A panel of examiners, dutifully taking notes, will judge the Copperfield College student's Beyonce-style moves.

While end-of-year exams often trigger images of rooms of students with their heads buried in papers, dance performance exams are a lot more animated.

There's movement, make-up, costumes, music, sweat and of course, nerves.

"You have to be really fit," the Year 12 VCE VET (Vocational Education and Training) dance student explained.

"My teacher doesn't let me stop. You have to do it over and over until you get it right."

Students studying languages and performance arts, including drama, theatre studies, music and dance, will start their final assessments from this week.

Dance is a gruelling and physically demanding subject.

Northcote High School student Sophie O'Bryan has been injured twice this year. She tore her hamstring in March and then developed a painful stress reaction in her foot.

She had to sit on the sidelines for two months while she recovered and only started jumping again last week, just in time for her VCE dance exam.

Fortunately, she has received special consideration for the subject.

"The injuries have put a lot of added stress on the subject," Sophie said.

"I wouldn't have torn my hamstring if I was just doing legal studies."

She has been studying VCE dance via distance education and with the help of her local studio, which she can access at all hours of the day.

As well as showing off her techniques, Sophie will perform a contemporary composition piece inspired by the life of a volcano.

The agile 17-year-old will start by mimicking magma on the floor, and then work her way up to a volcanic eruption, making lots of strong, fluid movements with her arms and legs.

She will start off with a perfect mark in the performance exam, and then the examiners will deduct points for any errors.

Like Mariah, Sophie has been dancing since she was three.

She has always wanted to dance professionally and hopes to one day study at the Victorian College of the Arts or at the Sydney Dance Company.

"It clears your mind," she said.

"You have so much going on outside of dancing and then you come into the studio and it's a breath of fresh air. It makes you feel better about everything."

The exam period runs until November 18 and 50,693 students are eligible to graduate with the Victorian Certificate of Education this year.

In total, 5244 students will sit a performance exam this month.

And 43,294 students will sit the three-hour exam for English, the most popular subject, on October 28.