VCE results and ATARs come out at 7.00am on Thursday 10 December 2026. Both arrive together, through the VCE Results and ATAR Service run jointly by the VCAA and VTAC. There is one catch that trips up families every year: you have to register in advance, and the VCAA advises finishing that registration by 5.00pm on Wednesday 9 December 2026. Miss it and you can still get your results, but not as easily, and not at 7.00am.
This is a guide for Victorian families to the whole fortnight, not just the headline date: what lands on 10 December, when the digital ATAR statement follows, the change of preference deadline that matters more than the number itself, and when offers arrive.
When do VCE results and ATARs come out in 2026?
Thursday 10 December 2026, from 7.00am. VTAC lists VCE results and ATARs as available online on 10 December at 7am, with the digital ATAR statement issued separately at 9.00am on Tuesday 15 December.
Victoria is unusual in a good way here. In Queensland, subject results and the ATAR arrive two days apart. In Victoria they arrive in the same release, so a student logging in at 7.00am on 10 December sees their study scores and their ATAR at once.
Where do the results actually appear?
Through the VCE Results and ATAR Service, which has two front doors:
- the website at resultsandatar.vic.edu.au
- the Results and ATAR app, searchable in the Apple App Store and Google Play as “VCE Results and ATAR”
You log in with your VCAA student number and the password you created at registration. The service is free, runs 24 hours a day, and stays open from 7.00am Thursday 10 December until 5.00pm Tuesday 15 December 2026. One practical warning from the VCAA’s own page: location restrictions may prevent access from outside Australia at peak times, so if your family is travelling in mid December, plan for it.
Do you have to register, and when is the last safe day?
Yes, you have to register, and this is the single most common avoidable problem on results day. Registration for the 2026 service opened on Monday 3 August 2026 at resultsandatar.vic.edu.au or in the app, and you need your VCAA student number plus your personal details. You create a password during registration, and that same password works for the website and the app. You only register once, so if you registered in August you are done.
The VCAA advises completing registration by 5.00pm on Wednesday 9 December 2026, the day before results, to ensure easy access. That is the deadline nobody puts in a headline, and it decides whether your 7.00am is calm or frantic.
One trap is worth reading twice: the VCAA states plainly that a VTAC account is separate from your registration for the VCE Results and ATAR Service and will not give you access to it. Families who have spent months inside their VTAC account choosing preferences often assume that login covers results day. It does not. Two systems, two logins.
If you are a Victorian Year 12 student reading this in October, the useful action today is not more study. It is to register, and write the password somewhere your parents can find it.
Can results come by email or in the post instead?
Both, with conditions.
Email. Students enrolled in a Unit 3 and 4 sequence that includes the Vocational Major, or a scored VCE VET Unit 3 and 4 sequence, can receive their grades and study scores by email on the morning of release. For that you must have given an email address on your VCAA 2026 Student Personal Details and Declarations form, and the address on VASS has to be active. Your school can confirm it.
Post. VCE and VPC Statements of Results arrive in the mail from 10 December 2026. Certificates are not mailed with results: they are distributed by schools and colleges, so for the certificate itself you contact your school, not the VCAA.
When does the digital ATAR statement arrive?
At 9.00am on Tuesday 15 December 2026, per VTAC. Instructions for accessing it are emailed to VTAC applicants who have submitted and paid for a course application. Students who did not apply for courses can request an ATAR statement through vtac.edu.au, and administrative fees apply.
So there are two ATAR moments: the number on screen at 7.00am on 10 December, and the formal statement five days later.
What is the change of preference deadline, and why does it matter more than the number?
For current VCE students, change of preference closes at 12 noon on Saturday 12 December 2026. That gives roughly two days between seeing your ATAR and locking in the course list that offers are made from.
Those two days matter more than almost anything in the preceding two years, because they are the only part of the process still in your control once results exist. An ATAR you did not expect, high or low, changes which courses are realistic, and the students who handle it well worked out their alternatives in November, before the number existed.
VTAC also publishes different closing times by applicant group. For the December round it is 12 noon on 12 December for current VCE and IB May sitting students, 4.00pm on 14 December for SA and NT students, and 4.00pm on 18 December for ACT, NSW, Tasmanian, Queensland and IB November sitting students. If a sibling finished Year 12 interstate, their deadline is not yours.
When do offers come out?
The December offer round is released at 10.00am on Wednesday 23 December 2026. January round 1 follows at 2.00pm on Tuesday 12 January 2027, and January round 2 at 2.00pm on Wednesday 27 January 2027, with three February rounds after that.
Between the December round and January round 1 there is another short change of preference window, opening at 10.00am on 23 December and closing at 12 noon on 24 December for students who were eligible for December round offers. Christmas Eve is an odd deadline, and families miss it.
What does the December and January calendar look like in full?
| Date and time | What happens | Who it applies to |
|---|---|---|
| Wed 18 Nov 2026 | Last VCE written examination | All VCE students |
| 5.00pm Wed 9 Dec 2026 | Advised deadline to finish registering for the VCE Results and ATAR Service | All VCE students |
| 7.00am Thu 10 Dec 2026 | VCE results and ATARs available online | All VCE students |
| From Thu 10 Dec 2026 | Statements of Results posted | VCE and VPC students |
| 12 noon Sat 12 Dec 2026 | Change of preference closes for the December round | Current VCE and IB May sitting students |
| 9.00am Tue 15 Dec 2026 | Digital ATAR statement issued | VTAC applicants who paid for a course application |
| 5.00pm Tue 15 Dec 2026 | Results and ATAR Service closes for 2026 | All VCE students |
| 9.00am Fri 18 Dec 2026 | IB notional ATARs available | IB students |
| 10.00am Wed 23 Dec 2026 | December offer round released | Eligible Year 12 applicants |
| 12 noon Thu 24 Dec 2026 | Change of preference closes for January round 1 | December round applicants |
| 2.00pm Tue 12 Jan 2027 | January offer round 1 | All applicants |
| 2.00pm Wed 27 Jan 2027 | January offer round 2 | All applicants |
Dates and times above are from VTAC’s key dates page and the VCAA’s VCE Results and ATAR Service page, both read on 10 October 2026. VTAC posts all times in Victorian local time.
What if a result looks wrong, or you have a question?
The Post Results and ATAR Service, run jointly by the VCAA and VTAC, exists for exactly this. It is reachable on 1800 653 080 (free call) or at pras@education.vic.gov.au, and runs 7.00am to 5.00pm on Thursday 10 December, then 9.00am to 5.00pm on 11, 14 and 15 December 2026. You cannot get your results through it; it answers questions about results you already have.
What should a Year 12 student actually do on 10 December?
Here is an illustrative morning, not a real student. A Melbourne student logs in at 7.02am and sees an ATAR of 78.40 when she had quietly hoped for 85. Her English study score is strong; her second maths study came in below her practice exams.
The useful response is not to refresh the page. It is to open her VTAC preference list before noon on Saturday, move a course she can enter at 78 into the top slots, keep the one she wants most at number one in case the entry rank falls, and check which of her courses have a mid-year intake. She has about 53 hours, and they are worth more spent on the preference list than on the result.
How should Year 11 students read all this?
As a map of what the end looks like. Two things here are worth knowing a year early. First, your study scores are shaped long before December. If you want to understand what a study score is and how it is built, start with our parents’ guide to the VCE study score, then read how VCE scaling works, from moderation through to scaled study scores. Students choosing Unit 3 and 4 studies for next year will also want our ranking of which VCE studies scale up the most, built from VTAC’s own published data.
Second, the examination period is the part you can prepare for with a calendar. Our VCE exam timetable guide for 2026 sets out the written examination period, 27 October to 18 November, session by session.
Where does tutoring fit in a December timeline?
Honestly, not on 10 December. By then the marks exist. Tutoring is useful in the twelve months before, and for Victorian students the two highest-value windows are the start of Unit 3 and 4 in Term 1 and the six weeks before the written examinations.
NextStepAcademy works with Victorian students online, at $65 an hour, matched to a tutor who has studied the specific VCE study rather than a general subject. If that is useful for next year, our VCE tutoring in Melbourne page explains how the matching works, and high school tutoring in Melbourne covers Years 7 to 10. Families outside Melbourne can see how the sessions run on our online tutoring page.
Every first lesson is covered by our First Lesson Guarantee. If you do not love it, you do not pay for it. Book a first lesson today.
Frequently asked questions
What time do VCE results come out in 2026?
7.00am on Thursday 10 December 2026, through the VCE Results and ATAR Service. The ATAR is released in the same moment, so there is no second wait.
Do I need to register to see my VCE results?
Yes. Registration opened on 3 August 2026 at resultsandatar.vic.edu.au or in the Results and ATAR app, and the VCAA advises completing it by 5.00pm on Wednesday 9 December 2026. A VTAC account does not give you access.
When do VCE results and the ATAR statement differ?
You see your ATAR on screen at 7.00am on 10 December. The formal digital ATAR statement is issued at 9.00am on Tuesday 15 December 2026, and goes to VTAC applicants who submitted and paid for a course application.
When does change of preference close for Victorian Year 12 students?
12 noon on Saturday 12 December 2026 for current VCE and IB May sitting students, which is what makes you eligible for the December offer round on 23 December.
When do university offers come out in Victoria?
The December round is released at 10.00am on Wednesday 23 December 2026, January round 1 at 2.00pm on 12 January 2027 and January round 2 at 2.00pm on 27 January 2027, followed by three February rounds.
Sources: VCAA, VCE results and ATAR service and VTAC, Key Dates 2026-27, both read on 10 October 2026. Dates set by the VCAA and VTAC can change, so confirm against those pages close to the day.