The anxious wait is over for almost 50,000 Victorian students who have today received their 2019 Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) results.
A total of 49,324 students will graduate with their VCE, a record completion rate of 98.1 per cent; while 13,942 have completed their Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL). This year, nearly 21,969 study scores of 40 or more were awarded.
Victorian Minister for Education James Merlino has congratulated all students who completed VCE or VCAL in 2019.
“Completing VCE is an incredible moment and I congratulate the class of 2019 for reaching this milestone,” he said, reminding students that their results don’t define them as there are many opportunities and pathways available for school leavers to achieve their goals.
“For some students, this may not be the result you wished for but just remember that your results do not define you. There are many pathways to success including higher education, TAFE, traineeships and full-time work,” added Minister Merlino.
With the release of ATAR results being a stressful time for some students, Associate Professor Helen Askell-Williams, a researcher at Flinders University with a research interest in student health and wellbeing, and educational psychology, said it was important for students to “keep things in perspective”.
“Social perspectives that over-emphasise ATAR can be counterbalanced with information about alternatives, such as taking Year 12 over two years, TAFE, alternative university entries such as uni-test and foundation courses, and transfer to a more preferred uni course if progress in first-year uni is good,” she said.
“Anxiety is counterproductive to wellbeing and learning, so pitching learning and assessment tasks at the right level of challenge for each student is an important goal. Most teachers, parents/carers and students that I meet are well-aware of the dangers of stress. They promote stress-reduction strategies such as balancing study, play and rest, and keeping things in perspective.”
VCE students have until 4:00pm on 14 December 2019 to change their university and TAFE preferences via their VTAC account prior to the release of December offers.
