Study Options

University Senior College is dedicated to helping students make the best possible use of their educational opportunities, as they make the transition from secondary to tertiary education. The academic program and curriculum are designed to reflect this goal.

The range of subjects offered from the SACE curriculum is ideally suited to prepare students for a broad range of university courses. The college is determined to provide quality teaching and learning opportunities along with creating a successful transition between secondary and tertiary education.

All University Senior College students will be studying to qualify for the South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE) and will choose patterns of study designed to achieve an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR), formerly known as a TER (Tertiary Entrance Rank).

About SACE - for 2010 onwards
To gain the SACE, students complete about two years of full-time study which most students spread over three years. There are two stages: • Stage 1, which most students do in Year 11, apart from the Personal Learning Plan, which most students are likely to do in Year 10 • Stage 2, which most students do in Year 12.
Each successfully completed subject or course earns ‘credits’ towards the SACE, with a minimum of 200 credits required for students to gain the certificate.
Students will receive a grade – from A to E – for each subject. For compulsory subjects, they will need to achieve a C grade or better.
The compulsory subjects are: • Personal Learning Plan (10 credits at Stage 1) • Literacy – most students will satisfy the literacy requirements by completing at least 20 credits of either English or English as a Second Language at Stage 1 • Numeracy – at least 10 credits (either Mathematical Studies or Mathematical Applications) (Stage 1) • Research Project – an in-depth major project (10 credits at Stage 2) - at USC, the Research Project will be undertaken in Semester 2 of Stage 1 • Other Stage 2 subjects totalling at least 60 credits The remaining 90 credits can be gained through additional Stage 1 or Stage 2 subjects or Board-recognised courses of a student’s choice.
In order to qualify for entrance to University, students will need to satisfy the requirements of the SACE. University entrance will be determined by the calculation of an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR), formerly known as a TER (Tertiary Entrance Rank). The ATAR will be calculated on the equivalent of four 20 credit subjects and may include the 10 credit Research Project and another 10 credit subject plus three 20 credit subjects. It is anticipated that at USC, students will study at least four 20 credit subjects at Stage 2 and that many students will study five 20 credit subjects, thus providing flexibility for university prerequisites.
At University Senior College, full-time students must select 6 subjects per semester, at Stage 1, no matter how many SACE units may have been already accrued. For example, most students will have already completed Personal Learning Plans during Year 10. This provides the opportunity for students to explore other subject areas, opening a wider range of subjects for Year 12. To continue with some subjects in Year 12, it will be necessary for students to complete 20 credits of that subject at Stage 1. Other subjects will require successful completion of 10 credits at Stage 1, or have other prerequisites.	Detailed curriculum offerings for each Stage 1 subject are to be found on the USC SACE 2010 web page. Click image for larger view.

Hybrid Courses

The flexible timetable at University Senior College makes possible a range of different options for study. For example, it is possible for students who have already completed some Stage 1 subjects to undertake Stage 2 subjects during their Year 11.

Stage 1 Curriculum - current from 2010

The table below shows the subjects offered at University Senior College and the subject groupings from which they are taken. While there is no requirement for subject to be selected from either grouping, at USC we encourage a balance and suggest that at least one unit (apart from the compulsory English and Mathematics) is selected from each column.

As well as satisfying the requirements of the SACE, students must keep in mind the prerequisite subjects for those courses they wish to undertake at Stage 2. These Stage 2 subjects may well themselves be prerequisites or assumed knowledge for desired tertiary courses. It is therefore very important for students to look ahead to possible tertiary course choice to ensure that important doors are not closed through uninformed subject choices.

There is an important opportunity to review subject choices, in the light of examination and class performance, in the second semester of Stage 1, at which time students have a clearer sense of their directions, their interests and their abilities.

The choice of subjects can be complex and it is important that students seek help from their Mentors, the Deans of Study, School Counsellor and the Careers Advisor in making these decisions. Remember too, that success is more likely to come from studying subjects that you enjoy and in which you have some sense of confidence.

Stage 2 Curriculum - current for 2010 only

The Year 12 program continues to foster the development of the skills and techniques required for tertiary study. To ensure eligibility for a Tertiary Entrance Rank, students at USC MUST NOT choose more than one HESS Restricted subject.

Tertiary Entrance Rank

At Stage 2, in order to obtain a Tertiary Entrance Rank Score (TER):

• Students must select five double unit, scalable subjects, four of which must be designated Higher Education Selection Subjects (HESS General) for the particular courses of the students’ choice.
• Included in that group of five subjects must be at least one subject from Group 1, the Arts/Humanities/Social and Cultural Studies group and one from Group 2 the Mathematics/Science/Technology group.
• Students must select any prerequisite subjects prescribed for their chosen tertiary course.
• USC only offers two HESS Restricted subjects - one from Group 1 and one from Group 2.

The TER score is determined from an aggregate score, which is the sum of the four best scaled scores out of the maximum of 20 and half of the score of the fifth best scaled subject, making a possible total of 90. This aggregate score is converted to a percentile ranking known as the TER.