• SACE Board – an independent statutory authority of the South Australian Government.  It is responsible for the accreditation of subjects, the recognition and assessment of student learning that contribute to meeting the completion requirements of the SACE.
  • SACE Board-accredited subjects – subjects and courses that are accredited and quality assured by the SACE Board.  Each Board-accredited subject is described in a subject outline.  All Stage 1 and 2 subjects offered at Portside Christian College are SACE Board-accredited.
  • SACE Board-accredited courses – courses accredited and quality assured by other education providers and recognised by the SACE Board for the purposes of SACE completion.  Students at Portside Christian College may enquire about undertaking Vocational Education Training (VET) courses.  For Further information, see Section 4. The list of SACE Board accredited subjects and courses are available at https://www.sace.sa.edu.au/studying
  • Compulsory elements – subjects and/or courses that are required in the SACE (highlighted in green, purple and orange).  Students must achieve a minimum C grade (Year 11) or C minus grade (Year 12) in these subjects.
  • Non-compulsory elements – optional subject and/or course choices at Stage 1 and 2.  Students are required to demonstrate a level of achievement (grade between A and E) in Board-accredited subjects and a level that is the equivalent of achievement of relevant standards or competencies in Board-recognised courses. See https://www.sace.sa.edu.au/documents/652891/b7ce09f7-11c5-5d28-abdf-4056ebd4365d
  • 10 credit subjects – subjects that are normally completed within one Semester. Most subjects in Stage 1 are delivered as 10 credit subjects.
  • 20 credit subjects – subjects that are normally completed within the full year.  Most subjects in stage 2 are delivered as 20 credit subjects.
  • Tertiary Admission Subjects (TAS) – subjects nominated by universities and TAFE SA that can be used for the calculation of the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) or TAFE SA Selection Score.
  • Non-TAS subjects – subjects that contribute toward a SACE certificate only but not an ATAR nor TAFE Selection Score.  These include Modified or Local Subject programs and Community Studies or Community Learning subjects.
  • Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) – a score calculated from completion of at least 90 credits of TAS subjects converted to a percentile ranking. The Rank gives an indication of the overall position of the student in relation to the student cohort for that year across the state. A higher ATAR gives preference to that student for the course they wish to enrol in.

Calculation of the ATAR:

The university aggregate calculated at the completion of Year 12 is calculated out of 90 credits from the best-scaled scores of at least five stage 2 subjects:

  • 60 credits (Three 20 credit TAS including valid pairs), plus
    • 30 credits (Flexible option, which is the best 30 credits of scaled scores or scaled score equivalents from:
  • The scaled score of a fourth 20 credit TAS;
  • Half the scaled score of one or more 20 credit TAS
  • The scaled score of one or more 10 credit TAS;
  • Scaled score equivalents for Recognized Studies, for example a stage 2 Certificate course, to the value of 10 or the maximum of 20 credits

For more information on: ATAR calculation and scaling go to: https://www.satac.edu.au/pages/calculating-the-university-aggregate-and-atar and scaling: https://www.satac.edu.au/pages/scaling

  • TAFE Selection Score – a score derived from completion of at least 60 credits of TAS, or at the very least 40 credits of TAS and 20 credits of Recognised Studies.  A higher TAFE Selection Score gives preference to student entering TAFE at a Certificate IV or higher.  For other courses at TAFE there are other Minimum Entry Requirements (MER).  See https://www.satac.edu.au/pages/tafe-sa-entry-requirements
  • Precluded combination subjects – if two subjects are a precluded combination then they cannot both contribute toward calculation of an ATAR or TAFE Selection Score.  It is therefore advisable in most cases that a student then does not undertake both these subjects at Stage 2.
  • Prerequisite subjects – a SACE Stage 2 TAS subject in which a student must obtain a minimum C minus grade to be eligible for entry into the university course/program for which the prerequisite is nominated. These may apply with certain course/programs in Science, Mathematics, Engineering, Pharmacy, Veterinary, Oral Health, Medicine/Surgery and Dental Surgery. For a quick guide to these lists for each university, go to The Tertiary Entrance booklet
  • Certificate course – Certificate I, II or III courses undertaken by students through a recognised Registered Training Organisation (RTO) also have credit value in the SACE.  While there are some exceptions, Certificate I and II subjects qualify as Stage 1 subjects while most Certificate III subjects qualify as stage 2 subjects. In any Certificate course, 70 hours is equivalent to 10 credits in the SACE.
  • Certificate competencies – units of work in aCertificate course.  Individual competencies have a certain hour quota assigned to them necessary for successful completion. Depending on the VET course, a student may achieve and complete competencies within a Certificate course without necessarily completing the Certificate.
  • Community Learning subjects or programs – a student’s involvement and learning within a community context or program may be incorporated within two non-TAS Stage 1 or 2 subjects, Community Learning and Community Studies and contribute toward the SACE.  Furthermore, students that have undertaken and received qualifications in SACE Board recognised Community-developed Programs may also earn credits toward their SACE.  Examples of SACE Board recognised Community-developed Programs include Practical Music Grade 5 (10 credits, Stage 1) and Australian Air Force cadets (20 credits stage 2).  For a complete list of these programs go to https://www.sace.sa.edu.au/studying/recognised-learning/community-learning Important: If you are working toward or have completed one of these approved Community-developed Programs please see Dr Davis, your SACE Coordinator, to have these SACE credits counted.