Cash Flow Statement questions in VCE Accounting: a year-by-year pattern of where marks are lost
Cash Flow Statement questions have appeared consistently in VCE Accounting examinations and have been repeatedly identified in Examiner’s Reports as a source of avoidable mark loss. What makes these questions particularly costly is that many students believe they are straightforward once the format is memorised. The evidence from multiple years of reports shows the opposite. […]
General Journal questions in VCE Accounting: why they look easy and quietly cost students marks
General Journal questions are one of the most deceptively dangerous parts of the VCE Accounting exam. Many students feel confident when they see them because they appear familiar, procedural, and well practised during the year. Examiner’s Reports across multiple years show, however, that General Journal entries are one of the most common sources of avoidable […]
Why strong VCE Accounting students lose marks in the exam, even when their numbers are correct
One of the most confronting experiences for VCE Accounting students is opening their exam results and realising that their final score does not reflect how confident they felt walking out of the exam room. This is particularly common among students who are strong at calculations, complete practice exams diligently, and perform well in SACs. The […]
VCE Accounting explained: how the VCAA actually examines the subject and where students lose marks
VCE Accounting is often misunderstood as a subject that rewards mechanical accuracy above all else. While technical precision is essential, the VCAA’s examinations and Examiner’s Reports make it very clear that Accounting is assessed as a decision-based, judgement-driven discipline. Students are not simply being asked whether they can calculate correctly, but whether they understand why […]
What the VCE psychology grade distributions actually tell us about performance
Each year, the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority publishes grade distributions for VCE Psychology that show how students performed across coursework and the written examination. These documents are often glanced at briefly and then ignored. When read carefully, however, they provide a clear picture of where most students sit, how difficult it is to move […]
A close analysis of selected questions from the 2023 VCE Psychology exam
Question 1a: identifying a physiological response to stress This question appeared simple, but it revealed a persistent misunderstanding about categorisation. Students were asked to identify one physiological response to a stressor described in the scenario. The Examiner’s Report notes that many students instead described psychological or emotional responses, such as fear, worry, or anxiety. While […]
The 2023 VCE psychology exam: a detailed analysis of how marks were awarded and why students lost them
The 2023 VCE Psychology examination marked the first full cohort assessed under the 2023–2027 Study Design. The Examiner’s Report makes it clear that the paper was not designed to surprise students with unfamiliar content. Instead, it was designed to test whether students could apply familiar psychological knowledge using scientific reasoning, precise terminology, and disciplined interpretation […]
A close reading of key questions from the 2024 VCE Psychology exam
The 2024 Psychology exam contained several questions that appeared straightforward on the surface but proved highly discriminating once marking criteria were applied. The Examiner’s Report makes it clear that students often understood the relevant content, yet still lost marks due to imprecision, misinterpretation of the task, or failure to integrate key science skills. Looking closely […]
The 2024 VCE Psychology exam: what the paper actually rewarded and where students lost marks
The 2024 VCE Psychology examination was not unusually difficult, but it was highly discriminating. Students who understood the content but lacked precision, scientific language, or exam awareness consistently lost marks across both sections. The Examiner’s Report makes it clear that the issue was not unfamiliar material, but how students interpreted questions, applied science skills, and […]
Sampling and generalisability in VCE Psychology: what the exam expects students to understand but rarely states outright
Sampling is one of the quiet differentiators in VCE Psychology. It is rarely the headline concept of a question, yet it underpins a significant number of marks across both short-answer and extended-response tasks. Students often believe that sampling only matters when they are asked to name a sampling technique. The Examiner’s Reports show that this […]