Gain the skills, knowledge and attributes to make informed choices relating to pathways to work and further education. The Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) is a Victorian accredited secondary school certificate (Year 12).

Develop literacy, numeracy and personal development skills and improve your employability in a range of trade and vocational careers options through practical experience in the workplace and community.

You also have the opportunity to complete a Certificate II or Certificate III with pathways into employment or further education.

Additionally, you can also complete a Pre-Apprenticeship, or a School Based Apprenticeship/Traineeship as part of this program.

• Location:

  Harvester Technical College, 76 Suffolk Road, Sunshine North.

• College:
  VU College
• Delivery mode:
  Class Contact and On campus
• Course code:
  VCALSEN001
• Duration:
  1 year
• This information is for Australian residents.
  Click here to search for courses available to non-residents

How to apply

Core units
LIT031 Literacy skills senior reading and writing
The purpose of this unit is to enable students to develop the skills and knowledge to read and write complex texts. The texts will deal with general situations and include some abstract concepts or technical details. At this level, students produce texts that incorporate a range of ideas, information, beliefs or processes and have control of the language devices appropriate to the type of text. In reading, the student identifies the views shaping the text and the devices used to present that view and express an opinion on the effectiveness and content of the text. At the end of the unit students will be able to read, comprehend and write a range of complex texts across a broad range of contexts.

LIT032 Literacy skills senior oral communication
At the end of this unit students will be able to use and respond to spoken language with complex and abstract content across a broad range of contexts.

NUM031 Numeracy skills senior
The purpose of this unit is to enable students to explore mathematics beyond its familiar and everyday use to its application in wider, less personal contexts such as newspapers and other media reports, workplace documents and procedures, and specific projects at home or in the community.
At the end of the unit students will have the capacity to interpret and analyse how mathematics is represented and used. They can recognise and use some of the conventions and symbolism of formal mathematics. The mathematics involved would include measurement, graphs and simple statistics, use of maps and directions and an introductory understanding of the use of formulae and problem-solving strategies.
Completion of this unit would prepare students for the Advanced Numeracy Skills Senior unit.

PDS031 Personal development skills unit 1 (senior)
The purpose of this unit is to focus on the development of organisation and planning skills, knowledge, practical skills, problem solving and interpersonal skills through participation in experiences of a practical nature. The focus of the learning program for Personal Development Skills Senior Unit 1 includes:
- subject specific knowledge applicable to a relevant personal, social, educational and/or community goal
- skills applicable to a relevant personal, social, educational and/or community goal
- understanding of cultural values and cultural awareness
- organisational skills
- leadership skills and decision-making skills for group or team work.

PDS032 Personal development skills unit 2 (senior)
The purpose of this unit is to focus on the development of organisation and planning skills, knowledge, practical skills, problem solving and interpersonal skills through participation in experiences of a practical nature. The focus of the learning program for Personal Development Skills Senior Unit 2 includes:
- subject specific knowledge applicable to a relevant personal, social, educational and/or community goal
- skills applicable to a relevant personal, social, educational and/or community goals of a technical or specialist nature
- project management and coordination skills
- evaluative and problem-solving skills
- introduction to skills for planning, organising and working in teams.

WRS031 Work related skills unit 1 (senior)
The purpose of this unit is to provide a focus for complex development of appropriate skills and knowledge in order to provide the necessary OH&S preparation for the workplace.

WRS032 Work related skills unit 2 (senior)
This unit provides a focus for the development of work related and vocational skills in a workplace context or appropriate simulation. The overall aims of the unit include:
- integrating learning of increasing complexity of work related skills with prior knowledge and experiences about work
- further enhancing the development of employability skills through increasingly complex work related activity
- developing increasingly complex critical thinking skills that apply to problem-solving situations in the work context
- developing planning and organisational skills that incorporate evaluation and review
- applying increasingly complex transferable skills to work related contexts.

• Student entry point is dependent on a pre-course assessment and would start at the level which matches needs and abilities.