NERVES were in the air on Thursday, as the Class of 2021 received their Australian Tertiary Admission Rankings (ATAR) results at the bright and early hour of 7am.

This year, 50,723 students completed their Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE), with a state-wide completion rate of 98 per cent, with another 14,066 students to receive their Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL).

Victorian education minister, James Merlino said every student across Victoria should be congratulated for their efforts.

“I thank teachers, school staff and families, whose support through the last two difficult years has played a huge role in the success of this year’s VCE and VCAL students,” he said.

“Whether it’s a university course, TAFE, an apprenticeship or getting straight into the workforce, I wish our Year 12s the very best with whatever comes next after a fun and relaxing summer break.”

While completing the VCE or VCAL any year is impressive, the Class of 2021 faced more challenges than most, completing the entirety of their final years of school during a global pandemic and learning to adapt from home.

Good Shepherd College dux, Kahli Schultz said sustaining a consistent work ethic during lockdowns was challenging but being organised helped her maintain focus and keep on top of her workload.

“Finding motivation was quite difficult, especially when you’re learning from a computer screen,” she said.

“I worked on my study plan and made sure every day I would go into my diary and list out everything I needed to get done in that day and in that week, and that really helped me to reduce my stress.

“I loved going for walks, just putting in my headphones and clearing my head, it was just a good way to recharge as well because when you’re staring at a computer screen, you get so tired, so it was a good way to get some more energy and then go back to studying.”

Before she received her results on Thursday morning, Kahli said she was a little bit nervous about receiving her ATAR despite not putting too much emphasis on her score.

“I try not to put too much pressure on myself … but of course, I was nervous, and this morning I was relieved because it was exactly what I needed to get into my course,” she said.

“I’m looking at doing Nursing and Midwifery at Deakin University.”

OneSchool Global – Hamilton Campus dux, Kayley Richardson said that while her ATAR score was just a number, her school set students up for success while learning from home.

After Kayley’s older sister completed Year 12 in 2020, she felt like she’d been through Year 12 mentally twice.

“I guess it’s like the final thing for the year, and you don’t feel like you’re fully done until you’ve got your results,” she said. 

“We were really lucky that our school was really well equipped to shift into (remote learning), we hardly missed any days thankfully, we ran assessments from home as well so we didn’t have a whole heap to catch up on or anything.”

Monivae College’s 2021 dux, Bronson Hill said he was excited to receive his ATAR after a long lead up to the day.

“It’s kind of like a 13-year lead-up to this one day,” he said.

“Year 12 is so much work, and I’d kind of forgotten about everything within the last few weeks and then this morning I was like ‘oh yeah, I get to find out how I went’… so I was just excited, and I actually saw it before seven, I logged in before, I just clicked a button, and it worked, and there was my ATAR.

“I play a lot of music, play the guitar, you always need something to just relax because if you want to do well in Year 12 you’ve got to be really rigid with your time, so you’ve got to leave time for music and exercise, especially in lockdown.

“I was going for runs early in the morning just to get the day started, and it made everything run a bit smoother, so I could focus more on my work.”

Variation also helped The Hamilton and Alexandra College’s dux, Milo Cooper, who switched up learning styles and carved out time for extracurricular activities to maintain motivation.

Milo has continued to keep busy with a new job over the summer and plans to head to Melbourne early next year to study Science and Engineering at the University of Melbourne.

“(I’m) very excited for all the opportunities, all the doors that are open, new learning, new people, just getting to further my love of learning,” he said.

“I’m just about to start my first shift as a lifeguard up at HILAC … I’m also volunteering as a rowing coach at the school club and rowing at the Hamilton club as well.”

Results morning was stressful for Baimbridge College dux, Hilary Slocombe, who said she was apprehensive on Wednesday night and Thursday morning, but relieved after seeing her results.

“I was dreading it a bit, but then I woke up, and I was resisting pressing it, but I’m pretty satisfied with it,” she said.

“We took a video, and I was recording it … (my family) were very supportive.

“I want to do a Bachelor of Science at Melbourne (University) … I was thinking about taking a gap year, but now I’m pretty set on going (to university) next year.”

Victoria’s list of high achievers - students who received a study score above 40 - was released online on Friday and is available to view at vcaa.vic.edu.au/students/support/Pages/Index.aspx#40plus.