The Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre and the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority released a joint statement late on Wednesday night apologising to all VCE students "for any confusion, anxiety or upset caused by this incident." But the statement was silent on whether the leaked results were accurate. It said the SMS service used by VTAC and VCAA is handled by an external provider called Salmat Digital. "Salmat is urgently investigating the exact nature, extent, and cause of what has occurred," said the statement, which was released by VTAC's privacy officer. "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."

Education Minister James Merlino is believed to have ordered a probe into the event, which has compromised sensitive results that are normally closely guarded until the official release. The saga is a major embarrassment for VTAC, who vowed just weeks ago to crack down on schools who leaked ATARs. It imposed a range of new penalties for schools that broke the rules, including being barred from accessing early results for up to five years. Principals say that the results that have been released to students are close to what they would have expected students to receive. Some pointed out the hypocrisy of VTAC's threats to punish schools for releasing the data early. While the VCAA calculates study scores for individual subjects based on school assessments and exams, VTAC calculates the ATAR which is used by universities.

Disbelief, elation, shock and anger spread through the forums as some students expressed devastation at receiving their results early while others were furious they couldn't access theirs. "ATAR is done and dusted, relieved," one student posted. "I'm actually more nervous about my ATAR now that some people have gotten theirs like, All Hope Is Dead," another wrote. Screen grab of a reported VCAA text received by a year 12 student Lynda Manley, mother of Princes Hill Secondary College student Ruby, is angry that her daughter received a text with what could be her final scores at a time when there are no support systems available to help students process the news.

"It's 8 o'clock on a Wednesday night and the school support systems are ready to kick in on a Monday morning. I can't raise teachers on a Wednesday night. "We've got no way of confirming whether this is a hack or legitimate." Ruby tried to get her ATAR after reading on the VCE DiscussionSpace Facebook page that others were getting their results. The text she received back "was not the score she was hoping for," says Ms Manley. "Now I've got this upset 18-year-old. I'm thinking this has got to be a prank or a hack." Toni Buttigieg, who came home from work to find her daughter in tears, said the early unexpected release has caused already-anxious students an enormous amount of stress.

"There is enough pressure on VCE students and to have results come early without knowing wither they are real or not has just exacerbated the anxiety. "We've been working towards Monday morning, we've put strategies in place but tonight because of the unexpected, it's just blown up. We have vulnerable young people and they just don't know, they don't know if its real. VCE student Paddy received a nice surprise when he registered at 7.45pm - a text message that said he had achieved an impressive ATAR of 99.75. It also included all his study scores for individual subjects. But now he's unsure whether to believe the good news. "No one is sure what is going on," he said. "It's good news, but I don't know if it is real. I don't know whether to celebrate or not."

He was considering studying a science degree at university next year, but said if the results were correct he would reconsider his options. "I might take a gap year and have a proper think. It is a lot higher than I thought I would get."

A contribution to the VCE DiscussionSpace Facebook group about the leak.