The Eeso triplets, Savio, Saviya and Simon, are the youngest of 10 children in a family that migrated to Australia from Iraq via Jordan when they were nine. Their five older siblings all completed year 12 and went on to RMIT University, a record the triplets intend to extend.
Saviya said she was nervous about English, which she described as not her strongest subject, but mostly looking forward to life after school. "I'm pretty excited," she said. Simon said the family standard was clear: "Everyone's finished and gone to uni. We have to keep it up."
Their father, Duraid, spent most of 2026 running his businesses from Iraq, leaving their mother, Lamyaa, to manage the year alone. Lamyaa said she was happy and proud that all her children would soon have finished high school.
More than 47,000 students are expected to sit the English exam and more than 3100 the English as an additional language exam, both from 9am on Tuesday. Exams will be held at 584 locations, from 968 students at Bendigo Senior Secondary College to three at Goroke P-12 College in the Wimmera. More than 880 international and Victorian students will sit VCE exams overseas across 17 countries.
Saviya hopes to study pharmacy at RMIT, like two of her older siblings, though she said she wants a holiday first. Simon plans to study property and finance or pharmacy. Savio, who finishes with the physics exam on November 12, hopes to study electrical or civil engineering.
Education Minister Gabrielle Williams thanked school staff and families. "Congratulations to every Victorian student reaching this important milestone," she said. ATARs will be published on December 10.
The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority, which oversees the exams, has previously faced controversy: in 2024, questions on 65 papers were accidentally made public before the exams, and errors were identified in the 2022 maths and 2023 maths and chemistry exams. In 2025, some English students received a question nearly identical to one on practice tests provided by a tuition company.