It has been a week of results for more than 75,000 NSW students, but today was the big one.
The anxious wait for ATARs was put to an end this morning when 55,000 teenagers got the number that really mattered for many aspiring university students.
An ATAR is a rank that measures their overall performance in relation to other students and is used by universities to select school leavers for courses.
This year, the median ATAR for females was 71, and the median for males was 67.
It was also D-Day for schools, eager to see how they performed against others.
Five schools — three government and two independents from St George and Sutherland Shire were included in this year’s top 100 schools in NSW.
St George Girls High School, Kogarah, a selective high school, was top of the local school rankings, at 15.
That was a jump from last year’s 21st position.
A total of 18 students from the school were in the All-round Achievers list of students who scored 90 or above in 10 or more units.
Its students excelled in legal studies, textiles, Japanese and Chinese.
Relieving principal Graham Ponder said it was a proud year for the school, a consistent performer in the top 100.
‘‘A lot of girls worked really hard for these achievements,’’ Mr Ponder said.
‘‘Many were pleased they did a lot better than they thought.’’
He said the school valued individual students results and the school’s overall rank.
‘‘It’s also a good thing for teachers who challenged the girls, to see their dedication in the results.’’
Sydney Technical High School, Bexley improved by one rank since 2012, from 33rd to 32nd place.
But others dropped in their rankings.
St Ursula’s College, Kingsgrove, fell from 60th to 65th place, and Danebank Anglican School for Girls, Hurstville, ranked 83rd, as opposed to 63rd last year.
Caringbah High School, the only selective school in Sutherland Shire, dropped from 52nd to 57th place.
But its female students dominated the school’s All-round Achievers list.
The girls excelled in a range of subjects including society and culture, IT and modern history.
Principal David Chapple said the results were an important indicator for school’s future progress.
‘‘We go through the analysis, and part of today is what we can do better,’’ he said.
‘‘But most importantly, we look at individual kids and create learning environments for where they can be good citizens out there — that’s what we’re about.
He said most students wanted to continue into tertiary education.
‘‘We spend time with them and help point them in the right direction, but the good thing is, there are plenty of options beyond school,’’ he said.
The University Admissions Centre’s ATAR inquiry line is open until December 31.
Details: 8736 5900.
ST GEORGE SCHOOLS - ALL-ROUND ACHIEVERS
Beverly Hills Girls High School
Khadijah Bawazeer, Yongxin Feng
Blakehurst High School
Xia Aimee Chen, Yuhan Wendy Yang
Danebank Anglican School for Girls
Julia Sarraf
Georges River College Oatley Senior Campus
Claudia Saab, Lisa Joy White
Kingsgrove North High School
Nadine Sabih
Marist College Kogarah
Daniel Marash Cacaj, Adam Daniel Muddle, Matthew Nguyen, Marcus Pappas, Mrugank Patankar
St George Christian School
Tabitha Hirn
St George Girls High School
Amelia Causley Todd, Nicola Grace Clarke, Scienta Sik Fung Foo, Chloe Ha, Philippa Jean Meikle, Keshni Nanthakumar, Lucia Tuong Vy Nguyen, Simone Rehn, Bianca Weng-Yun So, Juka Zhujia Sun, Angela Phuong-Nhi Truong, Michelle Wing Yung Tsang, Natalee Georgina Venegas, Elayne Wang, Isabella Dai Li Wang, Aneita Yang, Angela Yang, Teresa Sin Yue Zhou
St Ursula’s College
Tessa Booth, Bianca Jane El-Jalkh, Natalie Mankarious, Julia Lauren Robinson
Sydney Technical High School
Victor Matayas Demcsak, Jonathan Andrew Hopkins, Jack Jun Huang, Oliver Huang, Aaron Gregory Irving, Stanton Ming Sum Liu, Jimmy Ngo, Jonathan Duc Nguyen, Hoang David Phan, John Khoi Anh Tran, Peter Yu
SUTHERLAND SHIRE SCHOOLS - ALL-ROUND ACHIEVERS:
Aquinas Catholic College
Lisa Odewahn
Caringbah High School
Rachel Laura Djoeandy, Natalie Elise Kutcher, Sharon Le, Sarah Louise McLennan, Michelle Anthonya Sulinggo, Lauren Kathleen Wright, Leilei Zhang,
De La Salle Catholic College, Cronulla
Larissa Grinsell
Inaburra School
Georgia Allen, Isabella Mazzarolo
Kirrawee High School
Laura Hayley Triggs
St Patrick’s College Sutherland
Natalie Clancy
Sutherland Shire Christian School
Caitlin Frede
Sylvania High School
Mirna Petricevic
Woolooware High School
James Gregory Fyfe
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