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2026 VCE English Language exam: What to learn from last year's mistakes
Hi all, in preparation for the upcoming exam, here's what to learn from last year's mistakes.
These are the 2025 questions I would redo first.
Section A, Q2: average 0.8/3; scored zero 67%; full marks 13%.
Section A, Q4: average 2.0/5; scored zero 10%; full marks 0.5%.
Section A, Q1: average 1.9/3; scored zero 26%; full marks 48%.
Section A, Q3: average 2.2/4; scored zero 16%; full marks 16%.
Section B, Q5: average 8.2/15; scored zero 0.6%; full marks 0.1%.
VCAA's figures are rounded. These are question averages, not study scores.
1. Section A Q2: Information flow is a specific language concept
Where students went wrong
Students did not supply two valid examples of information flow, or discussed unrelated features instead.
What they should have done
The email foregrounded material through front focus, including “Alongside Parley Australia” at line 20 and “With your incredible support” at line 27. Identify the construction and give the line reference. Then explain one: placing the customer’s contribution first foregrounds their involvement in the achievement and recognises their support. The answer needed two examples and analysis of one, not a general discussion of cohesion.
2. Section A Q1: Modality needs a purpose in this email
Where students went wrong
Answers identified a form but did not connect it to what the writer was doing for this audience.
What they should have done
A valid example was the modal auxiliary will at line 32. Explain the degree of commitment or certainty it expresses in its clause, then link that to the company reassuring the recipient about its future actions. Do not stop at identifying a future reference. The function has to fit the actual sentence.
3. Section A Q3: Two patterns, two different functions
Where students went wrong
Students used loose labels for patterns, or gave the same Jakobson function for both examples when the task required different functions.
What they should have done
Identify one semantic pattern and one syntactic pattern using study-design terminology. The product listing at lines 10–11 could support the referential function through information about products. The metaphor “made waves” at line 21 could support the poetic function through figurative expression. Explain how the chosen wording realises the function; naming the function alone does not demonstrate the link.
4. Section A Q4: Register can shift within a single text
Where students went wrong
Responses labelled the whole email formal or informal, then listed features without linking them to its purposes and cultural context.
What they should have done
Explain where language becomes more personal and where it establishes credibility. Link the shifts to the relationship with the recipient and the purpose of communicating environmental initiatives. Cultural context should explain why sustainability is relevant to the message, supported by the language in this text. Do not paste in a broad claim about Australian values with no textual connection.
5. Section B Q5: Spoken does not automatically mean informal
Where students went wrong
Students treated non-fluency as proof of informality, called every hesitation a discourse marker, or confused tenor with tone.
What they should have done
In Kelvin Kong’s NAIDOC acceptance speech, distinguish the features of spontaneous speech from the features that establish register. Examine lexical and syntactic choices as well as delivery. Tenor concerns the social relationship between participants; tone concerns the attitude or emotional quality conveyed. If you identify a pause or filler, explain its actual role instead of assigning it a function by default.
Source: VCAA 2025 English Language examination report: https://vcaacorporateprod.prod.acquia-sites.com/sites/default/files/2026-02/2025-English-Language-report.docx. Averages and percentages above are VCAA's published, rounded figures; the explanations are my paraphrases.
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