syllabus to gather evidence of student learning in the corresponding Year 10 Australian Curriculum achievement standard and standards elaborations
- Building understanding and skills necessary for success in the senior syllabus by identifying the underpinning factors and their alignment to the corresponding General Capabilities in the Year 10 Australian Curriculum
- Addressing students’ individual needs through differentiation.
Schools also open online learning accounts for students. See Senior pathway planning for more information.
When designing a course of study for Years 11 and 12, students may choose from a range of subjects and programs that includes:
- 46 General subjects (including 5 General (Extension) subjects) and 19 alternative sequences
- 23 Applied and 2 Applied (Essential) subjects
- 4 Short Courses
- 22 Senior External Examination subjects (for students unable to access certain General subjects at their school and a small number of mature age students)
- Recognised studies beyond the traditional Queensland curriculum that meet QCAA criteria and standards
- Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses
- School-based apprenticeships and traineeships
- University subjects.
General and Applied subjects are organised into four units and General (Extension) subjects into two units. Units 1 and 2 are foundational learning, for students to begin engaging with the course subject matter and to experience the objectives of the syllabus and assessment techniques. Units 3 and 4 consolidate student learning, with the assessment results for these units contributing to the final subject result and tertiary entrance rank. Typically, students begin senior studies in Year 11, however, the scope for Flexible delivery as outlined by QCAA enables MacKillop to provide opportunities for students to undertake Variable Progression, Accelerated Completion and Extended Completion in order to ensure the best learning experience and possible outcome for the students.
Subject results in General subjects are based on student achievement in four summative assessments: three internal assessments and one external assessment that QCAA sets and marks.
For most General subjects, the internal assessment contributes 75% to the final subject result, except in mathematics and science subjects, where it contributes 50%.
Subject results in Applied subjects are based on student achievement in four equally-weighted internal assessments. For Essential English and Essential Mathematics, one of these assessments is externally set but school-administered.
Internal assessment instruments for all General subjects, and for the Applied Essential English and Essential Mathematics subjects, are endorsed by the QCAA before being used for summative purposes in schools. Separate quality assurance procedures are used for other Applied subjects.
QCAA confirms the grades awarded by schools in General subjects by reviewing a selected sample of student work for every subject in every school. Separate quality assurance procedures are used to review results awarded by schools for Applied subjects.
External assessment is included in all General subjects but is not used to scale a student’s internal assessment result. Instead, the external assessment result is added to the internal assessment result to arrive at a final subject result.
In General subjects, the final subject result is expressed as a numerical value and an A–E grade. In Applied subjects, only A–E grades are used.
Students become eligible for a QCE when they have accrued the set amount of learning, at the set standard, in a set pattern, while meeting literacy and numeracy requirements.
For students seeking to continue their studies after school, their final results from a combination of five General subjects, or four General subjects and one Applied subject or vocational qualification,
are used by QTAC to calculate an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) for tertiary selection purposes.
Information on the ATAR is available on the QTAC website
The table below is an indicator of what subject offerings may look like.
Note well:
- In Year 10 – 12, all students must study English and Mathematics
- In Year 11 and 12, all students will study Faith in Action
- Some subjects in Year 11 and 12 cannot be undertaken unless a parent subject is also being studied (Specialist Mathematics, English and Literature Extension, Music Extension)
- Demonstrated language mastery to a Year 10 level must be evident before a student can undertake a QCAA language subject
- Subjects marked with a ^^ in Year 10 are prerequisites for their 11 and 12 companions (e.g. Extension Mathematics at Year 10 to be eligible for Special Mathematics in Year 11)
- Subjects marked with a ^ are recommended if taking their 11 and 12 companion (e.g. Literature)
|
Area |
Year 10 |
Year 11 |
Year 12 |
|
English |
Core
Specialist
|
General Subjects
Applied Subjects
|
General Subjects
Applied Subjects
|
|
Mathematics |
Core
Specialist
|
General
Applied
|
General
Applied
|
|
Sciences |
Core
Specialist
|
General
Applied
|
General
Applied
|
|
The Arts |
Specialist
|
General
Applied
|
General
Applied
|
|
Languages |
|
|
|
|
Humanities and Social Sciences |
Core
Specialist
|
General
Applied
|
General
Applied
|
|
Technologies |
Specialist
|
General
Applied
|
General
Applied
|
