TCE awards explained: EA, HA, CA, SA, PA and LA

The TCE awards from Limited to Exceptional

The overall award for a TASC accredited course is the result TASC gives for the whole course. TASC works it out from the internal assessment ratings and, for Level 3 and 4 courses, external assessment ratings. How many ratings a course has, and how many are internal or external, is on each course page under "Award Requirements". Vocational results use different words: units are "Competency Achieved" and qualifications are "Achieved".

Internal and external assessment

• Internal assessment. Your teacher assesses your achievement during the year. The number and type depend on the course and are on its course page under "Work Requirements".
• External assessment. Only Level 3 and 4 courses have it. It may be a written or oral exam, folio, project work, practical or display assessment, marked by TASC markers.
• Derived exam ratings. If you are sick or have an emergency and cannot attend an exam in whole or in part, you can apply for derived exam ratings to determine your external result.

The dates of the written exams are in TCE exam timetable 2026.

From award to course score

A course score is a number that represents your overall award (EA, HA, CA or SA) and is calculated by a process called scaling. Score ranges for each award in each scaled course are set after all external assessments are finished and awards are final, but before results are issued. They reflect how difficult it was to achieve a particular award in that course that year, compared with the awards in other courses. TASC scales Level 3 and Level 4 courses, and selected University of Tasmania High Achiever Program (HAP) and University Connections Program (UCP) units.

TASC says scaling is based only on real student results, not on how complex a course might look, and that the TASC Scaling Committee, made up of TASC, the Department for Education, Children and Young People, Catholic Education Tasmania, Independent Schools Tasmania and the University of Tasmania, verifies the results. The method is called Rasch Analysis. Two students with the same award can have different course scores, because there is a range of achievement within an award: a student with more A and B criterion ratings than a classmate gets the higher score, even with the same HA. TASC publishes each year's scaling information in December, and says not to choose courses because they scaled highly before.

From course scores to the TE Score and ATAR

1. You need to have successfully completed the courses, which for a TASC accredited course is an SA or higher.
2. Level 3 and 4 courses are each worth 15 points. HAP units are worth 8, and UCP units 8 (one semester) or 15 (a full year).
3. Your courses over two senior years must provide 60 to 75 points. That is four to five courses, or more if HAP or UCP units are used. TASC picks the combination with the highest TE Score.
4. Your best course scores in the points chosen are added into your TE Score.
5. The TE Score is ranked among the year group and converted to an ATAR.

TASC's example: a student with five 15-point courses with scores 21.2, 19.8, 15.9, 12.0 and 11.1 has a TE Score of 21.2 + 19.8 + 15.9 + 12.0 + 11.1 = 80.0, and the ATAR is based on the ranking of 80.0. To receive an ATAR you must also achieve the TCE and at least a Satisfactory Achievement in at least four Level 3 or 4 courses, and the University of Tasmania, as Tasmania's tertiary admissions centre, sets the rules.

The TCE itself

The TCE is issued if you meet the TCE Participation and Achievement Standard and the Everyday Adult Standards. Year 12 and 13 students may get a Statement of Results, a Qualifications Certificate, a TCE, a Tasmanian Certificate of Educational Achievement (TCEA) and, if eligible, a Tertiary Entrance Score and ATAR statement. TASC emails results progressively from the morning of 16 December 2026, and the email address needs updating by 15 December.

Practise for the exam rating

Level 3 and 4 courses have an external exam, so timed practice counts. Try today's Year 12 Maths, Year 12 Physics, Year 12 Chemistry or Year 12 Biology paper. Each is a short timed paper of 8 questions worth 25 to 35 marks, and the results page shows a predicted grade from A to E with typical cut-offs of its own, which is not a TASC award.

Common mistakes about TCE awards

• Thinking a PA counts for the ATAR. A course must be successfully completed, an SA or higher, to be used.
• Reading an award as a course score. The course score is the scaled number for the award and varies within it.
• Choosing a course for last year's scaling. TASC says the scaling data only shows one year.
• Counting Year 10 courses. Senior secondary courses done in Year 10 cannot be used in the TE Score.

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