Students completing the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) have woken up to their results this morning after a year disrupted by COVID-19 and natural disasters.
Ararat student James Mullin said the wait to receive his Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) had been an anxious one.
"[It's] the one thing that you need to get the course that you want, which gets you the job you want, which gets you the life you want," he said.
"It's very stressful the night before."
The class of 2022 from across the state achieved an average score of 70.33, up from last year's 69.26.
While learning-from-home measures eased this year in Victoria, COVID cases continued to sweep through schools and disrupt learning.
"I lost two weeks because of COVID, but you don't really know what the full impact has been on your score," James said.
He said previous special consideration for COVID no longer applied, which contributed to stress throughout the year.
"We got nothing, we didn't get any boosts, we didn't get any extra support," James said.
He has been planning on taking a gap year and "can't complain" about the ATAR score he received.
"It's basically a wait until university offers start to come out. It's a wait-and-see," he said.
James paid tribute to the resilience of teachers over the past three years, saying that were crucial to the success of students.
"I don't understand how they do what they do. They are amazing."
More options available
For students in Central Victoria, "normal" learning has been annihilated by record-shattering flooding that has lasted throughout the pointy end of year 12.
Bendigo Senior Secondary College is the largest provider of VCE in the state and many of its students have been affected by flooding.
Principal Dale Pearce said students had banded together to overcome the challenges the year presented.
"There is a variety of emotions among students but the overriding emotion is one of anxiety," he said.
"Students have worked hard and [are] waiting to see if those results can take them in the direction they need to."
Flood-affected students could also opt to receive a derived score, taking into account their effort's from the whole year, rather than sitting a final exam.
Mr Pearce said students have many pathways into further education open to them.
"A student who looks at their results and finds that they're not quite what they had hoped for can do two things," he said.
"The first is it is still possible to change your university preference after receiving your results.
"But the most important [thing] is to speak to someone at their school or speak to their school's career advisor."
Students can finalise their university course preferences with the Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre by December 14, before first offers are released later this month.
Family support essential
Psychologist Karen Young has a particular interest in supporting children and families and says emotions can be varied and heightened for school leavers.
"The first thing as a parent, or as an important parent in their life, is we need to stay really calm and hopeful," Ms Young said.
"We'll catch their anxiety, we'll catch their stress, but the way we short-circuit that is by staying calm and hopeful.
"For some kids, it will feel like this is the rest of their lives and it will affect the rest of their lives. It doesn't.
"It is the end of one year and you're about to go into the start of another."
Regardless of the response, it's important for a parent or carer to validate the student's feelings, Ms Young said.
"Don't try to talk them out of their feelings," she said.
"We don't try to fix them, we don't try to change them.
"We also don't want them to think that they have to change how they feel in order to make us OK."
A common feeling from students unhappy with their results is a great sense of pressure or that they are letting their family down or disappointing them, Ms Young said.
She's encouraging parents to give their children the space to figure out their next steps and to let them know that uncertainty is OK.
"Uncertainty is often a space we land in when we're processing what to do next and figuring it all out, so it's really important that we support them," Ms Young said.
"If they ask for our ideas or advice on where to go next, that's the time to give it."
