The South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE) exists to encourage students to successfully complete secondary education and to attest to their readiness for entry into post-school studies and employment.

The SACE is an internationally recognised credential that opens pathways leading to vocations and careers, further studies and employment. The SACE also ensures that students leave school with a strong general education.

To meet the requirements of the certificate, students need to take a balanced range of studies, generally over two years, although no particular time limit is specified. Stage 1 of the SACE is usually studied in Year 11 and Stage 2 of the SACE is usually studied in Year 12. Students may negotiate alterations to this schedule. The studies include English or English as Second Language, Australian Studies, and Mathematics at Stage 1 (Year 11), as well as a selection from other subject groups.

To be awarded the SACE, students must:

• study 22 semester (half-year) units, some of which may be combined to form full-year programs;
• reach a level of satisfactory achievement in at least 16 of the 22 units;
• meet the subject pattern requirements.

The SACE is the basic requirement for entry to higher education. The higher education institutions use a tertiary entrance rank (TER), derived from SACE studies, to rank students for selection to particular courses. To be eligible for a TER, students must complete five Stage 2 (Year 12) subjects.

Definitions of commonly used terms can be found on the SACE terminology page.

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