Each year, thousands of Victorian students receive their VCE results and one of the most confusing parts of the ATAR calculation is VCE scaling. While raw study scores reflect a student’s performance within a subject, they are adjusted (scaled) by VTAC to ensure fairness across subjects of differing difficulty levels.
This VCE Scaling Report 2025 breaks down how subjects scaled this year, which subjects scaled up or down the most, and what this means for students planning their VCE subject choices.
What Is Scaling?
VCE scaling is the process used by VTAC to adjust raw study scores so that students are neither advantaged nor disadvantaged by the subjects they choose. Because some subjects are taken by cohorts that perform more strongly across all their VCE studies, raw scores are adjusted to reflect this difference in academic strength.
Scaling ensures that a student who performs well in a demanding subject is treated fairly when their scores are combined into an ATAR.
💡To better understand the broader impact of these adjustments, it’s useful to explore how scaling affects your ATAR, alongside subject selection and overall performance.
How Are Study Scores Scaled?
Study scores are scaled based on how students in that subject perform across all of their other VCE subjects, not on how difficult the subject is perceived to be. VTAC analyses the performance of the entire scaling population and adjusts scores so that subjects with stronger cohorts tend to scale up, while those with broader cohorts may scale down.
Importantly, your ranking within a subject never changes — scaling only affects how your score contributes to your ATAR.
Common Myths About Scaling
One common myth is that scaling punishes certain subjects. In reality, scaling reflects cohort strength, not subject value. Another misconception is that students should only choose “high-scaling” subjects; however, a strong raw score in any subject will almost always outperform a weak score in a high-scaling one.
Finally, scaling is often blamed for disappointing ATARs, when performance across subjects is usually the bigger factor.
💡While scaling provides useful insight, it should be considered alongside interest and ability when choosing the right VCE subjects for long-term success.
Trends in VCE Subject Scaling for 2025
The 2025 data continues many of the trends seen in 2024:
- Languages and Specialist Mathematics remain the highest-scaling areas
- Sciences (especially Chemistry and Physics) scale solidly above average
- Humanities and applied subjects cluster closer to neutral scaling
- Scaling patterns remain relatively stable year to year, reinforcing predictability for students planning ahead
These trends highlight why scaling should inform — but not dominate — subject selection decisions.
💡For additional context, comparing this year’s outcomes with how VCE scaling changed in 2024 helps highlight which subject trends have remained stable and which have shifted over time.
Highest Scaling Subjects for 2025: The Top 5
The highest-scaling VCE subjects in 2025 are dominated by languages and advanced mathematics, a trend that has remained consistent over several years. These subjects are typically taken by students who perform strongly across all of their VCE studies, resulting in significant upward scaling to ensure fairness in ATAR calculations.
Subjects such as Latin, Specialist Mathematics, Chinese Second Language, French, and Hebrew show large increases between raw and scaled study scores, particularly from a raw score of 30 and above. In some cases, a raw score in the mid-30s can scale into the high-40s or even low-50s, reflecting the exceptionally strong academic cohorts enrolled in these subjects.
It is important to note that these subjects do not scale highly because they are “hard”, but because students who choose them tend to achieve strong results across their entire VCE program. As a result, scaling acts to balance subject choice rather than reward difficulty alone. While these subjects can significantly boost an ATAR for high-performing students, strong performance remains the key factor — a high raw score in any subject will always outweigh a lower score in a high-scaling one.
Lowest Scaling Subjects for 2025: “The Bottom 5” (Non-VET)
The lowest-scaling non-VET subjects in 2025 are generally those taken by broader-ability cohorts, which leads to lower overall scaling outcomes. Subjects such as Foundation Mathematics and Industry and Enterprise show the greatest downward adjustment, with a raw study score of 35 scaling to the mid-20s.
It is important to note that lower scaling does not mean these subjects are less valuable or less rigorous. Instead, scaling reflects the average performance of students in these subjects across all of their VCE studies. Students who perform strongly in these subjects can still make a solid contribution to their ATAR, particularly when paired with higher-scaling subjects elsewhere in their program.
As always, students should prioritise subjects they can perform well in, rather than choosing or avoiding subjects based on scaling alone.
How Much Different Subjects Scale Up in 2025
Mathematics
- Specialist Mathematics
- Specialist Mathematics shows the strongest scaling of any mathematics subject in 2025. Students with mid-to-high raw scores receive significant upward adjustments due to the exceptionally strong academic cohort.
- Mathematical Methods
- Mathematical Methods scales positively, particularly above a raw study score of 30. It remains a strong contributor to competitive ATARs when students perform well.
- General Mathematics
- General Mathematics sits close to neutral scaling, with moderate upward movement only at higher raw scores. Strong performance is essential to maximise its ATAR contribution.
- Foundation Mathematics
- Foundation Mathematics experiences the greatest downward scaling in the maths group, reflecting its broader cohort and pathway-focused design.
Sciences
- Chemistry – Continues to scale strongly due to a consistently high-performing cohort, especially at mid-to-high scores.
- Physics – Shows solid positive scaling across all score ranges, particularly when paired with advanced maths.
- Biology – Sits close to neutral overall, with mild upward scaling at higher study scores.
- Psychology – Slightly below neutral, meaning strong raw scores are key to maximising contribution.
- Environmental Science – Remains close to neutral with limited upward scaling.
English & English Group
- English Language – Scales most strongly within the English group, reflecting a stronger academic cohort.
- Literature – Shows modest positive scaling, particularly at higher raw scores.
- English – Sits close to neutral, with slight downward scaling around the mid-range.
- EAL – Slightly lower scaling overall due to a broader cohort profile.
Languages Other Than English (LOTE)
- Latin – Remains the highest-scaling VCE subject, with dramatic upward adjustments across all score levels.
- Chinese Second Language – Continues to scale extremely strongly due to a high-performing cohort.
- French – Shows large positive scaling, particularly from raw scores of 30 and above.
- German – Maintains strong upward scaling across the score range.
- Hebrew – Scales very favourably, especially at mid-to-high scores.
Humanities & Commerce
- Economics – Scales slightly above average, particularly rewarding high performers.
- Legal Studies – Close to neutral scaling, with strong raw scores still contributing well.
- Geography – Stable and predictable scaling outcomes year to year.
- Business Management – Mild downward scaling, making performance especially important.
- Health & Human Development – Slightly below neutral, consistent with recent trends.
Other STEM-Related Subjects
- Algorithmics (HESS) – Scales very strongly, reflecting a highly academic cohort.
- Systems Engineering – Near neutral scaling, with solid rewards for higher scores.
- Product Design & Technologies – Scales down slightly overall.
- Software Development – Close to neutral, with upward movement at higher scores.
- Data Analytics – Similar to Software Development, with moderate scaling.
VCE VET Subjects
- Integrated Technologies – One of the strongest-scaling VET subjects, sitting close to neutral.
- Creative & Digital Media – Near neutral scaling at higher scores.
- Engineering – Slightly below neutral overall.
- Business – Scales down, reflecting its applied focus.
- Hospitality – Below neutral scaling, consistent with previous years.
Popular VCE Subjects That Scale Well in 2025
Because official 2025 enrolment counts are not yet published, the final column is marked accordingly (this matches what many schools/blogs do at this stage and avoids publishing incorrect figures).
Why These Subjects Stand Out
These subjects are considered “popular” because they attract large numbers of students across Victoria, while still offering solid to strong positive scaling. Unlike smaller language cohorts, these subjects combine accessibility with ATAR competitiveness, making them common choices among high-achieving students.
Key Takeaways for Students
- Strong performance matters more than subject choice alone
- A high raw score in a moderately scaling subject will almost always outperform a lower score in a higher-scaling one.
💡One of the most effective ways to lift raw study scores is through regular practice with past exam papers, which helps students master both content and exam technique.
- Mathematics and sciences remain the safest scaling choices
- Subjects like Specialist Maths, Methods, Chemistry, and Physics consistently reward strong academic performance.
- Popular does not mean poorly scaling
- Large-cohort subjects such as Mathematical Methods and Chemistry still scale well because their cohorts perform strongly overall.
- Use scaling as a guide, not a strategy
- Scaling should inform subject selection, but interest, ability, and consistency are far more important for maximising ATAR outcomes.
Popular VCE Subjects That Scale Down in 2025
These subjects are among the most commonly chosen VCE studies across Victoria, but they tend to scale slightly down or sit close to neutral. This occurs because they are taken by very broad cohorts, which lowers the overall average performance used in the scaling process.
Importantly, scaling down does not mean these subjects are weak or disadvantageous. Students who achieve strong raw scores in subjects like Psychology, Business Management, or Health and Human Development can still make a solid contribution to their ATAR — especially when paired with higher-scaling subjects elsewhere in their program.
For students choosing these subjects, the key to success is strong performance and consistency, rather than relying on scaling to boost results.
💡Many of these higher-scaling subjects are also strongly represented in top-performing Victorian schools, where cohort strength plays a key role in overall results.
Final Thoughts: Using VCE Scaling to Make Smarter Subject Choices
The 2025 VCE scaling data reinforces a key message for students and families: scaling is about fairness, not favouritism. Subjects scale up or down based on the overall academic performance of the students who take them, not because some subjects are inherently “better” or “worse” than others.
While languages and advanced mathematics continue to dominate the top end of scaling, this does not mean every student should chase high-scaling subjects. In almost all cases, a strong raw study score in a moderately scaling subject will contribute more to an ATAR than an average score in a high-scaling one. Performance, consistency, and subject suitability remain far more important than scaling alone.
For students planning future VCE subject selections, scaling should be used as a guide rather than a strategy. The most effective subject combination balances personal strengths, interests, and future pathway requirements, while being informed — not driven — by scaling outcomes.
💡As students plan ahead, understanding assessment timelines and revision windows is essential, making it helpful to refer to the VCE exam timetable for 2025.
Ultimately, students who choose subjects they enjoy, remain engaged in, and can perform well in are best placed to maximise their ATAR and keep their post-school options open.
