Not just questions, pictures too: VCE exam crisis thickens as students uncover more leaks using Adobe software

The credibility of final year 12 ATARs have come under further scrutiny after more VCE exam leaks were uncovered by tech savvy students just days out from results.

Students have expressed even greater concerns over the credibility of their final year 12 ATARs, after more exam leaks were found just days out from results day.

The Saturday Herald Sun can reveal there were photos hidden among leaked text on exam cover sheets, with one image almost identical to one provided in the real VCE exam.

Savvy students who had subscribed to Adobe software were able to find concealed images on the psychology and integrated technologies VET cover sheets produced by the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA).

Instead of having to highlight the hidden text, students using the paid version of this platform simply had to go into the edit tab which would bring up boxes around invisible components of the document.

Students could then copy these boxes and paste them into a separate Microsoft Word document to reveal the hidden content which included both photos and questions initially disguised in white text.

A pictures leaked on the Psychology VCE exam cover sheet, uncovered by savvy students using Adobe software. Picture: Herald Sun

The real VCE Psychology exam. Picture: Herald Sun

The image hidden in the psychology cover note included a photo of a boy and a woman brushing their teeth as well as some hidden questions.

This photo formed part of a series of questions worth 10 marks, with part A of that section asking students to “describe the observational learning processes of attention, retention and motivation as shown in the picture above”.

While the question differed in the real year 12 VCE psychology exam, the photo was almost identical and was of a man brushing his teeth with a little boy.

One psychology student said they felt those who worked really hard to study for the exam would be penalised because expectations for a grade such as an A+ could be lowered to make up for VCAA’s “fiddly wording”.

“The psychology exam was called ‘challenging’ and ‘difficult’ this year with the fiddly wording,” they said.

“Those who worked really hard for the exam won’t be fairly compared to their SAC marks … and the leaked exam questions, at least in my opinion for psychology, were easier than those (that were rewritten) in the real exam.”

Pictures were among the leaked information on VCE exam cover sheets, with these leaked photos found in the Integrated Technologies cover sheet. Picture: Herald Sun

This newest leak adds to two other hidden psychology multiple choice questions the Herald Sun found and comes amid concern from teachers that some questions asked in the real exam were not on the study design.

The Saturday Herald Sun also found two photos hidden in the Integrated Technologies VET cover note, which accompanied a series of questions worth a total of 16 marks.

The images were of a “SMD resistor” which were followed by two questions including one asking what the acronym “SMD” stood for.

The other question asked students to “identify one electrical parameter that limits the use of SMD resistors, and explain why this is the case.

Students have uncovered more leaked VCE exam questions using Adobe software.

Meanwhile a whole new question was unveiled in the Information and Communications Technology VET cover note through the Adobe platform, worth three marks.

It asked students to “outline what a modem and a router do in a small office, and the order in which the modem and the router should be installed or connected”.

While it’s not known how many students had access to the new leaks, it adds to concerns about the fairness of students’ study scores and ATARs which are due to be released on Thursday.

The Herald Sun has published 35 of the 56 exam subject leaks after repeated refusal by the VCAA to detail how the affected exams would be marked and moderated to ensure fairness for students. Students can use the information to review, and if appropriate, appeal their marks after Thursday.

Opposition education spokeswoman Jess Wilson said: “How can VCE students, teachers and families have any confidence no one will be left disadvantaged when the people responsible for this mess are the same ones grading exam papers?”

“The VCE exam debacle continues to worsen and two months on, students still don’t know exactly which questions have been compromised or how their final marks will be impacted,” she said.