VCE exams 2026
VCE 2026 exam timetable, and how to use the days before yours
The 2026 VCE written exams run from Tuesday 27 October to Wednesday 18 November, starting with English. Below is VCAA's day-by-day timetable, followed by a plan for the last two weeks before your first paper.
By StudyDesign AI editorial team. Dates checked against the official page linked below on 12 October 2026; the authority can change them, so confirm on the official page and on your own personal timetable. No teacher review is claimed.
The timetable, day by day
Copied from the VCAA VCE examination timetable . Times include the reading period; VCAA says most exams start with 15 minutes of reading time unless stated otherwise, and that you should arrive at least 30 minutes before the start. Find your own subjects below and write the dates on one page.
| Day | Time | Exams |
|---|---|---|
| Tue 27 Oct | 9:00 am – 12:15 pm | English; English as an Additional Language (EAL) |
| Wed 28 Oct | 9:00 – 10:45 am | Agricultural and Horticultural Studies |
| 11:45 am – 1:30 pm | Art Making and Exhibiting | |
| 3:00 – 5:15 pm | English Language; Indonesian First Language; Vietnamese First Language | |
| Thu 29 Oct | 9:00 – 10:45 am | VET Business; VET Community Services; Theatre Studies |
| 11:45 am – 2:00 pm | Economics | |
| 3:00 – 5:15 pm | Chinese First Language; Japanese First Language; Korean First Language; Literature | |
| Fri 30 Oct | 9:00 – 11:45 am | Psychology |
| 2:00 – 3:45 pm | General Mathematics Examination 1 | |
| Mon 2 Nov | 9:00 – 11:45 am | Biology |
| 2:00 – 3:45 pm | General Mathematics Examination 2 | |
| Tue 3 Nov | All day | Melbourne Cup public holiday. No examinations. |
| Wed 4 Nov | 9:00 – 10:45 am | Art Creative Practice; VET Engineering Studies; VET Health Allied; VET Health Services Assistance |
| 11:45 am – 2:00 pm | Aboriginal Languages of Victoria; Algorithmics (HESS); Classical Studies; Korean Second Language; Vietnamese Second Language | |
| 3:00 – 5:15 pm | Business Management | |
| Thu 5 Nov | 9:00 – 10:15 am | Mathematical Methods Examination 1; Music Composition |
| 11:45 am – 1:30 pm | VET Equine Studies; VET Hospitality | |
| 3:00 – 5:15 pm | Chinese Language, Culture and Society; Health and Human Development | |
| Fri 6 Nov | 9:00 – 10:45 am | Dance; VET Integrated Technologies |
| 11:45 am – 2:00 pm | Mathematical Methods Examination 2 | |
| 3:00 – 5:15 pm | Arabic; Legal Studies; VET Creative and Digital Media | |
| Mon 9 Nov | 9:00 – 10:15 am | Music Inquiry; Specialist Mathematics Examination 1 |
| 11:45 am – 2:00 pm | Applied Computing: Data Analytics; Physical Education; Spanish | |
| 3:00 – 5:15 pm | History: Revolutions; Industry and Enterprise | |
| Tue 10 Nov | 9:00 – 11:45 am | Chemistry |
| 2:00 – 4:15 pm | Environmental Science; Greek; Media; Texts and Traditions | |
| Wed 11 Nov | 9:00 – 10:45 am | VET Furnishing; Visual Communication Design |
| 11:45 am – 2:00 pm | History: Australian History; Outdoor and Environmental Studies; Specialist Mathematics Examination 2 | |
| 3:00 – 5:15 pm | Accounting | |
| Thu 12 Nov | 9:00 – 11:45 am | Physics |
| 2:00 – 4:15 pm | History: Ancient History; Geography; Sociology | |
| Fri 13 Nov | 9:00 – 10:45 am | Product Design and Technologies; VET Information and Communications Technology; VET Music (Sound Production) |
| 11:45 am – 1:30 pm | Drama; VET Sport and Recreation | |
| 3:00 – 5:15 pm | Applied Computing: Software Development; German; Philosophy | |
| Mon 16 Nov | 9:00 – 10:45 am | Food Studies |
| 11:45 am – 1:30 pm | VET Hospitality (Cookery); VET Laboratory Skills; Systems Engineering | |
| 3:00 – 5:15 pm | Latin; Politics; Religion and Society | |
| Tue 17 Nov | 9:00 – 10:15 am | Music Contemporary Performance; Music Repertoire Performance |
| 11:45 am – 2:00 pm | Indonesian Second Language; Italian | |
| 3:00 – 5:15 pm | Foundation Mathematics; French | |
| Wed 18 Nov | 9:00 – 11:15 am | Japanese Second Language |
| 2:00 – 4:15 pm | Chinese Second Language; Chinese Second Language Advanced |
Other dates on the same VCAA page: the GAT was Tuesday 16 June, and the Extended Investigation Critical Thinking Test was Wednesday 29 July. Results dates are not on the timetable page.
Using the last two weeks
English is the first exam for most students and falls on 27 October. Whatever your own first exam is, the fortnight before it is best spent on marks you can still win, not on content you have never seen.
- Write your own exam order first. Count the days between each of your papers, including the Melbourne Cup holiday on 3 November, when no exams are held. A three-day gap and a next-day turnaround need different plans.
- Do past papers under time, then read the examiner's report. The paper shows the question; the report shows where students lost marks. Our guide to using examiner reports walks through it.
- Sort every lost mark. Knowledge gap, command-word miss, or time and execution. Only the first needs more revision. The method is in how to use your trial exams.
- Stop new content early. In the last few days before a paper, re-do questions you got wrong rather than starting a new topic.
- Rehearse the sitting. Reading time, the time per mark, and what you do when you meet a question you cannot place.
Rehearse the exam, not just the content
Generate a practice paper in your state's format and get each written answer marked against the official criteria, with the phrase that lost the mark underlined. 3-day free trial, card required.
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