After almost 650 days as a VCE student – and 267 days in lockdown – the class of 2021 will be dwelling on a different number this morning.

At 7am, 50,723 bleary-eyed but nervous year 12 students will be able to view their VCE results and Australian Tertiary Admission Rank, which is used to gain entry to university, and 14,066 students will receive their VCAL.

Freya Van Dyke, a year 12 student at Fitzroy High School, is nervous about her VCE results but is glad she has an alternative to the ATAR.Credit:Justin McManus

Thirty-nine brilliant students achieved the maximum possible ATAR ranking of 99.95 this year, including 28 boys and 11 girls, but in general, girls outperformed boys, with an average ranking of 70.6 against 67.62.

Among those graduating is Freya Van Dyke, a year 12 student at Fitzroy High School, who has already decided to take a break from study and spend 2022 working and travelling.

Ms Van Dyke, 18, who studied VCE English, media, theatre studies and extended investigation, isn’t fretting about her results as she already has a back-up plan.

Last year, she became frustrated with VCE and its “rigid assessment structure of exams and SACs [school assessed coursework]”.

“It didn’t give a lot of room for individual creativity; every aspect was mapped out,” she said.

So she took a punt on an alternative program called Big Picture Education, and divided her school hours between VCE and a second portfolio of works.

An aspiring actor who has already had a role in Australian soap stalwart Neighbours, Ms Van Dyke wrote her autobiography, investigated Australian cult The Family and designed a theatre set to complete her Big Picture portfolio.

Fitzroy High supported her with her Big Picture portfolio, even though it was the first time a student at the school had attempted it.

“I will be opening my results like everyone else, still nervous, but it’s really comforting to know there is another program I’ve gotten results in,” she said.

Many students suffer huge anxiety about their VCE results, and crushing disappointment if they don’t do as well as they hoped, said Will Stubley, a co-founder of Year 13, a company that provides career guidance to school-leavers.

“We’ve done a lot of research on this, just trying to understand where the pressure comes from, and a lot of it comes from students themselves,” Mr Stubley said. “Schools are often not putting that much pressure on; it’s everyone else – the parents, the peer groups, it’s students benchmarking themselves against their friends.”

Many Australian universities offer entry pathways into certain courses that do not hinge on achieving a specific ATAR. Lucinda Knight, a lecturer in curriculum pedagogy at Deakin University, said she has worked with many school-leavers who were devastated by their year 12 results, and did not know there were “multiple opportunities” to get into the course of their choice.

“I think it’s really important to think about the whole range of options that are open to you. It’s so easy to get focused on those numbers and think that that adds up to everything that you are, but that’s not the case,” she said.

“Because the ATAR is so exam-oriented, it is really a snapshot of student performance, not a summation of what students are capable of.”

Colin Axup, president of the Victorian Association of State Secondary Principals, said it was not a typical year for year 12s because their VCE had been hijacked by the pandemic.

“The resilience of these kids who have got through the past two years, regardless of their results, they deserve to be congratulated,” he said. “And not only them, their teachers and their families.”

Brett Moore, principal of fast-growing Ashwood High School, said his year 12 students were probably feeling relieved, excited and nervous now the VCE was over. The school was forced to shut over a COVID-19 outbreak late in term four.

“We thought last year was tough, but this group’s had it for two years and it was even worse this year because we’ve had longer closures, more disruption, and then, right near the end, we had COVID cases that we were dealing with,” Mr Moore said.

“So these kids have been through the wringer, and I’m really confident that they’re going to get exceptional results.”

All students received individual consideration of educational disadvantage because of the COVID-19 outbreak this year.

Education Minister James Merlino congratulated all students and thanked teachers, school staff and families for their support.

“VCE and VCAL graduates are impressive every year, but the class of 2021, completing their final years of school in a global pandemic, are particularly inspiring,” he said.

Check in with The Age’s VCE results day live blog from 6am on Thursday, December 16.

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