How the top VCE performers found the formula for success

2 months ago 18

Kessler Pellas made a fateful decision towards the end of last year. The Sandringham College student was studying maths and Chinese, but his heart wasn’t in what he was learning.

His parents, both IT professionals, weren’t keen on him dropping any subjects that might limit further study or career options. Still, they could see he had a burning passion for humanities. Eventually, his father said to his mother: “We need to let him off the hook on the maths side of things.”

Sandringham College student Kessler Pellas with his mum, Kelly.

The result is Kessler scoring the highest possible study scores of 50 in English, literature and psychology, while also achieving a 49 in sociology and 40 in media. His ATAR of 99.85 is the highest ever at the government school, whose median results increased from 55.6 in 2018 to 77.15 this year.

“In year 11, I did methods and Chinese second language, which scale up a lot, right? But I wasn’t good at them and while I liked Chinese, I wasn’t passionate about it,” Kessler said. “It was important that I put my passions before what scales up and what success looks like.”

However, enjoying the subjects was only half the equation. The school’s principal, Amy Porter, said she had never seen a harder working student. He did dozens of practice exams, spent many lunch times in the library and would often study in the car on the way to school. He also learned to accept disappointment when it came.

“I was looking for 100 for every [assessment] in English, and I didn’t get that. And I was really disappointed by that. But I had to accept that it doesn’t really matter,” Kessler said. “It’s important to put pressure on yourself because you need that to drive yourself, but that has to be done in a healthy way so you can recover even if you don’t get what you were looking for.”

Mentone Grammar School student Jess Chaplin achieved a perfect score of 99.95.

Finding the right balance is a sentiment Jess Chaplin echoes after scoring a perfect ATAR of 99.95, with 50s in English, maths methods and physics, and 43 in specialist maths. The Mentone Grammar student also achieved 50 in economics and 47 in biology last year.

“I’ve had to work on being confident in my own competencies,” she said. “But at the same time, it’s always good to keep in mind our own limitations – that also drives us to be better because we know we have to keep putting in the hard work.”

Chaplin, who has always enjoyed STEM subjects, is proudest of her result in English, which she acknowledges felt like a grind to study, unlike maths. She set herself a goal to do one essay a week to give the subject greater attention.

Then, her hopes for a high score felt dashed after she nearly fainted during the exam and was later diagnosed with a temporary health condition to which stress appears to have contributed. “I was devastated thinking I’d put all this effort in the entire year just for it to crumble.”

Thursday’s results were a shock and left her family with tears of joy. She said her trick to year 12 was staying consistent and keeping up with her extracurricular activities, including taekwondo, playing music, and debating.

“It’s more about being strategic and effective than just trying to get through on pure effort,” she said. “It requires a lot of hard work, commitment and dedication, but underlying that, you need to know the effective ways to be studying because, of course, you can’t burn out.”

Ruyton Girls’ School student Olivia Williams achieved the highest possible mark of 50 in four subjects.

Ruyton Girls School student Olivia Williams was blown away with her perfect score of 99.95. She is the only student in the 2025 VCE honour role to receive four perfect scores, with 50s in biology, chemistry, English and French. She also achieved 41 in specialist maths, and in 2024 received 45 in drama.

“I had so much support throughout the year,” Williams said. “I think it was really important to have a strong community with my fellow students and teachers. It really came down to the late-night study sessions with my friends, the support after difficult SACs; it really helped you overcome the hurdles throughout the year.”

She’s one of 90 students who scored an ATAR of 99.9 to be offered a University of Melbourne Chancellor’s Scholarship, which provides fully paid fees, guaranteed entrance into coveted graduate programs and a $5000 allowance.

Westbourne Grammar School student Advika Anoop, 18, who hopes to study medicine, said she was pleased with her score of 99.9.

“Processing this, there was a mixture of emotions that came through, but I kind of knew I would get this score because of all the hard work I put into this year,” she said.

The Point Cook student said receiving the Chancellor’s Scholarship was a huge relief. “It’s really something I know I have a plan for,” she said.

“I think the biggest thing for me was to not doubt myself. There have been many moments of ups and downs. During my lows, it was important to maintain that sense that I will achieve what I want to achieve and to not let any setbacks demotivate me. It’s important to never doubt yourself.”

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