‘Printing error’ causes confusion among students sitting VCE Persian exam

VCAA has moved to reassure students no marks will be lost after a printing error sparked confusion, while also defending a controversial English exam question that sparked outrage.

The VCAA has reassured students who sat last month’s VCE Persian language exam they will not lose marks, after a printing error caused confusion over a question.

Students were puzzled when they came across a passage that was supposed to be written in Persian, but was incorrectly printed.

Upon realising the error, exam supervisors informed students to disregard the passage and instead read the English prompt to that question. They were then required to respond to that question in Persian.

The Victorian Curriculum and Exam Authority has since reassured students no one will be disadvantaged due to the printing issue and any issues that do arise in the marking process will be dealt with in a way that ensures no student’s grades are unfairly impacted.

““The VCAA is aware of a printing issue that affected one question in the Persian examination,” a VCAA spokesman said.

“No student will be disadvantaged due to this printing issue.”

The 2025 VCE Persian exam had a printing error which resulted in some confusion among students. Picture: Jason Edwards

There were 104 students who sat the exam this year, with the Persian exam error occurring on a much smaller scale than the exam cover sheet leak scandal that impacted more than 90,000 students last year – which was first revealed by the Herald Sun.

‘Like setting a Macbeth topic with a quote from Hamlet’

The Persian exam error comes amid students slamming the VCAA last week for including a quote in a question in the highly-anticipated English exam, which they claim was not part of the content they were taught throughout their year 12 studies.

Those who studied the New and Selected Poems, Volume One by Mary Oliver text were given two prompts in Section A of the exam which required them to perform an analytical response to a text.

However the second exam question included lines from a poem students claim they weren’t required to read, causing uproar among those required to study the text.

“The second question quote is not a part of the poetry collections ‘Dream Work’ or ‘American Primitive’. It’s from a poem called ‘October’ which we weren’t meant / allowed to read,” one student said.

“Tell me how this is fair? I’m so grateful for the English teachers at the school for contacting VCAA, they need to do better.”

A teacher told the Herald Sun it was a problem that the poem students were asked to analyse in the exam was not taught in class. Picture: Jason Edwards

A teacher told the Herald Sun it was a problem that the poem students were asked to analyse in the exam was not taught in class.

“Since many teachers tell the students that they must refer to the quote and its context in their essay, that’s going to rattle a few nerves,” he said.

“It’s like setting a Macbeth topic with a quote from Hamlet.”

In a statement, VCAA chief Andrew Smith defended the question, insisting that questions were drafted to “encourage students to use critical thinking and problem solving”.

“Students could choose from two prompts relating to poems by Mary Oliver. One contained an extract of a poem which was not one of the 38 selected for study from the broader collection,” he said.

“It was selected to relate to a consistent theme that was present throughout the collection and is answerable without prior familiarity.”

Mr Smith said teachers were not expected to teach all 38 poems and students were not required to refer to the extract in their response.

“(Exam questions) are drafted to encourage students to use critical thinking and problem solving,” he said.

“If through the marking process any anomalies are identified, the VCAA has established processes to ensure no student is disadvantaged in their results.”

‘VCAA’s apology for a sh*t last year’

For Preston High School graduates Ella, Holly, and Taylor Guest, the hardest part of the VCE exam season is over.

The triplets were among more than 47,000 Victorian students who sat the three-hour English exam on Tuesday morning, kicking off three weeks of year 12 exams.

The trio told the Herald Sun the overall feeling was one of relief, as they felt they weren’t “going in blind” for the remainder of their exams.

“I’m relieved that it’s over … very relieved English was the first subject to go,” Ella said.

“This morning we avoided going on our phones because I think there’s so much going on and it can overstimulate you even more before the exam.”

Triplets Ella, Taylor and Holly Guest finished their Year 12 English exam at Preston High School. Picture: David Geraghty

Holly said English had been one of the more challenging subjects to prepare for.

“It’s not set content where you can study definitions over and over again,” she said.

“It can be quite scary going into it and not knowing what the prompts will be.”

The trio described this year’s exam as “pretty fair” with “no real surprises.“

“There’s three different parts, section A, B and C,” Taylor said.

“We had section A writing about either one of our books and we had Flames and Oedipus. And then section B was writing a creative piece for personal journeys and the last one was an article analysis.”

Preston High School principal Sean Butler said completing the English exam was an important milestone for students across the state.

“It’s a culmination of 13 years of hard work by teachers, students and families. And we’re really lucky to have some of the best teachers in the world here in Victoria to help our kids to be their best.”

Relieved VCE English students took to social media to celebrate the end of their first exam, with most leaving positive reviews about the three-hour test.

In videos posted to TikTok, students filmed themselves ripping up study booklets, dancing outside the school gates and tearing down notes from their bedroom walls.

One English teacher, who didn’t wish to be identified, described the exam as “almost too easy”, after one of the Oedipus questions was almost identical to the one provided in the 2003 exam.

“My students had already prepared a full answer for it, as will any other student who looked it up,” they said.

“Certainly, it will mean a number of my students will get higher scores for that essay than they otherwise would have. Not exactly a leak, but incredibly lazy.”

Some students were more forgiving, labelling it as a “solid exam overall” and “VCAA’s apology for a sh*t last year”.

More than 47,000 Victorian students sat the three-hour English exam on Tuesday morning. Picture: Jason Edwards

“Low-key cooked that exam, I started smiling looking at the prompts – I loved it,” one student said.

“It actually wasn’t as bad as I expected … I’m super happy about that!” another said.

This year marked the second year of the new English Unit 3 and 4 study design, where section B of the exam changed from a comparative essay component to a creative writing response, excluding song, poetry or verse.

Other components of the essay included writing an analytical response to a text studied during the school year and an analysis of argument and language.

Exams will continue tomorrow until November 19, with the next big exams being English Language on Wednesday, Literature on Thursday and Psychology and General Maths on Friday.

Originally published as ‘Printing error’ causes confusion among students sitting VCE Persian exam