The VSN allows education and training providers to record and monitor the enrolment of students in Victoria, and to track students’ progress through their school age years and beyond, should they continue into VET. This enables students’ records to be accurately maintained, ensures education and training providers have appropriate levels of resourcing, and enables schools and support services to identify instances of disengagement from the school system while children remain of compulsory school age.

The VSN also provides the Department of Education, the Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions, education and training providers, and other relevant parties with a data set to conduct analysis and research that can inform operational and policy decisions to improve education and training at an individual provider level and for the wider Victorian education system.

VSN data is not usually visible, as the primary purpose of VSN data is to monitor and track student movement within the Victorian education system at the cohort level. VSN data is drawn upon by the Department of Education and other relevant bodies to monitor statistical trends in the Victorian education system, providing valuable data to inform education policy and program reform.

Eligible persons and organisations are also able to apply to the VCAA to become authorised to access, use and disclose VSN data for a range of educational purposes (see VSN data requests for more information).

VSN data is also used to verify student identity, ensuring that student records are accurate and up to date.

Students will see their own VSN in routine student communications, such as enrolment confirmations and academic reports. Education and training providers may also print the VSN on student identification cards for ease of reference.

Students need their VSN to:

• enrol at a Victorian school
• enrol in a government-funded or fee-for-service accredited course at a VET provider (VET providers include TAFEs, government and non-government Registered Training Organisations and Adult and Community Education providers)
• register with the VRQA for home schooling; or
• apply for Selective Entry High School Examinations.

The VSN is not required for students to register or access their VCE results and the Australian Tertiary Rank (ATAR) service, which uses the VCAA student number instead.

VSN data is managed in accordance with the requirements set out in the Secretary’s Guidelines on the Victorian Student Number.

VSN information is stored in the Victorian Student Register (VSR), which is a secure database. VSNs are connected to the personal information of each student, which includes:

• the student’s full name
• the student’s date of birth
• the student’s gender
• the date on which the student is enrolled at an education or training provider or registered for home schooling by the VRQA
• the date on which the student’s enrolment at an education or training provider or registration for home schooling is cancelled; and
• the records of changes which have been made to data.

The VSR is managed by the VCAA under delegated authority from the Secretary and enables the VSN and related information to be entered manually by education and training providers, or to be sent and received automatically via systems used by education and training providers.

All information in the VSR is managed and stored in accordance with the Privacy Data Protection Act 2014 and the Public Records Act 1973 as set out in the VCAA's Privacy Policy.

Access to VSN data in the VSR system is limited to students, parents and guardians, as well as  authorised organisations, as required by the Education and Training Reform Act 2006. For more information, see Secretary’s Guidelines on the Victorian Student Number.

There may be circumstances in which the personal information stored in the VSR needs to be updated, for example if a student changes their name. As a key purpose of the VSN and related information is to track student progress, and data integrity is key to this process, the name on the VSR will be a student’s full name, as it appears on official identification documents such as a birth certificate or passport. Other names, such as preferred and anglicised names, will only be included if supported by an official identification document. Pseudonyms are not required on the VSR as there are strict restrictions on who can the access, use and disclose of the information and stringent requirements on the information security and privacy protections that must be in place in order for access to be granted.

For students who are enrolled at an education or training provider, all requests to change personal information stored in the VSR must be made directly to their provider.Students must confirm what personal information requires updating and provide the relevant documentation to support the change. The provider then records the change on the VSR, which is applied by the VCAA.

For students who are registered for home schooling, all requests to change personal information stored in the VSR must be made to the VRQA.These students must confirm what personal information requires updating and provide the relevant documentation to support the change. The provider then records the change on the VSR, which is applied by the VCAA.