VCE Results and ATAR 2026: Thursday 10 December, 7am

VCE results and ATARs for the class of 2026 are released at 7am on Thursday 10 December 2026. What follows moves fast: current VCE students have until 12 noon on Saturday 12 December to finalise their VTAC course preferences for the December offer round. This guide covers how to get your results, what the numbers mean, the deadlines that matter, and what to do if your ATAR isn't what you hoped for. It's written for students and parents.

Key dates for the class of 2026

When	What happens
Wednesday 9 December, 5pm	VCAA's advised cut-off to finish registering for the VCE Results and ATAR Service
Thursday 10 December, 7am	VCE results and ATARs available online and in the app
Saturday 12 December, 12 noon	Change of preference closes for VTAC's December round
Tuesday 15 December	Free online access to results ends at 5pm; digital ATAR statements start going to paid VTAC applicants
Wednesday 23 December, 10am	December round offers released
Thursday 24 December, 12 noon	Change of preference closes for January round 1
Tuesday 12 January 2027, 2pm	January round 1 offers released
Wednesday 27 January 2027, 2pm	January round 2 offers released
Friday 5 February 2027	Last day to apply for a Statement of Marks or to inspect your exam papers

These are VCAA's and VTAC's published dates. Check VTAC's dates page before you act, in case anything changes.

How to get your results and ATAR

Your results and ATAR come through the VCE Results and ATAR Service:

• Online at resultsandatar.vic.edu.au, or in the VCE Results and ATAR app for iPhone and Android.
• You must register first. Registration opened on 3 August 2026, and VCAA advises finishing by 5pm on Wednesday 9 December so you're not stuck on the morning.
• Log in with your VCAA student number and the password you created when you registered. This is not your VTAC ID and PIN, which are a separate login. Your school can look up your student number if you've lost it.
• By email: students in a Units 3 and 4 sequence can get their grades and study scores by email on the morning of release, if they gave an email address on their VCAA student details form. Check with your school that it's one you actually read.
• By mail: results are also posted, arriving from 10 December.

Free online access runs from 7am Thursday 10 December until 5pm Tuesday 15 December, so save or screenshot everything in that window. If you'll be overseas, note VCAA's warning that location restrictions may block access from outside Australia at peak times.

Your official ATAR statement is separate. Paid VTAC applicants get an email from My eQuals from 15 December to claim a digital ATAR statement; if you didn't apply through VTAC, you can order a printed one from VTAC for a fee. Your VCE certificate isn't posted: your school hands those out.

What your results actually show

For each Units 3 and 4 study, your Statement of Results lists:

• S or N for each unit: satisfactory or not satisfactory completion.
• Your graded assessments: usually three per study, covering your school-based assessment and your exam or exams, each reported as a letter grade from A+ down to E. Ungraded means the score was too low for a grade, and NA means the work wasn't submitted or the exam wasn't sat.
• A study score out of 50. This is a rank against everyone in Victoria who took that study this year, not a percentage. Study scores are set so the average is 30, and most fall between 23 and 37. More in what a study score is.

You'll also get a GAT Statement of Results. It shows whether you met the Victorian literacy and numeracy standards (not met, met, or met with excellence) and, if you sat both sections, a score for each GAT component. If you didn't meet a standard this year, VCAA says you can resit the GAT in 2027.

Then there's the ATAR, which comes from VTAC, not VCAA. It's a rank from 0 to 99.95 in steps of 0.05. VTAC scales your study scores, then adds your best scaled score from the English group (English, EAL, Literature or English Language) to your next three highest, plus 10% of a fifth and sixth score if you have them. ATARs below 30 show as "less than 30" on ATAR statements, although the exact figure is in the online results service.

There's no pass or fail ATAR: if you received one, you've passed your VCE. And as VTAC itself puts it, the ATAR is a tool for tertiary selection that doesn't define you. The full method is in how the ATAR is calculated and how VCE scaling works.

The first 48 hours: lock in your preferences

The most time-sensitive job on results day is checking your VTAC preferences before 12 noon on Saturday 12 December.

• Log in to your VTAC account and edit your course preferences. Changing them is free, and you can change them as many times as you like within the window.
• You can list up to eight courses. Put them in the order you want them, not the order you think you'll get in. You'll only receive an offer for the highest course that wants to make you one, and institutions don't make selection decisions based on where you ranked their course.
• Keep your dream course at the top, even if your ATAR is below last year's lowest selection rank. Selection ranks change from year to year, and many courses consider more than the ATAR.
• Add realistic options and at least one pathway course further down the list.
• Check requirements such as prerequisites, interviews and folios in VTAC CourseSearch. Be careful deleting courses: if a course had an early closing date and you remove it, you can't add it back.

ATAR vs selection rank

Institutions select using your selection rank, which is your ATAR plus any adjustments. Adjustments don't change your ATAR, and they're specific to each course:

• Subject adjustments: some courses add points to your aggregate for study scores in particular subjects.
• Equity adjustments: if you applied for VTAC's equity schemes (formerly called SEAS), your selection rank may be adjusted to recognise hardship that affected your studies. The main closing date for 2026-27 applications was 9 October 2026. If something outside your control hit your studies and you didn't apply, contact VTAC to ask what's still possible.

Each course's ATAR profile in CourseSearch shows the highest, median and lowest ATARs and selection ranks of applicants who received offers in the previous year. Use it as a guide, not a guarantee.

When offers come out

December round offers are released at 10am on Wednesday 23 December. You can receive one offer per round.

• Accept your offer. VTAC recommends accepting any offer you receive, because you're not guaranteed an offer in later rounds. Accepting doesn't stop you being considered for courses listed higher on your list. If a better offer comes later, accept the new one and withdraw from the original.
• Watch the next deadline. Change of preference for January round 1 reopens at 10am on 23 December and closes at 12 noon on Thursday 24 December. After you get an offer, courses listed above the offered course stay in contention; courses listed below it are no longer considered.
• Enrolment is handled by the institution, which emails you instructions. Follow its deadlines.
• Thinking about a gap year? Check the institution's deferment policy before you rely on it. Not every course allows deferral, and VTAC suggests getting the institution's agreement in writing.

If your ATAR is lower than you hoped

First, breathe. A disappointing number at 7am feels enormous, but VTAC's own advice is that there's usually another pathway into the course you want. Then work through this, roughly in order:

1. Give it a few hours, not a few days. Don't make big decisions in the first wave of feelings, but remember preferences close at noon on Saturday.
2. Compare your ATAR with the course profiles in CourseSearch. Look at selection ranks, not just ATARs, because adjustments can lift your selection rank for some courses.
3. Call the institution. VTAC suggests contacting the institution to discuss alternative pathways if your ATAR isn't high enough for your dream course.
4. Look at pathway courses. Diplomas and other pathway courses often have lower entry requirements, sometimes no ATAR at all, and some give you credit towards a degree, which shortens the total study time.
5. It's not too late to apply. If you missed the very late deadline (5pm Friday 4 December), you can still apply for January round 2 and later rounds until 5pm on Wednesday 13 January 2027, although some courses fill before then.

Can you challenge an exam result?

There's no re-mark on request, but there are formal ways to check:

• Statement of Marks: shows the mark for each question or criterion on an exam, plus the score range for the grade you received. A Statement of Study Score shows your graded assessment scores and how your study score was calculated. Use the personalised form in your December results package. Applications close on 5 February 2027.
• Inspection of your exam responses: you can view your written exam responses at your school, supervised by the principal, for 15 minutes per paper. You can't take copies. Get your Statement of Marks first and, if possible, have your subject teacher there. Applications also close on 5 February 2027.
• VCE examination score review: if your teacher believes there was a genuine marking error, your principal can apply. Students and parents can't apply directly, and a score that's simply lower than expected isn't grounds. If an error is confirmed, the question score is adjusted and your grade and study score are updated; if they go up, VCAA issues a new Statement of Results and VTAC is notified.
• Confirmation of grades: an administrative check your principal can request when a grade is substantially lower than the school expected, typically by at least two grades.

The principal's deadline for score reviews and confirmation of grades on 2026 results wasn't published at the time of writing. For 2025 results it was Friday 20 February 2026, so talk to your school early and check VCAA's administrative dates. VCAA also says review outcomes are unlikely to be finalised before tertiary offers, so make your preference decisions on the results you have.

For questions on the day, call the Post Results and ATAR Service (PRAS) on 1800 653 080 (free call) or email pras@education.vic.gov.au. It opens at 7am on results day and runs on weekdays until Tuesday 15 December. It can explain your results but can't give them to you. For preferences and offers, VTAC is on (03) 9926 1020, 9am to 5pm weekdays.

Looking after yourself on the day

• Decide in advance how you'll open it, alone or with someone. Muting the group chat for a few hours is allowed.
• Don't compare. A friend's number tells you nothing about your path.
• Keep the number in proportion. It's a selection tool for tertiary courses, not a verdict on you or your future.
• Plan something for the afternoon, whatever the result.
• Parents: ask how they're feeling before you ask the number. Offer to help with the admin (dates, phone calls, the preference list) and leave the decisions to them.

If it's hitting hard, talk to someone. Kids Helpline (1800 55 1800) is free, confidential and open 24/7 for young people aged 5 to 25. Lifeline is on 13 11 14, or text 0477 13 11 14, also 24/7. In an emergency, call 000.

The bottom line

Register for the results service before Wednesday 9 December, open your results from 7am on Thursday 10 December, and get your VTAC preferences right before noon on Saturday 12 December. Keep your dream course first, add realistic and pathway options, and accept an offer when it comes. If your ATAR is lower than you wanted, you have more options than it feels like on the day.