The 2024 HSC Distinguished Achiever awards, Subject Rank awards and All-rounder awards have been released and are now available on the Top Scores site.
This year it was a close race amongst the top students, with 13 students each chalking up eight Distinguished Achiever awards in a single year, thus earning themselves top placings on the Student Rankings list. However, it was Thomas Collins (from Sydney Grammar School) who edged in front of his peers by bagging two First in Course places together with a fourth place Subject award.
Thomas was one of only four students this year to win multiple First in Course awards.
Amongst the winners of Subject Top Achiever awards this year, Hugo Sharkey came out on top with a total of five Top Achiever awards, while Anubhav Dhruv Ammangi (from Redeemer Baptist School) and Daniel Lloyd-Hurwitz (also from Sydney Grammar School) were equal runners-up with four Top Achiever awards each.
In the HSC School Statistics for 2024, when measuring Distinguished Achiever success rates, North Sydney Boys High School has edged out James Ruse Agricultural High School for the second consecutive year, to finish the year at the top of the HSC school rankings ladder. Naturally this outcome has triggered a great deal of media publicity.
Which school had the largest group of Distinguished Achiever award winners? Once again, Knox Grammar School took that particular top spot, with a total of 300 students.
Congratulations to all of this year's high achievers.
In New South Wales, students who successfully complete year 12 studies are awarded the Higher School Certificate (HSC). HSC results are the basis for determining which students receive offers of enrolment at tertiary institutions. The HSC program has a long history in NSW education, extending back to the late 1960's, when it was first introduced.
To be awarded an HSC, a student must complete four subjects or more, involving at least ten units of study.
HSC schools offer a wide range of subjects (worth 2 units) and extension courses (worth 1 unit). Each single unit of work is marked out of 50, so the majority of the core HSC subjects involve a mark out of 100. A student's overall HSC result is calculated from their best 2 units of English plus their best 8 additional units.
HSC results are divided statistically into bands, from 1 (lowest) to 6 (highest) in a standard course, or from E1 to E4 in an extension course.
Students who achieve a band 6 or E4 result are recognised as Distinguished Achievers. This is equivalent to an HSC score of 90% or more.
The NSW Education Standards Authority is responsible for administering the HSC program. It establishes and manages the curricula used throughout the NSW primary and secondary schools, from Kindergarten through to year 12. It conducts the external HSC examinations each year in November. It also oversees the assessment process and the distribution of exam results.
HSC Honour Roll - All Student Awards and Prizes (2024)
| Aaron, Kathleen | DA |
| Aaron, Tamarah | DA |
| Aaron, Tamarah | DA |
| Aaron, Tamarah | DA |
| ... More » |
Best HSC Students, Ranked by Awards Count (2024)
| Collins, Thomas | 8 |
| Sharkey, Hugo | 8 |
| Rowan, Paul | 8 |
| Marsh, Jamie | 8 |
| ... More » |
Best NSW Schools, Ranked by D.A. Success Rate (2024)
| North Sydney Boys High School | 64.9 |
| James Ruse Agricultural High School | 62.88 |
| Sydney Grammar School | 56.38 |
| Normanhurst Boys High School | 54.95 |
| ... More » |
Best NSW Schools, Ranked by All Rounders Count (2024)
| Sydney Grammar School | 64 |
| Knox Grammar School | 63 |
| James Ruse Agricultural High School | 61 |
| Baulkham Hills High School | 55 |
| ... More » |
Student HSC Subject Top Achievers (2024)
| Aboriginal Studies | Barfield, Abigail | 1 |
| Aboriginal Studies | Jacobs, Hazel | 2 |
| Aboriginal Studies | Kricak, Makala | 3 |
| Aboriginal Studies | Cuddy, Lara | 4 |
| ... More » |
Student HSC Subject First Places (2024)
| Aboriginal Studies | Barfield, Abigail |
| Agriculture | Napoli, James |
| Ancient History | Sharkey, Hugo |
| Arabic Continuers | Hijazi, Fatima |
| ... More » |