The Victorian state government has confirmed that almost half of all the exams for this year’s Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) were affected by questions leaked on the cover sheets of online practice tests.
As a result, the state’s Education Minister Ben Carroll has confirmed that, effective immediately, Kylie White will leave her position as chief executive of the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA). Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership chief Dr Marcia Devlin will now step into the role, in an interim capacity
Carroll says he was “extremely disappointed” after news broke last week that questions supposedly “hidden” on sample assessments turned up in the actual VCE exams.
Although the VCAA reassured the minister every examination that was affected by the leak had the questions rewritten, Carroll confirmed the reality was markedly different.
“The error affected some 56 exams, out of a total of 116. In some cases, only one to two multiple choice questions were published, and in no cases were the full examinations published.”
Changes that were made by the curriculum authority, he told a media conference on Monday 18 November, were not “sufficient enough”.
“To be provided reassurances that have turned out to be false is deeply unsatisfactory,” Carroll says.
For many Year 12 students who sat the exams without ever seeing the leaked answers, stress is mounting as they wonder how their results will be assessed.
“I’ve worked so hard in the weeks leading up to my exams,” one Year 12 student told EducationDaily.
“But if I do really well in the exam – better than I’ve done in other practise exams all year – will someone doubt my results?”
The minister says the government would utilise an expert advisory panel, in combination with a nationally recognised assessment tool aimed at identifying any student who performed significantly above expected levels, adding that results would still be released to the existing timelines.
“I apologise to all students impacted by the inadvertent publication of examination material on the exam cover sheets.”
