Top marks: The 131 students who came first in course in their HSC subjects

The 131 students to top each HSC subject have been revealed, with one school having students top eight subjects. See the full list.

The state’s best and brightest Year 12 graduates are being celebrated by their schools, their families and the entire state with the 2024 HSC ‘First in Course’ list revealed.

The University of NSW on Tuesday morning played host to a special ceremony recognising the 131 students to place first or joint-first across 114 subjects, including 58 languages other than English.

Foreign language students enrolled through the NSW School of Languages in Petersham accounted for the most first-in-course titles, closely followed by the seven students at the inner-city Sydney Grammar School who topped eight subjects.

Sydney Grammar’s Thomas Collins ranked first in both the Chinese Extension and French Extension language courses, while classmates Paul Rowan and Fanpu Guo ranked first in Latin Continuers and Latin Extension respectively.

Fellow Grammar student Hugo Sharkey achieved top marks in Ancient History, along with Oliver Hoang – joint-first in Economics – and German Continuers first-in-course Noah Bilski.

Thomas wasn’t the only student to top multiple subjects, with Masada College’s Rebecca Roozendaal ranking joint-first in Hebrew Continuers and outright first in Hebrew Extension.

Redeemer Baptist School’s Anubhav Dhruv Ammangi topped both Chemistry and Software Design and Development while Macarthur Anglican School’s Ryan-James Watson topped Indonesian Continuers and Extension.

Anubhav was given an extra round of applause by the audience when Education Minister Prue Car revealed the 2024 First in Course ceremony was his second, after he topped the state in Extension 1 Mathematics last year as an “accelerated” Year 11 student.

Pymble Ladies College on Sydney’s upper north shore is celebrating six first-in-course recipients in total, while five boys from Wahroonga’s Knox Grammar School topped subjects including Economics, Legal Studies, Investigating Science.

Two or more students tied for the top marks in twelve subjects including Mathematics Standard 2, Economics and Food Technology.

The top students in each subject have been revealed.

Five students placed equal first in the one-unit Studies of Religion course – while Bede Polding College student Mikaylah Dimech placed first in the two-unit subject.

Each school sector was represented by a special guest at the event, including Association of Independent Schools NSW CEO Margery Evans, Catholic Schools NSW head of education policy Andrew Mellas and Department of Education Secretary Murat Dizdar, along with Secondary Principals Council president Denise Lofts.

Deputy Premier and Education Minister Prue Car presented an award to each young genius at the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) event, and told The Daily Telegraph all those who finished the HSC have achieved something “momentous”.

“No matter the result … every student should feel proud of completing their HSC – the culmination of 13 years of schooling and a momentous achievement,” she said.

“Before taking the next step, whether it’s into the workforce, further education, taking up a traineeship or furthering your skills, this year’s graduates should take time to celebrate everything they have achieved and to thank their teachers for getting them to this point.”

Deputy Premier and Education Minister Pru Carr addressed students. Photo: Tom Parrish

Ms Car said the students came from all corners of NSW, stretching from Lismore to Forbes to Baulkham Hills and the Northern Beaches.

“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. When they were coming up to shake my hand I was thinking of each of the stories behind every single one of them, how much work has gone into it, how many hours of study... I cannot wait to see what they do.”
“It’s a great day to celebrate these remarkable young men and women behind us as they look forward to receiving their results tomorrow and ATAR the day after, but I am going to hazard a guess and think these kids are going to do pretty well.”

Association of Independent Schools NSW chief executive Margery Evans said almost half of the students being recognised as a first-in-course awardee – 64 in total – attended independent private schools.

“This is an outstanding result, especially as Independent school students make up only a quarter of all NSW secondary school students,” she said.

“Adventist, Armenian, Anglican, Christian, Catholic, Islamic, Jewish, Greek Orthodox and other, non-faith Independent schools were all represented in 2024’s First in Course awards.”

Addressing the crowd of graduates and their families, Ms Car congratulated the students on reaching the end of their high school journey and the “dedicated and passionate teachers” who got them there.

“Receiving your full results tomorrow is just the very start of the next exciting chapter in your lives,” she said.

“This is a moment to enjoy - lap it up - a moment to see the proof the dedication to your studies, that commitment to doing your very best actually did pay off.”