November 16, 2026 — 9:02am
The state curriculum authority has confirmed an error has been found in the VCE specialist maths exam, as it seeks to reassure students they won’t be disadvantaged as a result.
The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) chief executive Andrew Smith said the error was identified in the marking process, in a letter sent to schools on Sunday evening.
“Marking guides have been updated to ensure no students are disadvantaged as a result of the error,” Smith wrote.
“Examinations will proceed as scheduled for the final three days, with the last VCE examinations this Wednesday 18 November.”
The VCAA website remained offline on Monday, after a hacker claimed to have accessed the site and illegally accessed exam papers last week.
The site was taken offline on Wednesday evening while the VCAA investigated the hack. A temporary website has been set up to provide students with access to study material.
Smith said the VCAA remains confident that no 2026 VCE exams were accessed prior to the exams.
“I can confirm that the cause of the attack on the VCAA public website was a vulnerability that was exploited to gain unauthorised access to the site,” he said.
Smith said Ernst and Young developed and maintained the VCAA website.
The maths bungle follows similar incidents in 2022 and 2023, when errors were identified in the math and chemistry exams.
The hack comes two years after the government ordered a review into the 2024 exam period in which the VCAA unintentionally published 56 test papers that gave thousands of students an advantage over others.
VCAA’s then-chief executive Kylie White resigned after the bungle, before the board was sacked in 2025.
The VCAA has been contacted for comment.
More to come.
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Source: The Sydney Morning Herald · Alex Crowe
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