The students were some of the 41,690 people who poured over the three-hour English exam on Tuesday morning.

Bendigo Senior Secondary College VCE English coordinator Angie Pollock said it was a fair exam after a challenging year.

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"They had a very rough year but I just can't believe the resilience of these students and how much they have stepped up over the past couple of weeks," she said.

"We had a number of students doing practice exams. We had a practice exam that we ran with half a day's notice - one of the students asked and we had a number of students coming in to do that.

"So I think they have shown enormous resilience, and I think those who have been focused all year will be very happy when the results come out."

Bendigo Senior Secondary College was the largest examination centre in the state, with 950 students sitting an exam this year.

BSSC student Palmira Demaria said she was really happy with the English exam.

"It wasn't too bad at all actually," she said. "I made sure I was really prepared, which was good. I obviously didn't use everything that I prepared for, but I was really happy with how it went."

Read more: VCE exams 2020: Bendigo year 12 students prepare for their first English exam

Fellow student Kenan Seebah said he also felt it went better than expected.

"The practise I've done has paid off," he said. "I'm happy it all paid off and I'm keen for the next exam that's going to come. I felt pretty prepared going in. Whatever happens, I know I've done what I was meant to do."

Harry Pilkington, another BSSC student, said he was stressed going into the exam, but felt more relaxed once he started.

He said he didn't feel as prepared as he thought he would be, despite returning to face-to-face classes a few weeks ago.

"Compared to what I would have liked at the start of the year, probably not," Mr Pilkington said. "But I think everything considered, I was as prepared as I could have been."

Mr Pilkington said all of his final exams were scheduled across the next week.

"I'm a little bit stressed but I'm glad to get it all over and done with," he said.

The VCE exam period will continue through to December 1. Students will receive their 2020 ATAR results from 7am on December 30.

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