Thirty Qld students received top result as ATAR results released

After a hectic senior year, Queensland’s top secondary students have been revealed with the release of ATAR scores.

Just 30 Queensland students received a perfect ATAR score of 99.95 as schools celebrated strong results in a year like no other.

The jubilation came as the new end-of-school ranking system glitched in the first few hours, with schools unable to access results from 9am until 1.30pm.

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Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre would not comment on the cause of the issues, but schools reported QTAC had confirmed high website traffic overloaded the portal.

Brisbane Grammar School was one of the top schools with four graduates, Lewis Luck, Tom Dickson, William McEniery and Remi Fox achieving the highest Australian Tertiary Admission Rank of 99.95.

The school also reported a staggering 70.57 per cent of its cohort achieved a ranking of 90 or above, with a median ATAR of 94.6.

Top ATAR students Matina Samios (front) with Declan Fletcher, Lewis Luck, Connor Davis and Katherine Nguyen. Picture: Richard Walker

Students can decide whether to allow their school access to their ATAR, and with 82 per cent of pupils opting for this, a snapshot of results late yesterday showed stellar success.

Matthew Flinders Anglican College in Buderim had 61.9 per cent of its students with 90 or above, St Aidan’s Anglican Girls School in Corinda 69 per cent, Toowoomba Grammar 39 per cent and Craigslea State High School 30.7 per cent.

Education Minister Grace Grace congratulated the cohort on their academic and personal achievements, saying they “remarkable” having faced many first throughout their education and dealing with a world health pandemic.

Among the PMSA schools, Sommerville House’s Adeleine Watson and Sunshine Coast Grammar School’s Grace Thomas, and BBC’s Matthew Chen, Max Foreman and Cody Fang achieved the highest ATAR.

Ms Watson said when she opened the ATAR she was in shock at first but felt relieved.

The students were joined by Clayfield College’s strong performers, Hannah Philips who achieved a 99.65, and Eloise Plummer with a 95.65, who both said they “very happy” with their results.

Brisbane Boys’ College also had 44.2 per cent of its cohort achieve a ranking of 90 or above, according to available data.

Wavell State High School’s Connor Davis, Churchie’s Declan Fletcher, Brisbane State High School’s Stamatios Iconomidis, The Gap State High School’s Hannah Kenway, Townsville Grammar School’s Emily Price and Sophie de Jersey, and Mansfield State High School’s Katherine Nguyen were lauded yesterday for obtaining ATARs of 99.95.

Brisbane Girls Grammar student Matina Samios received a 99.95, as did The Southport School’s Vishaak Gangasandra and Rockhampton Grammar School’s Sansuka De Silva.

Under the new Queensland Certificate of Education, students were tasked with sitting external exams for the first time in nearly 50 years.

Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority chief executive Chris Rider said he was proud of the Queensland students who had done exceptionally well, and the teachers across the state who had taught the new curriculum.

Curriculum and Assessment Authority chief executive Chris Rider with Education Minister Grace Grace. Picture: Richard Walker

“I was pretty excited yesterday and I was looking at the subject scores of all of the students, and there were more than 300 young people who had achieved 100 out of 100 in at least one of their subjects, it was absolutely amazing,” he said.

Somerset College also reported having 56 per cent of school-leavers achieving a 90 and above. Fraser Coast Anglican College in Hervey Bay reported that four out of the 16 students (25 per cent) who consented to share their ATARs received a ranking of 90 or above.

Principal Joe Wright said the results reflected of the hard work and the high standards the college has expected of them.

Stuartholme School principal Kristen Sharpe said the ATARs demonstrated the focus and tenacity of their students, with 44.3 per cent achieving an ATAR of 90 or higher.

West Moreton Anglican College received high-performing results with 29.7 per cent achieving an ATAR of 90 or above. Students Rupert Lupton, Damian Bellew and Carl Flottmann received a 99.8, 99.65, and 98.65 respectively.

Queensland Tertiary Admission Centre chief executive John Griffiths said if students did not receive the ATAR they hoped for, there were various options to still gain entry into university.