What to do when your school doesn’t offer the VCE subject you need

Small class sizes, timetable clashes and a lack of teachers with specialist expertise can unintentionally limit the choices available to students during their vital VCE years. Subject gaps arise in even the strongest, high-performing schools, forcing students to reluctantly compromise on their VCE choices.

For students, that can mean missing out on a subject they love or, more critically, a subject that they need for a future university pathway.

And for families, it often raises a frustrating question: what do we do now?

More choice

The solution? Studying single VCE subjects after hours and online.

This practical and flexible approach quickly creates opportunities for students to pursue a passion subject, or to study a specific subject critical to their future university pathway.

Studying a further subject online can also critically boost a final ATAR score. Many high schools have a VCE timetable that offers students five VCE subjects in Year 12, with limited options to fit in a sixth subject.

However, completing a sixth VCE subject can boost a final ATAR score by as much as 10 per cent and can be the difference between a young person getting into the university course they want to get into, or missing out.

Expanding access across Victoria

Now in its third year, Haileybury Pangea, Haileybury’s online school, is determined to ensure that students anywhere in the state can study the VCE subjects they want to study – even if a subject isn’t part of their school curriculum.

So, when a school can’t offer Economics, Latin, Australian History or whatever VCE subject a student needs, that’s no longer the end of the story.

Instead, online single-subject VCE study is available to support motivated learners to create the study pathway they want.

“We’ve already got three years of graduates at Haileybury Pangea and the most exciting development is that we are now offering a range of VCE subjects at Units 1 & 2 and Units 3 & 4 level after school,” says Haileybury CEO|Principal, Derek Scott.

“This is an exciting opportunity for students who have a passion for a subject that might not be offered at their own school to be able to pick it up and run with it across Years 11 and 12.

"We know that most schools can only offer around 20 to 30 of the 50 VCE subjects, so we look forward to providing great opportunities for Victorian students to take up new subjects.”

The depth and scale of Haileybury’s VCE program and the expertise of the school’s teaching staff underpin Haileybury Pangea’s single subject program.

“Haileybury is known for its incredible VCE program, and students doing a single VCE subject with us can access those experienced teachers,” says Joanna Baker, Head of Haileybury Pangea.

“Most schools also can’t offer as many VCE subjects because of insufficient student numbers, but we can offer those subjects to students in rural and regional areas and in smaller schools who often miss out. This is an opportunity to enrich and extend VCE studies for so many young people.”

Current VCE subjects available as single subjects at Haileybury Pangea include Latin, Accounting, Economics, English, Literature, General Mathematics, Mathematical Methods, Specialist Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Psychology, Modern History, Australian & Global Politics, Global Politics, History Revolutions, Australian History, Business Management, Legal Studies, Applied Computing, Software Development, Algorithmics, French, Music, Music Composition, Health & Human Development, Media, Visual Communication Design and Theatre Studies.

Each subject consists of two live online teaching periods each week, supported by three to six hours of self-paced learning. So, young people can fit their single subject study around existing school commitments.

“Because of the flexibility of the self-paced component , students can study in their own time and fit it around their other classes. They are not replacing their school experience, but complementing the VCE program they are already studying in their home school,” says Joanna.

“Studying a single subject online also gives students an opportunity to learn in a different way. They gain a sense of independence over their learning and thrive on the flexibility.”

The enrolment process is simple, with Haileybury Pangea staff liaising with a student’s home school to manage administration and to streamline the single subject enrolment process.

Education is changing says Joanna, and senior secondary pathways are becoming more flexible and personalised. Online single-subject VCE study reflects this shift, and gives students more ways to shape a VCE pathway that is meaningful and more closely aligned to their goals.