Victorian students sitting final exams were able to view hidden questions on sample papers but authorities insist none gained an unfair advantage.

The Victorian Curriculum And Assessment Authority (VCAA) uploads sample exam papers each year to familiarise students on details such as length and time limits.

In response, the State Government has ordered a full external review of the VCAA.

“Students deserve better,” Education Minister Ben Carroll said on Friday as he confirmed that a “root-and-branch” review will be carried out.

“It is clear to me that some students have been let down as a result of these errors and that is completely unacceptable.”

On Thursday, Carroll confirmed PDF sample papers allowed tech-savvy students to view some of the possible questions on actual Victorian Certificate of Education exams.

“If you were a sophisticated enough student, you were able to essentially manipulate that PDF, cut and copy and then paste it into a blank Word document and see what some of the questions could have been,” he told reporters at state parliament.

“There has been human error here.

“It’s still not acceptable human error and I will get to the bottom of this.”

Carroll said the error was discovered by the authority two weeks ago and has since been rectified for remaining exams, which are due to wrap up on Wednesday.

The authority’s chief executive Kylie White said on Thursday no exams were compromised. 

“This was a production issue where sample material was inadvertently included in the published sample,” she said.

“The VCAA discovered this issue before the written VCE examinations commenced.

“For quality assurance, we reviewed the examinations to ensure the questions were different to the sample material.”

She explained the 2024 exams would be “similar” to the practice material as the VCE study design remained the same for several years.

“If students have seen the sample material before sitting the examination, this will not advantage a student’s ability to respond to the questions as they were different,” she said.

“I acknowledge, though, that students may be feeling some concern.

“But I would like to say to all students that they can feel confident about completing their examinations and there will be no adverse impacts to their results.”

Carroll received a detailed briefing on the blunder on Wednesday night and in response hauled the head of the education department in for an urgent meeting on Thursday morning.

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.

Carroll said the Labor Government accepted all the review’s recommendations, but added there were ongoing issues related to the production and distribution of exams.

Opposition education spokeswoman Jess Wilson said the review was too narrow and called for a broader one.

“The responsibility falls at the feet of the minister,” she said.

The Government will appoint an independent monitor in early 2025 to oversee next year’s exams and advise the Government on the authority’s role regarding exam preparation, management and production.

AAP