The head of Victoria’s exams authority has quit after a blunder allowed students to view hidden questions on sample papers.
Education Minister Ben Carroll announced Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority chief executive Kylie White had resigned after the government ordered a sweeping review into the body.
The exam authority uploads sample exam papers each year to familiarise students with test details but it emerged last week tech-savvy students could spot hidden questions.
Ms White on Thursday insisted the issue did not compromise any final exams but Mr Carroll confirmed 56 out of 116 tests were affected.
“I’m incredibly upset and angry,” Mr Carroll told reporters on Monday.
“I was given reassurances that the exam questions that had inadvertently been released and uploaded with the instruction cover sheets had been rewritten and that has proven to be completely unsatisfactory.”
The authority will use an existing grade check process, overseen by an independent advisory panel of experts chaired by Professor John Firth, for exams impacted by the errors.
Student marks will be reviewed to identify anomalies in how students responded to affected questions and marks adjusted if they provided anyone with an unfair advantage.
It means some questions could be ruled invalid, resulting in all students who sat the exam being awarded a full mark.
Mr Carroll apologised to students.
“The last thing our Year 12 students need is additional stress and uncertainty from the administration of examinations,” he said.
“Today we’re taking action and taking the right steps to ensure that no student is disadvantaged in the marking of the 2024 examinations.”
Multiple typographical errors appeared in general maths and chemistry exams in 2023 and six students received the incorrect Chinese language exam.
Five questions from the 2022 maths exams also contained errors.
An independent review, led by former NSW Education Standards Authority head John Bennett, was ordered and made six recommendations, including hiring more suitably qualified academics to develop exam papers.
Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership chief executive Marcia Devlin has been named interim replacement for Ms White, pending a permanent appointment.
