Imagine knowing you’re going to be one of the last students to finish your final exams, yet feeling completely at peace with it. That’s the reality for a small but resilient group of VCE students in Victoria, who are wrapping up their high school journey long after their peers have already celebrated their freedom. But here’s where it gets intriguing: these students aren’t just accepting their fate—they’re finding silver linings in the extended exam period.
Take Ava Collins, for example. Last month, she walked away from her school’s final assembly with four academic awards, including top honors in English and physics. Yet, her final exam isn’t until 5:15 PM on Wednesday, nearly six weeks after her first test and a full week after most of her classmates have finished. ‘Keeping the momentum has been a bit of a challenge,’ the 17-year-old admits. ‘But I’m grateful for the breaks between exams—it’s given me time to breathe.’ And this is the part most people miss: while the wait might seem grueling, students like Ava are using the extra time to prepare and recharge.
Ava isn’t alone. Out of the 67,000 students eligible to complete VCE this year, about 2%—or 1,674 students—are still in the exam trenches. According to the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority, Wednesday marks the official end of their high school journey. For Ava, this means sitting the German written exam, the last of her four tests. But here’s the twist: she’s the only student studying German at Mentone Girls’ Secondary College. ‘Usually, my friends are there to motivate me,’ she says. ‘This time, it’ll just be me and the examiner.’ Talk about a solo finale!
Then there’s Will Haslam, a student at Castlemaine Secondary College, who’s in a similar boat. He’s one of just 126 students taking the Spanish written exam, which he’ll sit alone in a church hall in Castlemaine. But the real challenge? After finishing his exam, he’ll have a mere 40 minutes to travel to his school’s graduation ceremony in Bendigo. ‘It’s been a marathon,’ Will admits, reflecting on his 35-day exam period, complete with long-distance car trips. His first exam, a Spanish oral assessment, required a two-hour round trip from Fryerstown to Essendon for a 15-minute test. Exhausting? Yes. But Will sees the upside: ‘The extended period gave me more time to prepare, even if staying focused was tough.’
And let’s not forget Melinda Teoh, who’s using her post-exam freedom to prepare for a different kind of test: her driver’s license. ‘That’s way more fun than VCE,’ the 18-year-old quips. Melinda will sit the Chinese as a second language (advanced) exam with 30 peers from Balwyn High School, part of the 544 VCE students taking the test on Wednesday. Across Victoria, another 588 students will join her, all finishing their exams at the same time. For Melinda, the spread-out schedule was a blessing: ‘I had time to study and relax, which made all the difference.’
But here’s the controversial part: Is this extended exam period a feature or a flaw in the system? While some students appreciate the extra prep time, others argue it stretches their focus too thin. The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority insists the timetable is designed to minimize clashes and prevent students from sitting three exams in one day. But does this approach truly serve all students equally? And what does it say about the balance between academic rigor and mental well-being?
As these students finally put down their pens on Wednesday, they’ll begin looking ahead. For Ava, it’s university. For Will, it’s traveling the world with his Spanish skills. For Melinda, it’s a schoolies trip to Japan before starting biomedical science at Monash University. But before they move on, one question lingers: Is the current exam system fair, or does it need a rethink? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments—agree or disagree, let’s spark a conversation!
