At the Minister for Education’s request, in December 2024 the Secretary to the Department of Education established an independent review of the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA). This was in response to issues arising from the 2024 Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) examinations.
The independent review is being led by Dr Yehudi Blacher PSM, and the Terms of Reference outline the scope and stages of this review.
Stage One report
The first stage of the review looked at issues associated with the production of the 2024 VCE exams to determine what happened, why and how.
Dr Blacher has handed down the first report with 8 recommendations:
- Ensure clear, specific accountabilities that align to defined milestones in the examination development process.
- Clearly document the examination development process end-to-end, identifying and managing key risks.
- Create a more senior executive director role as a single point of accountability for end-to-end delivery of examinations.
- Cease the creation of sample cover pages.
- Reconstitute the VCAA Board to include additional capabilities in critical governance areas.
- Strengthen the risk and project management capability of those responsible for the examination development process.
- Conduct regular crisis planning at an executive level in conjunction with the VCAA Board.
- Pilot the development of an examination repository for select subjects.
The government has accepted all recommendations. Implementation is underway as a priority to safeguard the 2025 VCE examination development and production processes.
Stage Two
The review’s second stage will include a review of the VCAA’s structure, operations, culture and capability, including benchmarking and comprehensive consultation with VCAA staff and key stakeholders.
A public submission process was open from 15 April until 30 June. This process has now closed.
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