UPDATE 12pm: ‘Chaos’ follows ‘embarrassing’ VCE blunder
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UPDATE 7.20am: Education Minister James Merlino is believed to have ordered a probe into the event, which has compromised sensitive results that are normally closely guarded until the official release.
UPDATE: The Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre released the following statement at 1:42am:
VTAC and the VCAA can now confirm the following information made available by Salmat Digital about the early release of VCE results and ATARs via SMS in the early evening of 7 December:
· 2,075 VCE students received an SMS from Salmat Digital
· The VCE results and ATAR within the SMS are accurate
VTAC and the VCAA will be contacting each of the students affected to confirm the accuracy of the information and provide further support.
All schools will also be contacted and appraised of any updates to this situation.
Students with concerns should contact the VCAA on 1800 134 197 (after 9am) or VTAC (after 8am) on 1300 364 133.
UPDATE: The Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre released the following statement at 10:53pm:
The Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC) and the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) are aware of reports of the premature release of VCE results and ATARs via SMS.
We apologise to all VCE students for any confusion, anxiety, or upset caused by this incident.
VTAC and the VCAA are working to establish the accuracy of the information sent as soon as possible.
The SMS service used by VTAC and VCAA is handled by an external provider, Salmat Digital.
Salmat is urgently investigating the exact nature, extent, and cause of what has occurred.
Once this is known, we will take all steps to ensure that students, parents and schools are all made aware of it.
Further updates will be provided as soon as information is available.
EARLIER: Victorian students are reporting that they have already got their tertiary admission ranks online or been sent them via text message days before they are due to be released.
When at least some students registered online to receive their Australian Tertiary Admission Ranks on Wednesday night, they were sent them in a text message or the results were displayed on the VCE results and ATAR website on Wednesday night.
VCE Facebook sites are filled with reports from students wondering if they have received their real results or if they are the victims of a hoax.
A student at Bendigo Senior Secondary College seemingly received her results via text just before 8pm, as did her friend from Catholic College Bendigo.
A spokeswoman for VTAC said that "VCAA and VTAC are investigating the reports of what has occurred and are taking this very seriously".
The saga is a major embarrassment for VTAC, who vowed just weeks ago to crack down on schools who leaked ATARs.
It imposed a range of new penalties for schools that broke the rules, including being barred from accessing early results for up to five years.
Principals say that the results that have been released to students are close to what they would have expected students to receive.
While the VCAA calculates study scores for individual subjects based on school assessments and exams, VTAC calculates the ATAR which is used by universities.
It is believed that the glitch allowed students to receive their results if they registered for the SMS service between 7 and 8pm tonight. Some students have reported being able to access their results if they logged into the VTAC website with their student ID.
Disbelief, elation, shock and anger spread through the forums as some students expressed devastation at receiving their results early while others were furious they couldn't access theirs.
"ATAR is done and dusted, relieved," one student posted.
"I'm actually more nervous about my ATAR now that some people have gotten theirs like, All Hope Is Dead," another wrote.
Lynda Manley, mother of Princes Hill Secondary College student Ruby, is angry that her daughter received a text with what could be her final scores at a time when there are no support systems available to help students process the news.
"It's 8 o'clock on a Wednesday night and the school support systems are ready to kick in on a Monday morning. I can't raise teachers on a Wednesday night.
"We've got no way of confirming whether this is a hack or legitimate."
Ruby tried to get her ATAR after reading on the VCE DiscussionSpace Facebook page that others were getting their results. The text she received back "was not the score she was hoping for," says Ms Manley.
"Now I've got this upset 18-year-old. I'm thinking this has got to be a prank or a hack."
Others have taken to VCE Facebook groups or Twitter to share their results.
Paddy received a nice surprise when he registered at 7.45pm - a text message that said he had achieved an impressive ATAR of 99.75. It also included all his study scores for individual subjects.
But now he's unsure whether to believe the good news.
"No one is sure what is going on," he said. "It's good news, but I don't know if it is real. I don't know whether to celebrate or not."
He was considering studying a science degree at university next year, but said if the results were correct he would reconsider his options.
"I might take a gap year and have a proper think. It is a lot higher than I thought I would get."