At her school’s final assembly last month, Ava Collins took home four academic awards, including being her school’s top English and physics student. Yet, she will be among the last of 2025’s student crop to finish.

The timetabling of her exams means Collins has to wait until 5.15pm on Wednesday to finish school – almost six weeks after her first exam and a week after most of her friends finished.

Ava Collins, 17, will sit her German exam on Wednesday, the last day of exams for the Class of 2025. Credit: Joe Armao

“I’ve found keeping the momentum a little bit of a challenge,” the 17-year-old said. “But I’m also grateful that I didn’t have exams on consecutive days and have had time to breathe.”

About 2 per cent of the 67,000 students eligible to complete VCE this year are yet to put

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