HUNTER students are rebuilding the region's presence on the NSW Education Standards Authority's prestigious merit lists, with more students excelling in the midst of the pandemic than in last year's cohort.
NESA sent students their Higher School Certificate results at 6am on Friday. The Universities Admissions Centre released Australian Tertiary Admission Ranks three hours later.
As previously reported, the Hunter has five students on the First in Course list, the region's highest number in five years.
- Related: Meet the five Hunter students who outperformed the rest of NSW in the Higher School Certificate
- Related: Merewether High boys achieve some of Hunter's highest Australian Tertiary Admission Ranks
- Related: Maitland Grossmann students Arden Kelly and Jacob Price achieve HSC subject marks in state's top five
- Related: St Joseph's Catholic College, Lochinvar student shines in HSC after father's death
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Related: St Philip's Christian College Waratah students are all-round achievers in HSC
Lambton High's Rayna Lamack holds the top spot in the state's most popular course, English Standard, and Hunter Valley Grammar School's Alexandra Gibb is first in the third most popular course, English Advanced.
Merewether High students Genevieve Ball and Zeraphina Freeman are number one in Ancient History and French Beginners respectively, while TAFE Tighes Hill campus student Andy Kinkade, who attends Kotara High, outperformed his peers in the Electrotechnology exam.
The All-Round Achievers list - for students who achieved a result in the highest band possible in 10 or more units - had 35 Hunter students, 18 of them boys and 17 girls.
Of the 35 students listed, 16 went to independent schools. Newcastle Grammar and St Philip's Christian College at Waratah each had seven students on the list.
A total of 12 went to the academically selective Merewether High, four went to state schools and two went to Catholic schools.
The list included Rayna Lamack, Alexandra Gibb and Genevieve Ball.
By comparison, last year's All-Round Achievers list had 30 Hunter students, down from 40 in 2018, 42 in 2017 and 38 in 2016.
The Top Achievers in Course list - for students who achieved one of the highest places in an HSC course or VET exam and also achieved a result in the highest band possible - featured 27 Hunter students, 17 of them girls and 10 of them boys.
Of the 27, 11 went to state schools, nine went to Merewether High, four went to Catholic schools, two went to independent schools and one went to TAFE: Andy Kinkade.
Maitland Grossmann had two students ranked in the top five for subjects, Arden Kelly was fifth in Entertainment Industry and Jacob Price was second in Metal and Engineering.
Only Merewether High had more than two students ranked in the top five of subjects. Genevieve Ball and Zeraphina Freeman came first in Ancient History and French Beginners, Mackenzie Gilligan was second in Physics and Cas Masia was third in Engineering Studies.
Merewether High also had two students who ranked in the top 20 in two subjects. The aforementioned Mackenzie Gilligan was second in Physics and 16th in Chemistry, while Christopher Beck was 10th in Physics and 13th in Chemistry.
The Top Achievers list also featured three students whose schools only started offering the Higher School Certificate last year.
St Joseph's College Lochinvar's Jorja-Louise Howard and Josephine Witherdin were ninth in Industrial Technology and 13th in Maths Standard 2 respectively.
St Mary's Catholic College Gateshead's Julia Pitt was fifth in Studies of Religion I.
By comparison, last year's Top Achievers list had 19 Hunter students, down from 28 in 2018, 27 in 2017 and 26 in 2016.
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