The Missing Piece
Introducing Top Skills
Completing Victoria's Season of Excellence.
View the Proposal
The Missing Piece
Completing Victoria's Season of Excellence.
View the ProposalVictoria's Season of Excellence celebrates outstanding student achievement through Top Arts, Top Design, Top Acts, Top Screen, and Top Class.
But we're missing Top Skills.
Every year, over 22,000 Victorian Year 12 students—30% of the cohort—complete their education through VM, VET, and applied learning pathways. Thousands more VCE students deliberately choose to complete subjects unscored, prioritizing vocational qualifications over ATAR competition.
Students in VET/VM Pathways
Of the Year 12 Cohort
State-Level Exhibitions
These students create exceptional work. They represent over one-third of Victoria's Year 12 graduates, yet receive no equivalent recognition.
Demonstrating master craftsmanship in construction, engineering, and automotive technology.
Restaurant-quality presentations and hospitality management plans executed by VET students.
Extraordinary portfolios from unscored VCE students that rival those in Top Arts.
Sophisticated automation systems, digital media, and solutions to genuine problems.
In 2025, the NGV decided that the study score is not a factor in the choice of works for display in Top Arts.
This proves it can work. The infrastructure exists. The administrative framework is proven. What's missing is the commitment to recognize that excellence in building a timber frame or executing a three-course meal deserves the same celebration as academic arts.
With critical skills shortages across trades, hospitality, and community services, we cannot afford to send a message that vocational pathways are second-tier.
When only academic and arts achievements receive public celebration, we perpetuate exactly the cultural bias that keeps talented young people from considering the careers Victoria desperately needs them to pursue.