Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority boss Kylie White quits after VCE errors

Victorian Education Minister Ben Carroll confirmed that 56 of 116 VCE exams had been impacted by the publishing error and said he was ‘incredibly upset and angry’.

The chief executive of the VCAA, Kylie White, has resigned.

The boss of the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority has resigned after almost half of VCE examinations were compromised by a publishing error that allowed thousands of students to gain unauthorised early access to test questions.

Kylie White abruptly resigned as VCAA chief executive on Saturday following revelations that students had found sample questions in exam cover sheets ahead of their final tests by copying and pasting the blank spaces of the sheets into a Word document.

Victorian Education Minister Ben Carroll said publishing guidelines were not followed correctly and confirmed that 56 of 116 VCE exams had been impacted by the blunder. “I’m deeply angry and upset,” Mr Carroll said on Monday. “The reassurances I was provided that the examinations were being completely rewritten has not been the case and has not been satisfactory.”

Marcia Devlin, head of the Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership, has been appointed as interim chief and commenced the role on Monday pending a permanent appointment.

Victorian Education Minister and Deputy Premier Ben Carroll. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Ian Currie

While Ms White last week defended the integrity of the education body and said a review had been conducted to ensure the actual exam material was different, multiple questions and case studies appeared to be nearly identical, the Herald Sun reported.

It is VCAA practice to upload cover sheets for students to view details about the structure and length of an examination but not its content.

“In some instances, only one to two multiple choice questions were published; in no cases were the full examinations published,” Mr Carroll said.

The Deputy Premier also announced that VCAA would use an existing “anomalous” grade check process to address the errors in this year’s exams, and would include a review of student marks to identify any anomalies and an analysis of discrepancies.

Students could also have their marks adjusted in the process, and it may include invalidating questions and awarding all students who sat an impacted exam with a full mark if necessary.

The implementation of the exam grade check process will be overseen by an independent advisory panel of experts to be chaired by former VCAA chief executive John Firth.

Last Tuesday, Mr Carroll said he would be asking “very hard questions of” Ms White.

TRICIA RIVERA