This year’s VCE exams will be developed under the strict supervision of a government-appointed monitor after tests were compromised in the state’s 2024 exam leak scandal.
This year’s VCE exams will be developed under the strict supervision of a government-appointed monitor after tests were compromised in the state’s 2024 exam leak scandal.
By Caroline Schelle
February 5, 2025 — 6.30pm
The 2025 VCE exams will be developed under the watch of a government-appointed supervisor after the leak scandal that marred dozens of tests last year.
The scope of a major review into the VCE exam debacle and the details of what the new independent monitor will focus on were revealed on Wednesday.
Last year, 65 exams – more than half of the 116 VCE subjects – were affected when questions were inadvertently leaked on practice papers. Questions were removed from the sample test material when the mistake was discovered – but some students had already downloaded them, while others accessed them using internet archive tools.
In the wake of the scandal, Deputy Premier and Education Minister Ben Carroll announced a “root-and-branch” review into the breach and into the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA).
The review will examine went wrong with the production of the 2024 VCE exams and probe the VCAA’s structure, operations, culture and capability.
Meanwhile, the independent monitor – senior public servant Margaret Crawford – will look at the “adequacy and progress” of each stage of development of the 2025 exams.
That includes exam writing, production, error checks, printing and distribution of tests and the running of the exam process. It will cover both written and performance exams.
Crawford will also provide “quality assurance” advice and reports about the tests to Carroll and the department’s top bureaucrat.
She will also get regular briefings from the curriculum’s chief executive officer Marcia Devlin, who stepped into the role as VCAA boss after Kylie White’s resignation following the leak debacle.
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But Crawford will not be tasked with looking into the development of VCE study designs or the quality and merits of individual items included on exams.
The review will be led by another senior public servant, Dr Yehudi Blacher, who will be supported by an expert panel.
They will determine whether the VCAA is capable of designing, delivering and developing VCE course work and assessment tools. To do so, they will look at how New Zealand and other relevant authorities operate.
Both the monitor and review will also consider the state curriculum and exam authority’s implementation of recommendations from a review into errors uncovered in maths, chemistry and Chinese language exams in previous years.
“The Blacher Review and the independent monitor will operate in tandem to provide full confidence to Victorian students, families and schools,” an education department spokeswoman said.
But Opposition education spokeswoman Jess Wilson said the state government should have supported an Ombudsman-led investigation into the debacle.
“Instead [the government] decided to establish yet another review that reports back to the very department that has overseen consecutive failures,” Wilson told The Age.
“The minister must commit to publishing in full the findings and recommendations of the review, and ensure the class of 2025 isn’t subjected to the same failures that have plagued VCE exams for the past three years.”
A Victorian government spokesperson said the review findings would be published when available.
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Caroline Schelle is an education reporter, and joined The Age in 2022. She previously covered courts at AAP.Connect via Twitter or email.
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