Twins completing the same university degree in growing trend that has lecturers seeing double

A Sunday Herald Sun analysis has revealed that dozens of twins are studying identical courses to their sibling — but turning in similar assignments or getting close grades can come at a cost.

Twin sisters Erin and Maddy Menzies both graduated from Victoria University with a Bachelor of Business. Picture: David Caird

Victorian tertiary institutions are experiencing a clear trend that has university lecturers seeing double.

A Sunday Herald Sun analysis of enrolment data at Victoria University and the University of Melbourne has revealed dozens of twins are studying identical courses to their sibling.

In the past five years, a total 55 sets of twins were enrolled into the same university course as their co-twin at Victoria University, including 15 sets who completed their degrees in 2020.

Another 10 completed the same courses in 2021, while 12 sets graduated with the same degree in 2023.

In the past five years, a total 55 sets of twins were enrolled into the same university course as their sibling at Victoria University. Picture: David Caird

Meanwhile, the University of Melbourne recorded its highest number of twins completing the same course last year, with 13 sets sitting in lecture halls for the same degree as their sibling.

Swinburne University of Technology clinical psychologist Associate Professor Katie Wood said it wasn’t uncommon to see twins study the same course, particularly identical twins who tended to engage in the same activities.

“Some of the benefits of doing the same course are they can support each other, motivate each other, in some instances it might reduce the competition and they can stay in the same peer group,” she said.

As for challenges of studying the same course, Associate Professor Wood said it wasn’t unusual for twins to write similar assignments or get close grades.

“Sometimes that has resulted in academic integrity accusations … so it’s really important to understand the twinship,” she said.

A Graduate Diploma in Early Childhood Education was the most popular choice of subject to be studied by twins, with 14 sets completing the course at Victoria University in the past five years.

Other popular degrees completed by twins included Bachelors in business, nursing and information technology.

Further analysis found of the 55 sets of twins who studied identical courses at Victoria University in the past five years, 23 sets were international students, while 32 sets of twins were domestic enrolments.

Among those domestic enrollments were twin sisters Erin and Maddy Menzies.

The 21-year-old Victoria University high achievers were among 2500 students who doffed their graduation caps in the first week of this month, with the pair successfully completing the exact same Block Model course — a Bachelor of Business (management and innovation / marketing).

Twin sisters Erin and Maddy Menzies graduated from a Bachelor of Business (management and innovation / marketing). Picture: David Caird

Erin said their interest in business stemmed from their shared love of the Victoria Certificate of Education Business Management subject in high school.

“We just had a passion for it and thought it was a really good area to get into after school,” Maddy added.

The pair hope they can use their degrees to one day start their own marketing firm.

“We both did an internship at the start of last year which was marketing-based and that was really fun, so even just getting a foot in the door somewhere and trying to do our own marketing business one day would be fun,” Maddy said.