QCE

Overview

The Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE) is the senior secondary credential awarded to students who complete their schooling in Queensland, Australia. It is set, assessed and issued by the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA). Most students work towards it over Years 11 and 12, generally between the ages of about 15 and 18.

The QCE is credit-based rather than a single exam. A student earns credits from a mix of learning options — QCAA senior subjects, vocational education and training (VET) qualifications, university subjects, and other recognised studies — and is awarded the QCE once enough credits have been accrued at the required standard. Since the 2020 senior assessment reform, QCAA senior subjects are split into General subjects and Applied subjects, each assessed differently, and eligible students who complete enough General (and some Applied) subjects also receive an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) for university entry.

Who can apply

The QCE is designed for students completing Years 11 and 12 at a Queensland school, though adults and students studying outside a school (for example through distance education or TAFE) can also work towards it. To be eligible, a student must have an open QCAA learning account, must not already hold a QCE or an equivalent certificate, and must earn at least one credit from the Core category of learning while enrolled at a Queensland school.

To be awarded the QCE, a student needs 20 credits in total from their learning account: at least 12 credits must come from completed Core courses of study (QCAA General and Applied subjects, and VET qualifications at the required level sit in this category), with up to 4 credits allowed from Preparatory learning and up to 8 credits from Complementary learning. Students must also meet QCAA's literacy and numeracy requirements and its academic integrity requirements before the certificate is issued. Students with a disability who are not working towards a QCE may instead work towards the related Queensland Certificate of Individual Achievement (QCIA).

Exam pattern

QCAA senior subjects fall into two types, each assessed differently in Units 3 and 4 (the senior years of the four-unit subject structure):

• General subjects — prepare students mainly for university and further study. Each has four summative assessments: three set and marked by the student's own school (internal assessment) and one set and marked centrally by QCAA (external assessment). In most General subjects, internal assessment makes up 75% of the final result and the external assessment 25%; in Mathematics and Science subjects, internal and external assessment are weighted 50:50 each.

• Applied subjects — focus on practical and vocational skills. Each has four internal assessments set and marked by the school, except Essential English and Essential Mathematics, where one of the four assessments is a common task set by QCAA but marked by the school.

Students who are not enrolled at a school, or who want results in a subject their school does not offer, can instead sit the Senior External Examination (SEE), a separate QCAA-run pathway that lets external or mature-age candidates earn Queensland Year 12 subject results and QCE credit without attending school full time.

Marking and results

For General subjects, a student's three internal assessment results and one external assessment result are combined into a mark out of 100 and a grade from A to E. Because internal assessment is set and marked separately by hundreds of schools, QCAA uses a confirmation process (comparing each school's internal results against student performance on the common external assessment) to keep marking standards consistent across the state before results are finalised. Applied subjects are reported only as a grade from A to E, based on standards-based judgements of the four internal assessments, without a raw mark out of 100.

Subjects and VET qualifications that meet the credit rules contribute to the 20 credits needed for the QCE itself. Separately, students with results in at least five General subjects, or four General subjects plus one Applied subject or VET qualification at the required level, are eligible for an ATAR. The Queensland ATAR is calculated by the Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre (QTAC), not QCAA: QTAC scales each student's subject results against how the whole subject cohort performed, adds the best five scaled results into a Subject Aggregate, and ranks every eligible student's aggregate against the state's Year 12 population to produce an ATAR between 0.00 and 99.95.

Important dates

For the 2026 senior assessment cycle:

• External assessment for General and General (Extension) subjects: Monday 26 October to Tuesday 17 November 2026.

• Senior External Examination (SEE) papers: Monday 12 October to Wednesday 18 November 2026.

• Final subject results and Senior Education Profiles for Year 12 graduates: released from 9:00 am Wednesday 16 December 2026 through each student's QCAA Learning Account on the myQCE portal.

Because the Queensland school year runs roughly from late January to December, this exam and results calendar sits in the Southern Hemisphere school year, finishing with results in mid-December rather than following an Indian academic-year cycle.

Fees

For students enrolled at a Queensland school, there is no separate QCAA fee to study QCAA subjects or to sit internal or external assessment — this is covered as part of normal school enrolment. QCAA does charge fees for specific services, such as certified copies of certificates and some workshops, and for candidates who are not enrolled at a school. For 2026, a Senior External Examination subject costs $75.95 per student, with an additional$124.12 charged if a late registration is accepted.

After the exam

Once external assessment is marked and school-based results are confirmed, QCAA finalises each student's subject results and issues the QCE to students who meet the credit, literacy, numeracy and academic integrity requirements. Students eligible for an ATAR receive it from QTAC around the same time their QCE results are released. Queensland universities and other tertiary providers then use the ATAR, together with any subject prerequisites, for undergraduate admission in the following academic year; VET qualifications and other QCE credits can also lead directly into further training or apprenticeships.

Preparation tips

• Check your QCAA Learning Account regularly during Year 11 and 12 to track credits as they are recorded, rather than waiting until Year 12 is finished.

• For General subjects, use QCAA's published syllabuses, past external assessment papers and subject reports to see the style and depth of the external assessment, since it can carry up to half the final result in Mathematics and Science.

• Treat internal assessment seriously throughout Units 3 and 4: in most General subjects it is worth 75% of the final result, and in Applied subjects it is the only result that counts.

• If sitting the Senior External Examination, register and pay before the standard deadline to avoid the late registration fee.

FAQs