“There’s a lot of apprehension over the whole thing; the first question we’re all asking is whether it’s real,” Mr Scullin said last night.

“Everyone who has got their results, they’ve looked at them, and I haven’t seen anyone say their score was uncharacteristic of how they went throughout the year.

“If the system had gone wacky and my score ends up being a lot lower than what I first was told, my first response is that I’d be very upset, and pretty gutted, but that would quickly turn to anger.

“You’d start to point fingers and say this was really cruel; there’s lots of people who thought they’d done well, so there’d be sadness and disappointment, followed by pretty serious anger.”

The Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre and Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority issued a statement just before 11pm apologising to all VCE students for “any confusion, anxiety or upset” caused by the incident.

“VTAC and the VCAA are working to establish the accuracy of the information sent as soon as possible,” the statement read.

Victorian Association of State Secondary Principals president Judy Crowe said the glitch was disappointing given the careful management of scores in the past.

“It seems explicable that such a major blunder could have happened, especially if there is uncertainty about the accuracy of the scores,” Ms Crowe said.

“Because it is such high stakes arena, there is a lot of emotion for kids associated with getting the scores and what they will mean in getting tertiary offers.

“For there to be any breakdown in this system is really unfortunate and will have serious ramifications.”

A mum, who did not wish to be named, said her daughter was “screaming with excitement” when she received the text message with her ATAR score, which was better than expected.

But she said she didn’t want to see her daughters crushed with disappointment if the score ended up being lower.

Billy Nye, on Facebook, said the glitch had caused “utter chaos” in her home.

“All of my daughters friends have their ATAR’s five days early. They know what uni’s they are going to ... and mine is sobbing in her bedroom,” she said.

“As a parent I am ticked off. Come on ... get it together.”

Mum Christine Favata said it was “incredibly unfair” her daughter Claudia Favata, who attended Ave Maria College, missed out on getting her scores early.

Ms Favata said she tried to call the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority but could not get through.

“As a parent, I feel it’s unfair that some people got their scores early and others didn’t,” she said.

“She was out celebrating with her friends when she found out, and now they’re all stressed.”

Students have been left shocked, excited and disappointed about receiving VCE results, which may or may not be accurate. Picture: iStockSource:istock

Opposition education spokesman Nick Wakeling has criticised the “massive failure”.

“It is unprecedented that this information has been released early, but also these students receiving these results are now unaware whether they are in fact true,” he said.

“Whether it’s problems with education standards and curriculum, the toxic Safe Schools program and now massive failure in technology.

“It’s abundantly clear that we need a root and branch examination of the entire Victorian education system.

“This is just ridiculous.”

Schools were quick to respond to reports of the breach.

Balcombe Grammar last night posted an “urgent notice” on their website alerting parents about the potential “early release or hoax release” of the VCE results.

The Ballarat Grammar Facebook page posted a statement which read: “Some students have been sent results via SMS early in error tonight.

“VTAC cannot confirm the accuracy of the results received on Wednesday evening.”

Only students who had previously registered to receive their results by text could access them by sending in a special code.

The VTAC and VCAA said the SMS service was handled by an external provider, Salmat Digital, which was “urgently investigating the exact nature, extent, and cause of what has occurred”.

“Once this is known, we will take all steps to ensure that students, parents and schools are all made aware of it. Further updates will be provided as soon as information is available.”

Originally published as Bungled texts reveal final exam results