The anxious wait is over for more than 47,000 students who will receive their VCE results this morning and bid farewell to 13 years of schooling.
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When the clock hits 7am, thousands of sleepy students will reach for their smartphones and open an app to access their VCE results and Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank.
Follow our live VCE results blog from 6.30am at theage.com.au
The four-digit rank, commonly known as the ATAR, is used to gain entry to university.
A total of 36 students achieved the highest possible ATAR of 99.95, with 24 of these exceptionally-bright students male, and 12 female.
Girls outperformed boys, achieving an average ATAR of 66.29 compared with 63.96 for their male counterparts. The average ATAR for all students was 65.22.
Nick Cunningham, a Year 12 student at the Grange P-12 College in Melbourne's west, will be celebrating a major milestone when he receives his results.
He completed his VCE over four years – in hospital, at home and at school – while battling an aggressive bone cancer.
“I’m excited,” he said. “I can move on from school.”
The 19-year-old was diagnosed with cancer in mid-2016 after months of excruciating pain in his back, which doctors initially put down to a sports injury.
He had surgery to remove a large tumour on the base of his spine, and then underwent 12 months of chemotherapy.
During this time, his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Although exhausted and unable to walk, Nick continued to diligently study English, Further Maths, Psychology, Physical Education and Health and Human Development.
His motivation? Being able to move into year 12 with his friends.
“I was in a wheelchair and lost all my hair and that was extremely tough,” he said. “But when I got to school they didn't treat me any differently. I was me.”
Nick completed year 12 over two years and said dedicated teachers at the Grange, a state school in Hoppers Crossing, went out of their way to help him.
They rescheduled tests around his medical appointments, sent work home and set up an area in the staff room where he stored his textbooks. Nick was also allowed to go home between classes to sleep.
The 19-year-old wants to study secondary education at the Australian Catholic University and dreams of becoming a physical education teacher.
“I like the social interaction,” he said. “I have always had great teachers at school and it’s what I really want to do.”
He has been in remission for 19 months and is now walking again, something his doctors never thought was possible.
“I’m feeling great," he said. "I’m probably in the best shape I have been in. I’m feeling normal again.”
This year, a record 50,944 students will graduate with the VCE, with an equal all-time high completion rate of 98 per cent.
A further 13,091 students will graduate with their VCAL – the vocational alternative to the VCE.
Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre chief executive Catherine Wills said the ATAR was not a pass or fail but a rank. She said it was one of many factors used by universities, TAFEs and private colleges when selecting students for courses.
"In fact, in 2019, only 10 per cent of all courses listed with VTAC use the ATAR alone as
their criteria," she said.
Students can access their results using the app or by going online.
Victorian Education Minister James Merlino congratulated students and acknowledged the work of “Victoria’s excellent schools”.
“It’s important to recognise that VCE is only one step in your life journey," he said. "There have never been more opportunities and pathways available to Year 12 graduates, including university, TAFE, traineeships and work.”
