Shocking statistic paints grim outlook on lockdown’s impact on VCE students

This grim number for the first time reveals the shocking impact lockdown had on VCE students desperate to get into university.

Eight in 10 VCE students applying for university last year received special consideration. Picture- Nicole Cleary

Eight in 10 VCE students applying for university last year received special consideration, and thousands more are expected to apply this year, the Herald Sun can reveal.

This year’s two Covid-19 lockdowns continue to affect the state’s 67,000 year 12 students, who will be supported by authorities.

Last year, 37,595 students enrolled in university courses under the Special Entry Access Scheme.

Of these, 31,000 reported difficult circumstances as a result of Covid – a 249 per cent increase on 2019, data from the Victoria Tertiary Admissions Centre shows.

It comes as a new study of 23,000 students, parents and teachers conducted by Independent Schools Victoria shows private schools adjusted well to the sudden delivery of online schooling but many students struggled during home schooling and felt it harmed their learning.

Independent Schools Victoria chief executive Michelle Green said schools and their staff “have shown high levels of flexibility and resilience at a time of extraordinary pressure”.

“But clearly this cannot replace face-to-face teaching and learning. It’s also clear that there’s a need to continue to pay close attention to student wellbeing,” she said.

Eight in 10 VCE students applying for university last year received special consideration. Picture- Nicole Cleary

Acting VTAC director Antonietta Tancredi said students and schools could again apply for special consideration in August using a simple online questionnaire instead of detailed written statements.

“This streamlined special consideration process will also be available to students in 2021, encompassing educational disruption experienced by students in both 2020 and 2021,” she said.

State Opposition Education spokesman David Hodgett said continuing lockdowns “have definitely resulted in increased anxiety from students in many ways: not knowing if SACs will be able to be sat, having SACs rescheduled and having learning preparations interrupted”.

The GAT has also been rescheduled for July 29.

Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools executive director Jim Miles said schools “will work closely with students and families and support them to make applications for special consideration”.

The special access from VTAC comes on top of additional assistance from the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority, which will also continue this year.

“This was a new process in 2020 that was embedded in the VCAA’s well-established assessment processes,” a VTAC spokesman said.