Victorian students could face another test in order to finish secondary school, with the State Government considering introducing minimum standards for literacy and numeracy.

Education Minister James Merlino has asked the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) to review the two-year program for students in years 11 and 12, known as VCE.

It will be asked to look at how to keep students engaged through to year 12, and whether to introduce minimum standards for literacy and numeracy.

The Government said it was the first shake-up of VCE in 30 years and a review was timely.

Does the VCE not already test maths and reading skills?

VCE is typically completed over two years and English is a compulsory subject.

But there is no requirement to study maths or science.

Mr Merlino said literacy and numeracy were already implicit in VCE.

"What we're looking at is whether we need to show in greater detail for students, for parents, for prospective employers exactly what standard of literacy and numeracy they've reached," he said.

So what will it mean for year 11 and 12 students?

In short, nothing yet. The VCAA is due to report back in August. How soon any changes are introduced depends on how big they are.

Mr Merlino said the Government would engage with experts, parents, teachers, students and principals before making any changes.

What would the minimum standards be?

That has not been discussed. But minimum standards were introduced for the High School Certificate (HSC) in New South Wales in 2016 and for its equivalent in Western Australia, the Certificate of Education, in 2013.

The NSW policy initially linked the standards to the year 9 NAPLAN test, which led to complaints from parents that it placed unnecessary pressure on students.

NSW Education Minister Rob Stokes changed the policy last week, meaning students will instead by able to meet the requirements by taking online literacy and numeracy tests in years 10, 11 or 12.

Mr Merlino said the changes in NSW led to higher student drop-outs and he did not want to see a similar situation in Victoria.

Is this a good idea?

Monash University education expert Lucas Walsh told ABC Melbourne periodic reviews of assessment systems were a good idea.

But he warned focussing on assessment could jeopardise the learning environment.

"Implementing them takes time, requires parental involvement, [and] occurs over a number of years" he said.

VCE students say they already face gruelling end-of-year exams. ( ABC News: Nicole Chettle )

"These are resourcing issues as much as they are assessment issues."

Associate Professor Walsh said many jobs that existed today would be gone in the future, and it was important students were taught the skills they would need.

"There's this push towards literacy and numeracy. What kind of skills are needed to learn to learn and to be adaptable across time?" he said.

The teachers' union said extra tests would not improve literacy and numeracy, and the real issue was funding.

Meredith Peace from the Australian Education Union said extra testing could led to vulnerable students dropping out of school.

"When students struggle it is typically because they face multiple barriers to learning, and their schools simply do not have the funding to provide the additional learning support that the individual student needs," she said.

What do students say?

Year 11 student at Melbourne Girls College, Mia Sherman, said that sort of testing did not belong in VCE.

"I think it will be a burden having to put another test onto students," she said.

"I think students are already at risk of being left behind by the VCE and dropping out. That could potentially place another barrier between them and continuing with year 12.

"VCE is very stressful as it is, so to say to those students 'hey, we're going to add another assessment', it's a lot to handle."

She said literacy and numeracy skills should be bedded down long before VCE, and there was not much room for students to improve by the time they were in their senior years.

"Students who haven't got those skills aren't necessarily going to pick them up," she said.

What do employers think?

The Victorian arm of the Australian Industry Group welcomed the shake-up.

The business group's Tim Piper said many companies complained school leavers made mistakes in spelling and grammar, and could not do basic maths.

"Around Australia our figures show there's about four million people that don't have the numeracy and literacy skills that they need in order to adequately do their job," he said.

"So what it means is that through VCE and people leaving VCE need to make sure they are up to standard."