This report shows the 2008 top achievers in each HSC subject, along with their ranking as assigned by the NSW Education Standards Authority.
Students must achieve a band 6 or band E4 result in the relevant subject to appear in this list. Rankings are calculated from student HSC marks in the subject, or, where this results in a tie, from the average of the students' examination and assessment marks.
The number of top achievers reported varies from 5 to 20, according to the number of candidates taking each subject.
| 1 | Aboriginal Studies | Stewart, Emma Rae | 1 | Kiama High School | Kiama |
| 2 | Aboriginal Studies | Pryjma, Teegan Michelle | 2 | Camden Haven High School Distance Education Centre | Laurieton |
| 3 | Aboriginal Studies | Reveleigh, Bro Charles | 3 | Sydney Distance Education High School | Woolloomooloo |
| 4 | Aboriginal Studies | Matthews, James | 4 | Hunter School of the Performing Arts | Broadmeadow |
| 5 | Aboriginal Studies | Hall, Brooke | 5 | Hunter School of the Performing Arts | Broadmeadow |
| 6 | Accounting | Khor, Amanda Wen Ying | 1 | Northern Sydney Institute Hornsby College | Hornsby |
| 7 | Accounting | Poon, Angela Yan | 2 | Northern Sydney Institute Hornsby College | Hornsby |
| 8 | Accounting | Tan, Cecilia | 2 | Sydney Institute St George College | Kogarah |
| 9 | Accounting | Treeves, Shane | 2 | OTEN Open Training and Education Network | Strathfield |
| 10 | Accounting | Ward, Shaun Luke | 2 | Northern Sydney Institute Meadowbank College | Meadowbank |
| 11 | Accounting | Yeo, Jie Sheng | 2 | Northern Sydney Institute Meadowbank College | Meadowbank |
| 12 | Accounting | Yeong, Lin-Lee | 2 | Northern Sydney Institute Hornsby College | Hornsby |
| 13 | Agriculture | Halder, Aditi | 1 | James Ruse Agricultural High School | Carlingford |
| 14 | Agriculture | Hanamshet, Ameya | 2 | James Ruse Agricultural High School | Carlingford |
| 15 | Agriculture | Cheung, Simone Charmaine | 3 | James Ruse Agricultural High School | Carlingford |
| 16 | Agriculture | Yeo, Lee-Anne | 4 | James Ruse Agricultural High School | Carlingford |
| 17 | Agriculture | Guan, Ting-Ting | 5 | James Ruse Agricultural High School | Carlingford |
| 18 | Agriculture | Jung, Jung Yoon Jessie | 6 | James Ruse Agricultural High School | Carlingford |
| 19 | Agriculture | Berry, David Maxwell | 7 | St Marys Senior High School | St Marys |
| 20 | Agriculture | Lai, Jacqueline Van | 8 | James Ruse Agricultural High School | Carlingford |
| 21 | Agriculture | Tjondro, Michelle | 9 | James Ruse Agricultural High School | Carlingford |
| 22 | Agriculture | Duong, Lisa Thanh | 10 | Hurlstone Agricultural High School | Glenfield |
| 23 | Ancient History | Craven, Timothy Robin | 1 | Canberra Grammar School | Red Hill |
| 24 | Ancient History | Wolfenden, Ellen Marie | 2 | Kambala | Rose Bay |
| 25 | Ancient History | Zafiropoulos, Constantina | 3 | MLC School | Burwood |