The senior secondary certificate of education issued in Western Australia to Year 12 students who meet the specified requirements is the Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE). The School Curriculum and Standards Authority, as a member of the Australasian Curriculum, Assessment and Certification Authorities (ACACA), has prepared a statement on the purpose of senior secondary certificates of education.

Australasian Curriculum, Assessment and Certification Authorities – Statement on the Purpose of Senior Secondary Certificates of Education

As stated in the Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education Declaration (December, 2019) senior secondary education equips young people with the skills, knowledge, values and capabilities to succeed in employment, personal and civic life.

Australian senior secondary certificates of education (SSCEs) provide a qualification that enables young people to make a successful transition to the next stage of their life and learning. They assess and certify achievement against standards for the broad and diverse learners that they serve and provide a foundation for transition to a range of post-schooling pathways including work and further study.

SSCEs certify a quality and quantity of learning. They are rigorously quality assured and provide an equitable and transparent measure of what a young person knows and can do. Student achievements are recognised through the application of fair, accurate, valid and reliable assessment of their learning and clear, comprehensive and useful reporting of their achievements to assist them with their transitions to the next phase of their lives.

SSCEs are highly flexible and portable qualifications. They are recognised for their unique role within the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) as qualifying individuals with the ‘knowledge, skills and values for diverse pathways to further learning (particularly through tertiary education), work and effective participation in civic life’ (Review of the Australian Qualifications Framework Final Report, 2019, page 52). The AQF recognises the role of SSCEs in supporting graduates at a broad range of AQF levels and as a result supporting transitions to multiple pathways.

The broad and diverse range of learning options available within each SSCE (academic study, vocational study and community learning) reflects the unique role of the SSCE in supporting pathways across six AQF levels. Students completing SSCEs may transition directly to work, apprenticeships, traineeships, vocational study (Certificate I – IV, Diploma qualifications), tertiary study (Advanced Diploma or Bachelor degrees) or a combination of these. This broad range of pathways means little remains fixed or static within the SSCEs. They are regularly reviewed and revised and are subject to the same forces for change across the broader community. As our knowledge and thinking about digital technologies, generative artificial intelligence, sustainability, multi-culturalism, pluralism, globalism and the unique place and interests of First Nations peoples evolves, so too will the SSCEs as they underscore not only the values of our communities but are critical in shaping their future development.