A record 57,068 NSW students accessed their ATAR from 9am, using the “My UAC” smartphone app.
A sneak peek of the state’s results shows the average 2017 ATAR is 69.00, slightly higher than last year's average, according to the Universities Admissions Centre.
Overall, girls outperformed the boys across the state with average marks of 70.15 achieved by females compared with 67.65 for the boys.
Forty-six students achieved the top possible ATAR score of 99.95, with the high achievers hailing from both government and non-government schools.
James Ruse Agricultural High was the top ranked school for the 22nd year running, but there were some surprises as many of Sydney’s non-selective schools outperformed their wealthier counterparts.
Cheltenham Girls High School was the state’s best performing public school, ahead of prestigious independent schools like Trinity Grammar, The Scots College, St Andrew’s Cathedral School and Newington College.
Other non-selective public schools that made the top 100 honour roll were Killara High, Epping Boys High, Willoughby Girls High, Cherrybrook Technology High and Carlingford High.
NSW Secondary Principals Council (NSWSPC) president, Chris Presland, said the positive results were a reminder that there was much more to education than NAPLAN scores.
“There has been significant media and political attention given to student performance in NAPLAN testing and as a consequence people often forget that there is so much more to education than standardised test scores,” Presland said.
“In 2017 not only do we have a record number of students being awarded their HSC, we also have a cohort of school leavers equipped with a range of transferrable skills ranging from problem solving to creative thinking.”
Presland said these are skills which students will be able to draw upon as they embark on a variety of post-school pathways.
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