Schools notified of error in VCE math exam, as students begin final three days

Detailed summary

The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) chief executive Andrew Smith said the error was identified in the marking process, in a letter sent to schools on Sunday…

The state curriculum authority has confirmed an error has been found in the VCE specialist maths exam, as it seeks to reassure students they won’t be disadvantaged as a result.

The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) chief executive Andrew Smith said the error was identified in the marking process, in a letter sent to schools on Sunday evening.

“Marking guides have been updated to ensure no students are disadvantaged as a result of the error,” Smith wrote.

“Examinations will proceed as scheduled for the final three days, with the last VCE examinations this Wednesday 18 November.”

The VCAA website remained offline on Monday, after a hacker claimed to have accessed the site and illegally accessed exam papers last week.

The site was taken offline on Wednesday evening while the VCAA investigated the hack. A temporary website has been set up to provide students with access to study material.

Smith said the VCAA remains confident that no 2026 VCE exams were accessed prior to the exams.

“I can confirm that the cause of the attack on the VCAA public website was a vulnerability that was exploited to gain unauthorised access to the site,” he said.

The maths bungle follows similar incidents in 2022 and 2023, when errors were identified in the math and chemistry exams.

Opening of the article, excerpted from The Sydney Morning Herald. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.