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Personal Learning Plan will be discontinued for South Australian schools from 2025. Exploring Identities and Futures (Stage 1) will be available for enrolment as a compulsory subject from 2024.
Students who have successfully completed Personal Learning Plan will not need to complete Exploring Identities and Futures to meet SACE completion requirements.
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Stage 1 (usually Year 11)
Most students choose Stage 1 SACE subjects in Year 11 and follow with Stage 2 subjects in Year 12.
You can choose from the Stage 1 subjects offered at your school, as well as vocational education and training (VET) courses and other options.
When you begin Stage 1, you may have already completed Exploring Identities and Futures in Year 10. Now, you’ll study some compulsory and some non-compulsory subjects that will earn you more of the credits towards your SACE.
There are two compulsory Stage 1 requirements that most students complete in Year 11:
- Achieving a 'C' grade or higher in at least two semesters of an English subject or subjects (giving you 20 credits in total)
- Achieving a 'C' grade or higher in at least one semester of a mathematics subject (10 credits).
The equivalent of satisfactory achievement in courses from institutions, authorities, or organisations that have a primary focus on the development of literacy or numeracy skills; and English or mathematics courses from other Australian states and overseas, will also meet the SACE literacy or numeracy requirement.
In addition to these compulsory requirements, you’ll add other, non-compulsory subjects to your study schedule.
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Choosing your Stage 1 subjects
Most students study Stage 1 subjects in Year 11. When choosing your subjects it's important to think about your own interests and goals.
SACE subjects worth 10 credits are usually one-semester subjects, while 20-credit subjects usually involve a full year of study.
For most full-time students, a Stage 1 course load in Year 11 will earn them about half of their 200 credits.
These include the compulsory two semesters of an English subject or subjects, and one semester of a mathematics subject; or equivalent courses that you need to meet the literacy and numeracy requirements.
When choosing your subjects, you should think about your SACE planning to help you enter university or training or apply for the jobs you’re interested in.
It may help to ask yourself:
- What am I interested in?
- What am I good at?
- What sort of job, or types of work, will help me follow my interests?
- What subjects do I need to study to improve my options?
Stage 1 assessment
In Stage 1, all of your assessment tasks are marked by teachers at your school.
Some of the tasks will count towards your SACE certificate. Others won’t count for the certificate but are important in helping you learn, practise and prepare for future assessments.
Your Stage 1 work will be assessed using grades from A to E, according to performance standards for each subject.
The standards indicate the knowledge, skills and understanding you’re expected to achieve, and your grade shows how your assessed materials match those standards.
In Stage 1, the assessment tasks you submit for the compulsory subjects are marked by your teachers, then checked by external SACE moderators to ensure that marking is consistent across all schools.