It has been revealed that several Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) examination papers have been compromised, affecting up to 10,000 VCE students.
Multiple VCE sample exams available on the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) website have been found to contain hidden text, similar to questions on actual exam papers. When copied into another document, the text revealed questions and answers similar or identical to those in the final exams. So far, more than 56 tests have been found to affected.
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The impact varied across the affected tests, from one or two questions being the same or similar, to up to 50 percent of the questions replicated in some exams.
Deputy Premier and Minister for Education, Ben Carroll said: “I am extremely disappointed by what has occurred. I have instructed the VCAA to take all necessary action to ensure that all students are treated fairly, and no student is disadvantaged in the marking of this year’s exams.
“I am satisfied that, supported by additional independent experts, the right processes are in place to ensure that that every single student has the best chance to achieve their best.”
Amidst the blunder, VCAA chief executive Kylie White has resigned. White was recruited by the government last year after multiple mistakes were found in the 2023 maths exam. A review into the VCAA’s examination settling policies was launched by the government in response.
The Secretary of the Department of Education has appointed Dr Marcia Devlin AM, the CEO of the Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership, to act in the role of Interim CEO pending a permanent appointment.
The Victorian Liberal party said the review has clearly failed to address systemic problems within the VCAA.
“These repeated blunders cannot be tolerated. The VCAA must be subjected to an urgent, independent investigation to restore community confidence in this authority,” Jess Wilson, Shadow Minister for Early Childhood and Education said.
“For students, VCE is stressful enough without concerns of exam papers containing errors, being leaked, incorrectly distributed or otherwise compromised.”
Parents Victoria CEO Gail McHardy said while it would be an anxious wait for scores on December 12, it was important not to inflame the situation. “Students and their parents will already be heightened about all this, so it’s important that people believe that everything that could be done, was done to sort the situation.
“As always, its crucial for parents to reassure the students that if they’ve prepared and worked hard to do their best, the outcome will be reflected in the end result.
“An important reminder for students and families to remember, is that in the world today there are many pathways to further education, training and employment. We encourage everyone not to be jaded if the result does not meet immediate student or parent expectations,” Ms McHardy said.
The Victorian Government said it is working with the VCAA to use a “robust and nationally-recognised assessment tool to address errors that occurred in the 2024 VCE exams” to ensure all students are assessed fairly. The processes will be similar to that used by the VCAA in consideration of disadvantage during COVID-19.
The implementation of this process will be overseen by an independent advisory panel of experts chaired by Professor John Firth. Professor Firth is a former CEO of the VCAA and supported the development of the Consideration of Disadvantage Process during COVID-19 and is familiar with the anomalous grade check process.
“The root-and-branch review of the VCAA that will commence in January 2025 should ensure the cause of these errors is clearly identified so they are not repeated,” Minister Carroll said.
Students, parents and carers who have any questions about this process should first contact their school who has received information from the VCAA.
