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Education & Training

Public schools celebrate First in Course success

NSW Department of Education

NSW public students have secured almost 45 per cent of all HSC First in Course awards today. 

NSW Department of Education Secretary Murat Dizdar congratulated all First in Course recipients, with special mention to students from the public sector. 

“It is an incredible achievement to be the best in the state in any subject. It’s recognition of your commitment to your studies, your resilience and also the support of your teachers, school leaders and families,” Mr Dizdar said. 

NSW public schools secured 56 First in Course awards across the 123 subjects on offer, with James Ruse Agricultural, Baulkham Hills, North Sydney Boys and Sydney Girls high schools all securing multiple First in Course places. 

Mr Dizdar said he was pleased by the strong performance of local high schools in Sydney and regional NSW, with 14 of the 25 public schools represented in the ceremony comprehensive high schools. 

Abigail Mathew, from Macquarie Fields High School, shared first place in Studies of Religion I, the first time a student from the secular public system has topped this course for 12 years. 

The department’s language schools again dominated, with the NSW School of Languages and Secondary College of Languages combining to top 25 of the language courses. 

With all HSC VET courses now counting towards student ATARs for the first time, Mr Dizdar said it was impressive to see public schools strongly represented at the ceremony. 

“We have had an almost nine per cent lift in public students doing VET subjects this year, which highlights the value students are placing on gaining nationally recognised qualifications while still at school to set them up for successful post-school careers and study,” he said.  

First in Course recipients from NSW public schools: 

  • Aboriginal Studies - Cheltenham Girls High School (Beecroft) - Madeleine Blackmore 

  • Ancient History - Rose Bay Secondary College (Dover Heights) - Arielle Gosling 

  • Arabic Extension - Secondary College of Languages Liverpool Boys Campus - Rand Ali Almaqram 

  • Business Services Examination - Cecil Hills High School - Safa Shafquat 

  • Chinese Beginners - Bonnyrigg High School - Lucia Lau 

  • Chinese Extension - Sydney Girls High School (Surry Hills) - Qiyan Luo 

  • Community and Family Studies - Orange High School - Milly Priest 

  • Drama - Penrith High School - Rupali Wadhwa 

  • Earth and Environmental Science - Tuggerah Lakes Secondary College The Entrance Campus (Shelly Beach) - Emily Sonter 

  • Engineering Studies - Northern Beaches Secondary College Balgowlah Boys Campus - Seamus Smart 

  • English Advanced - North Sydney Girls High School (Crows Nest) - Valery Lin 

  • English Advanced - North Sydney Girls High School (Crows Nest) - Emily Phi 

  • English Studies Examination - Sydney Distance Education High School (Woolloomooloo) - Heidi Bromley 

  • Entertainment Industry Examination - Newtown High School of Performing Arts - Grace Hardy 

  • Filipino Continuers - Secondary College of Languages Bankstown Girls Campus - Julliana Danieka Maula Balamban 

  • Food Technology - Blayney High School - Ella Sinclair 

  • French Beginners - Glenwood High School - Sharan Bhogal 

  • German Beginners - NSW School of Languages (Petersham) - Maya Al-Soufi 

  • German Extension - North Sydney Boys High School - Justin Liu 

  • History Extension - Hornsby Girls High School - Alice Hynes 

  • Human Services Examination - Burwood Girls High School (Croydon) - Charlize Mariana Zaragosa 

  • Indonesian Beginners - NSW School of Languages (Petersham) - Arnold Sidney Lim 

  • Indonesian Continuers - NSW School of Languages (Petersham) - Hanun Shabrina Azizah 

  • Indonesian Extension - NSW School of Languages (Petersham) - Hanun Shabrina Azizah 

  • Investigating Science - The Ponds High School - Amrutha Pondala 

  • Japanese Continuers - Baulkham Hills High School - Kayuri Yoshino 

  • Japanese Extension - Sydney Girls High School (Surry Hills) - Zhouwunie Tang 

  • Japanese in Context - Secondary College of Languages Chatswood Campus - Natsumo Ike 

  • Khmer Continuers - Secondary College of Languages Liverpool Girls Campus - Natreya Sary 

  • Korean and Literature - Secondary College of Languages Strathfield Girls Campus - Eunseo Hwang 

  • Korean Beginners - Baulkham Hills High School - Kayuri Yoshino 

  • Korean Continuers - Secondary College of Languages Strathfield Girls Campus - Seoyeon Choi 

  • Korean in Context - NSW School of Languages (Petersham) - Cahyun Kim 

  • Macedonian Continuers - Secondary College of Languages Bankstown Girls Campus - Irina Lazova 

  • Macedonian Continuers - Secondary College of Languages Smiths Hill Campus (Wollongong) - Harrison Herrman 

  • Mathematics Extension 1 - Baulkham Hills High School - Rahul Desai 

  • Mathematics Extension 1 - James Ruse Agricultural High School (Carlingford) - Selina Ma 

  • Mathematics Extension 2 - James Ruse Agricultural High School (Carlingford) - Yiming Chen 

  • Modern Greek Beginners - NSW School of Languages (Petersham) - Kristy Diakou 

  • Modern Greek Extension - Secondary College of Languages Ashfield Boys Campus - George Moisidis 

  • Music 2 - James Ruse Agricultural High School (Carlingford) - Flora Li 

  • Persian Continuers - Secondary College of Languages Arthur Phillip Campus (Parramatta) - Bahar Sakari 

  • Physics - North Sydney Boys High School - Jiaao Jay Chen 

  • Polish Continuers - Secondary College of Languages Chatswood Campus - Amber Muszynski 

  • Polish Continuers - Secondary College of Languages Liverpool Girls Campus - Gabriella Malgorzata Helwani 

  • Primary Industries Examination - Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School (Calala) - Bateson Pittman 

  • Punjabi Continuers - Secondary College of Languages The Hills Sports Campus (Seven Hills) - Harsheen Saini 

  • Retail Services Examination - Bankstown Girls High School - Angelina Khanh Nguyen 

  • Russian Continuers - Secondary College of Languages Chatswood Campus - Darya Zelyukina 

  • Serbian Continuers - Secondary College of Languages Smiths Hill Campus (Wollongong) - Vera Bosancic 

  • Society and Culture - Canterbury Girls High School - Emma Mitsak 

  • Spanish Beginners - NSW School of Languages (Petersham) - Rishon Koren 

  • Spanish Continuers - NSW School of Languages (Petersham) - Sofa Sok Cifuentes 

  • Spanish Extension - Secondary College of Languages Chatswood Campus - Theo Mahoney 

  • Studies of Religion I - Macquarie Fields High School - Abigail Mariam Mathew 

  • Vietnamese Continuers - Secondary College of Languages Petersham Campus (Dulwich Hill) - Ngoc Linh Nguyen 


Contact details:

[email protected] | 02 7814 1559