Western Australian Certificate of Education

This article is about the Western Australian education credential. For other uses, see Wace (disambiguation).

Western Australian Certificate of Education
AcronymWACE
AdministratorSchool Curriculum and Standards Authority
PurposeAssessment of final two years of schooling for Western Australian students, ranking students for university entry
Score rangeIndividual WACE courses: 0 to 100, in one point increments; ATAR: below 30.00 to 99.95, in 0.05 point increments
OfferedOnce every year
RegionsWestern Australia
LanguagesEnglish
Used byTertiary Institutions Service Centre, Universities in Australia
Websitesenior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/the-wace

The Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) is the credential awarded to students who have completed senior secondary education (Year 11 and Year 12) in the state of Western Australia. It is the Western Australian graduation certificate of the Australian Senior Secondary Certificate of Education. Students are required to meet various breadth and depth requirements, achievement standards and literacy and numeracy standards across their final years of schooling. As of the 2020 WACE, there are 106 courses available for students to study. Many WACE students are awarded an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR), summarising their results across all areas of study into one ranking for the purposes of university admission. Students may choose from ATAR courses, which count directly towards their ATAR, Vocational Education and Training courses, which are more practical courses and can lead to further vocational opportunities, and, from 2021, General courses, which provide pathways to university, employment, or further vocational education and training. From 2010, the WACE replaced the Tertiary Entrance Exam (TEE), as the standard academic examination for school leavers in Western Australia.