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VCE bodies branded 'incompetent' after fresh blunder

Timna Jacks
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Agencies guarding sensitive VCE data have been labelled "incompetent" after schools were sent inaccurate information about students affected by an unprecedented student data leak.

Less than 24 hours after ATARs and study scores were released prematurely to more than 2000 VCE students on Wednesday night, schools demanded that VTAC release a full list of names of those who were affected.

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VTAC tells 3AW the glitch is being investigated and Mary, mother of twin Year 12 students, says one of her children received her results, the other didn't.

The schools wanted the names so they could provide counselling and other support.

Late on Thursday morning, many of the 350 schools with students affected by the leak were still in the dark about which students had received their marks. 

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Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC) and the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) were yet to contact 40 per cent of affected schools by 2.30pm. 

The schools' frustration intensified after some schools who finally received the lists noticed that they excluded students who  had been sent their results early.

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One principal who was sent an inaccurate list but did not want to be named, said: "A mistake from the IT company I can understand ...  but if you're going to send out lists that are intended to be helpful to schools, you've got to make sure you get them right".

"It ... looks pretty incompetent to me," the principal said.

VCAA and VTAC said in a joint statement at midday on Friday that schools had "now received an updated list of affected students" and blamed the mistake on the contractor, Salmat Digital. 

"VTAC was provided with an assurance by Salmat Digital that the list of students initially provided reflected all students affected by their error," it read.

"Thanks to reports from schools on receipt of the initial list, we were able to identify an issue affecting VCE (Baccalaureate) students and request further investigation from Salmat Digital." 

Salmat Digital confirmed that 125 VCE students had not been included on the original lists sent out to schools. 

VCAA spokesman Alistair King said he was aware of the blunder and that more  accurate lists would be sent out to schools later on Thursday. 

He also asked schools that noticed discrepancies between student reports and information provided in the lists to inform the relevant authorities.

Over the course of the chaotic day, students who received their marks early slowly came to terms with their results.

Samantha Salamy, a year 12 student at Mount Waverley Secondary College, said she received her results on Wednesday night and was disappointed with what she saw.

"It doesn't add up. I studied so much more than what I got, and it just wasn't what I wanted," she said.

"I didn't expect it, I was preparing myself for one day and then all of a sudden I got it five days early."

Samantha, who wants to study psychology at university, said she had no sympathy for students who missed out on the early access to their grades.

A Change.org petition created by a year 12 student Benjamin Saddik emerged on Thursday afternoon, calling on VTAC and VCAA to release all student results. 

The Leibler Yavneh College student's petition, backed by more than 950 signatures, said it was unfair that most students were "forced to wait idly" while others received their marks early. 

"VCAA, please provide students with the choice to review their results just four days early," read the petition. "Make all scores available now."

However, VTAC's spokeswoman Ms Connolly said an early release of scores for 80,000 students was not possible.

"We know it may not seem fair for a small portion of students to have their results before others, but the infrastructure and support networks required to support the full VCE cohort will not be fully available until the scheduled release."​

Salmat Digital's chief operating officer Ian Harris said the company had provided the SMS service for VCE students "for more than 10 years", but acknowledged the incident was "extremely regrettable".

"Salmat Digital apologises to those students and their families impacted by this situation at what is already a stressful time," he said.

"We are working with the VCAA and VTAC and reassure students and their families that we have isolated and fixed the issue to ensure no further results are released before the scheduled date."

Education Minister James Merlino ordered an independent ministerial review into the incident.

VCE results will officially be released at 7am on Monday.

Any students with concerns about text messages received should contact the VCAA on 1800 134 197 or VTAC on 1300 364 133.

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