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The Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) was launched as a pilot program in 2001 and is growing in significance. As a recognised qualification, VCAL provides an applied vocational option for students in years 11 and 12, enabling them to participate in work-related experience, to develop literacy and numeracy skills, and to build personal skills that are important in both life and work. This article provides an overview of how one Victorian school for secondary students with a mild intellectual disability, is delivering VCAL through a hands-on program that uses applied learning principles. An important aspect of its implementation was through the evolution of the Personal Development Strand as it relates to the Student Transition Education Program (STEP) students, teachers and the school community.