Experts react as independent private schools secure half of HSC First In Course 2024 awards
One Sydney school has topped the state in eight HSC subjects. And it highlights an increasing dominance seen in this year’s results.
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Independent private schools have increased their dominance among the HSC first-in-course achievers accounting for almost half the list of top-ranked students, as Sydney Grammar School students topped the state with firsts in eight subjects.
Experts said the result were a “bad omen” for government schools, as 64 of the 131 students who were awarded top honours for one or more HSC subjects attended independent schools (49 per cent of the total), while systemic Catholic schools enrolled 26 of the first-in-course winners (20 per cent of the total).
Both sectors saw a rise in their share of the awardees, who received recognition by the NSW Education Standards Authority and Deputy Premier Prue Car at a ceremony on Tuesday, up from 41 per cent for the independent sector in 2023 and 17 per cent in the Catholic sector.
Meanwhile Western Sydney schools had an impressive year, with 51 of their students achieving top honours.
Catholic schools in the Parramatta diocese had students from five schools make the list, including South Windsor’s Bede Polding College and Castle Hill’s Gilroy Catholic College, compared to two schools in 2023.
Centre for Independent Studies education director Glenn Fahey noted private schools have experienced a sharp rise in enrolments generally, but said independent schools often have a greater emphasis on academic excellence while public schools are spending their time and resources on student wellbeing.
“For too long lately, academic success has not been given the same level of priority in our state schools as it has in independent schools,” he said.
“In many cases the resources to cater to high performing, gifted and talented students can be beyond the reach of some government schools, so the independent schools become the best option for those families.
“But on a per-student basis, government schools are also very well resourced, so they should be producing a higher proportion of the brightest students.
“Government schools shouldn’t get left behind in the race to be the incubators of the state’s top talent.”
Education and social justice researcher at the University of Sydney Dr Rachel Wilson blamed underfunding of public schools and socio-economic “segregation” for the trend, and said private schools have more financial power to attract the best teachers and talented – wealthy – students.
“We’re seeing growing numbers, and a growing concentration of students of both advantage and disadvantage in the different school systems,” she said.
“That is a really bad omen for Australian education – we have been warned by the OECD, since about 2014, that our schools are becoming more (socioeconomically) segregated and this is just a reflection of that.”
Association of Independent Schools NSW chief executive Margery Evans said there were advantaged and disadvantaged students in all sectors.
“Fifteen per cent of NSW Independent schools were established solely to educate children with special needs,” she said.
“Around three-quarters of all Independent schools serve low to middle income families.”
With the exception of the by-distance NSW School of Languages, inner-city selective private school Sydney Grammar School accounted for the most first-in-course titles with seven students claiming top marks across eight subjects.
Thomas Collins ranked first in both the Chinese Extension and French Extension language courses, while 18-year-old classmate Noah Bilski was awarded first-in-course for German Continuers – a language that’s seen him grow closer to his German-speaking ‘Opapa’ Clive.
“Since we started speaking German to each other, our connection has gotten much stronger,” Noah said.
“The teachers (at Sydney Grammar) have been fantastic, they’ve went above and beyond to support (students) through the HSC, marking on the weekends,” mum Hayley Bilski added.
Fellow ‘Sydneian’ and top-ranked Economics student Oliver Hoang is the second in his family to have taken home a first-in-course award, with older sister Chloe having achieved top rank in the English Advanced course in 2022 while enrolled at single-sex private girls school Pymble Ladies College.
Proud mother Aimy Hoang said she intentionally separated the two kids for high school, and both have had a “holistic” education.
“I decided I didn’t want (Oliver) to be under (Chloe’s) shadow, and Sydney Grammar has been great … the teaching staff have been amazing mentors he’s had throughout his career at school,” she said.
Chloe’s alma mater also had an impressive showing in the 2024 awards, with the upper north shore school celebrating six first-in-course recipients in total.
Pymble student Abigail Barfield – ranked first in Aboriginal Studies – sustained a traumatic brain injury four years ago which has left her with chronic pain and fatigue, but has overcome the hardships with the aspiration to become a doctor specialising in healthcare for remote Indigenous communities.
“As we looked into Mudgee, Bourke and Tamworth I think there’s so many inequities prevailing there, and as much as I’d like to stay in the city, I think that there’s so much help that needs to be drawn there,” she said.
Classmates Caiyi Wang, Hwayoung Cho and Mulan Xu joined her to receive their own awards for ranking first in Chinese Continuers, Visual Arts and Classical Greek Continuers respectively.
In total, 131 students placed first or joint-first across 114 subjects, including 58 languages other than English.
Deputy Premier and Education Minister Prue Car presented the awards to each young genius at the event, held at the University of NSW in Kensington, and said all have achieved something “momentous”.
“There are students who have come from literally every corner of NSW achieving excellence in their field. It shows the breadth of HSC subjects available to students to study, the talent we have in NSW is everything,” she said.
“I am really proud of each and every one of them.”
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