Shock and joy: Watch as SA students see their 2023 SACE results for the first time

South Aussie Year 12 students have recorded the moment they found out the results of a year’s worth of hard work. Watch them here.

Flabbergasted, ecstatic, shocked – these are some of the reactions we are starting to see as students learn their SACE results.

More than 15,000 South Australian Year 12 students have woken up to see the results of all their hard work this year, with their grades and university entry scores officially released.

The Australian Tertiary Admission Rank – or ATAR – compares students’ grades to other members of their cohort via numerical value, capping at the 99.95 ‘perfect’ score.

For many students, the ATAR is a gateway to future aspirations, determining which university courses they can apply for.

Aleah Poole reacts to her results. Picture: Morgan Sette

St Columba College student Aleah Poole, 17, said she would have been happy with 95, enough to study law and most other degrees.

Sitting at the laptop with her mum at their Munno Para West home to view the results and recording her reaction, she admitted being “really nervous”.

As it turned out, there was no need to fret – she achieved a 96.85, making her the Dux of her school.

“I feel number one, flabbergasted and number two, ecstatic,” she said after seeing her score.

Aleah said she was particularly proud to achieve that result as an Indigenous student.

“It’s nice to show anyone can do it and to be a role model,” she said.

Aleah’s score will be more than enough to enrol in a teaching degree at UniSA, a dream that was cemented while coaching at Elizabeth Gymnastics Club.

“Seeing someone achieve something because you’ve helped them is a nice feeling,” Aleah said.

“There’s this little girl called Georgia at the club – she’s improved so much and it was really nice to see her get trophies at the end of the year.”

She said she studied a “maximum of two hours” per night throughout the year to achieve her result, on top of competing with the state gymnastics team.

“I studied, but it wasn’t a boundless amount of hours,” she said.

“It’s just about getting everything done, and of course, having to balance that with four trainings a week … If I was stressed, I’d just go to the gym and tumble it off.”

For Emmaus Christian College student James Sutton, his 97.25 ATAR was literally jaw-dropping.

Meanwhile, Eve Woodley could only laugh with relief as she unveiled a 94 ATAR to her family.

Though students can track their grades throughout the year, ATAR scores are always up in the air.

This is because student’s grades are “scaled”, meaning that certain subjects like Specialist Maths or Physics will yield a higher ATAR than another student with the same grades.

Students can also gain extra points for studying English and maths subjects or if they live in remote communities.