Five sets of twins at Endeavour College to tackle SACE together

There are about 12,500 students starting their exams in SA this week. But for these five families the experience will be twice as testing.

• Goers: Don’t worry, SACE could be three times worse

Exams are a family affair for five sets of twins undertaking their final year 12 tests at Endeavour College.

Twins at the Mawson Lakes private school include Liam and Kennan Wallace, both 18, who share almost all of the same subjects in year 12.

They will both sit the history exam on Friday, but Kennan said he’s “not too sure if it’s been totally helpful” to be at school with his twin.

“You have good times and bad times but we’ve been revising exam questions to test each other,” the teen said.

They are among more than 12,500 students across 205 school sites starting their final exam period on Monday.

From left, twins Aleksa (back) and Bogdan Novakovic, Ruben (back) and Ryan Nixon, Imogen and Fenella Healy, Liam (back) and Kennan Wallace, and Caleb (back) and Cooper Marschall. Picture: Dean Martin

The year 12 cohort will sit 31 different exams over the next 10 days with general maths and mathematical methods two of the most popular tests.

Imogen and Fenella Healy, another set of twins at Endeavour, had their first class together since year 3 in integrated learning (formerly research project) after they would request to be separated throughout their schooling.

“We used to dislike each other a lot,” Imogen, 17, said.

But now they’re best friends and Fenella enjoys having her sister bring her food while she studies.

Bogdan Novakovic, 17, said of his twin Aleksa that the school was “not big enough for the both of us” and that they have been working with the Nixon twins, Ryan and Ruben, to study rather than each other.

“It’s good to have family at the same age as me so I have someone to lean on,” Ryan said.
The Marschall twins, Cooper and Caleb, 18, said teachers would often confuse the two of them when they shared classes.

“We switched around once in primary school and it worked until someone realised,” Cooper said.

Triplets Sanigdha, Daksh and Subedhaa Bansal all completing Year 12 at Glenunga International High School. Picture: Kelly Barnes Photo

Twins Charlie and Clement Tomy are completing Year 12 at Glenunga International High School. Picture: Kelly Barnes Photo

At Glenunga International High School triplets Daksh, Subedhaa and Sanigdha, all 18, are competing for the best exam results.

“It’s very competitive and every time we get results it’s about who did better,” Daksh said.

But they all support each other and the trio work together to quiz each other before tests.

Fellow year 12 Charlie, 18, said he uses his twin Clement as a “test dummy for what works and what doesn’t”.

“Iron sharpens iron – it’s a good analogy as when I see him (Charlie) lacking, I pump him up and it has made a huge difference,” Clement said.

Education Minister Blair Boyer said he appreciated “that exams can be a stressful time”.

“It’s important to remember that working hard and trying your best is the only thing we can ask of our young people,” Mr Boyer said.

SACE Board chief executive Michaela Bensley said she looked forward to “recognising and celebrating” students’ efforts following the period.

Students will receive their final SACE results on December 16.