Thank you for joining The Age’s live blog for the 2025 VCE results, and congratulations to all of Victoria’s year 12s!

Regardless of what score they received this morning, this year’s VCE leavers should be so proud of their hard work, and we hope they’re brimming with excitement for their bright futures ahead.

Here’s just a few of our top VCE stories from today:

• ‘Remarkable results’: The schools with top VCE scores
• Among the 49,000 students to receive ATARS, 42 scored a perfect rank of 99.95
• A glimpse into the world of VCE art

Keep an eye out tomorrow for the VCE Honour Roll. Have a lovely night!

Ali Agha arrived in Australia nearly two years ago as a refugee from Afghanistan. After overcoming significant challenges, he achieved an ATAR of 93.1.

Ali, his mother and brothers were separated from their father for 13 years, before the family were reunited in Australia at the beginning of 2024.

He was initially enrolled at Copperfield College in Melbourne’s north-west in year 10, as he faced significant language barriers. But after working diligently to improve, Ali moved up to year 11 halfway through 2024, meaning he could graduate this year.

His scores should be enough to get him into a bachelor of science with a masters in biomedical engineering at the University of Melbourne next year. Eventually, he wants to be a doctor.

“When I was living in Afghanistan, I saw people who really needed medical treatment and other healthcare, and it was not available to them,” he said.

“There are not many doctors back there, and not many public hospitals for people … In the very remote villages, where it’s very hard to access healthcare, people can walk two or three hundred kilometres just to get to hospital.”

He juggled his year 12 studies with working close to full-time hours each week at Officeworks.

“My teachers tried to convince me to work less, but I told them, ‘no I can’t. No one wants to work in year 12 but I have to’,” he said.

“I had to work while studying because I have to save money for uni fees because my family is not able to pay them.”

His principal, Nick Adamou, said Ali had shown an “unwavering commitment” to his education.

Twenty-two per cent of Copperfield College students obtained an ATAR over 80 this year, and the school had a median study score of 28.

One of our readers, Sasha Andersen, got in touch to say she’d received an ATAR of 96.25 today and was over the moon.

The 18-year-old Braemar College student wasn’t the only one from the Woodend-based school to record some great results: the dux, Alannah Byrne, scored 99.2, and the dux proximus, Thor Royal, recorded 98.85.

After putting plenty of effort into legal studies, which Sasha did as a year 12 subject in 2024, she tried to keep up with her hobbies more this year.

“I had a chilled year in 2025, balancing study with other hobbies such as my chickens, political involvement, and following Beyoncé around on her Cowboy Carter tour,” she said. “In short, sometimes balance is the best way to achieve greatness, having tried both ends of the spectrum.”

Sasha is hoping to study a double degree of law and arts at Monash University next year, and has huge ambitions for her future career – since the age of eight, her dream job has been to become Australia’s prime minister.

Even Matt Aidt’s stratospheric hopes were surpassed when opened his results to see a score of 99.8 – leading him to be named dux of Geelong High School.

Motivated by his “gifted and passionate” teacher, Steve Brown, Matt said the thing that took his study to another level was finding a deeper meaning in what he was studying.

“There’s something expressive and artistic in studying physics and maths – you’re studying the universe.”

Matt intends to undertake a bachelor of science at Melbourne University next year with a major in physics. He received a Hansen scholarship to cover housing costs, and it will include a stipend for the length of his degree, which he called a “huge privilege”.

Principal Davin Reid said Matt was an outstanding leader who had worked “extremely hard and dedicated himself to all aspects of school life”.

Twenty-five students at Camberwell Grammar School received an ATAR of 99 or higher – accounting for about 13 per cent of the cohort.

Nine perfect study scores of 50 were recorded at the school.

This year’s duces are Ethan Lau and Ben Ngo, who both scored the highest possible rank of 99.95.

Principal Ben Jeacocke said Ethan and Ben had been exceptional students who “worked very hard”.

Just over half of students (52 per cent) achieved an ATAR score of 90 or higher.

“In this moment, the focus is on the ATAR scores, but we want to emphasise that these numbers are only a small measure of a student’s true value,” he said. “Far more important are the resilience, deep friendships and life lessons they cultivated at school – these are the assets that will truly shape their journey ahead.”

More than 15 per cent of year 12 students at Ivanhoe Girls’ Grammar School received an ATAR higher than 98.

The dux was Fiona Finch, who received an incredible 99.95, and was also named the school’s sportswoman of the year.

Two students recorded perfect study scores of 50, in the subjects of English and business management. Almost half (47.7 per cent) of students recorded an ATAR higher than 90.

Principal Narelle Umbers said students should remember they were not defined by a number because “nothing is out of reach”.

“At this time, it is important for our graduates to remember that although the ATAR may provide opportunities for them, they are not defined by this number,” she said. “We encourage our young people to take the time to reflect and think deeply about what excites them and where their true passions lie.”

Two students at Melbourne Girls Grammar received perfect VCE scores, amid a strong performance by the wider cohort where the median ATAR was 94.3.

The school’s duces, Chanara Aberathna and Cecilia Xu, both woke up to scores of 99.95 on Thursday.

Cecilia now hopes to study law, and said that across her schooling journey, she had grown so much from the “shy year 7 who was too scared to make friends or try new things”.

“[The school] has taught me to really put myself out there and embrace every opportunity thrown my way,” she said.

Chanara recorded a perfect study score of 50 in biology, and said the key to success was finding her purpose and then pursuing opportunities with heart.

Fourty-four per cent of students received an ATAR of 95 or above, while 63 per cent of students achieved a score of 90 or higher.