HSC results need not define a student’s life or career

The only certainty of HSC results day is that some ecstatic young people will get the HSC scores everyone else dreams about – and a whole lot of others who get a score lower than they had hoped

The only certainty of HSC results day is that some ecstatic young people will get the HSC scores everyone else dreams about – and a whole lot of others who get a score lower than they had hoped.

It’s natural after 13 years of school that the final score for your HSC has extra meaning for you and your parents, but the most important thing to remember whatever your score is that you are not defined by that number.

Whether your results leave you jumping for joy or lurching for the tissue box, the results you get are not actually proof of your true potential, or your personality, or your capacity. They are just a judgment of some exams and assessments.

You won’t walk into a job interview and have people ask what your ATAR was (or if you do, turn around and walk out again, that’s just weird). It’s super important for you, your parents and probably a nosy aunty or competitive cousin at Christmas time, and then once new year’s is over, it’s time to get on with the next stage of your life.

Debbie Le Roux

An increasing number of higher education institutions, including mine, don’t look at your ATAR to determine if you are ready to complete a degree with us. It’s not that ATARs are bad, but they are only one measure of a student’s likelihood of success at an undergraduate level.

You might have had glandular fever, or had a tough time at school, or have been training for sporting moments that will never come your way again.

Or maybe school just wasn’t really your thing. Regardless, we find every year that there are plenty of outstanding, academically-talented students who haven’t got the score they were hoping for, but have extraordinary potential.

We have also found that all students are likely to have a chance to thrive if we can provide strong support, small class sizes and friendly lecturers who know your name and take the time to help in between classes.

It’s too easy to get caught up believing that a disappointing ATAR results in a disappointing career.

It’s just not true.

Many students set their heart on a dream degree and every year thousands just miss because they didn’t quite get the required ATAR. Maybe they had a bad exam.

Veronica Dasari, Dakota Macfarlane, Jermaine Walmsley and Anton Dan celebrate end of HSC. Picture: Rohan Kelly

Maybe they didn’t get on with their teacher. Maybe they broke up with their girlfriend at a critical time. There are many reasons for students not performing as well as they had hoped, but the final year of school should be a gateway to new opportunities, not a sentence that shuts down your dreams.

We have consistently found that regardless of where you started, with grit, determination and support, students can achieve extraordinary things when they reach college or university. The point of a degree is to provide you with the experience and knowledge that gives you a standard of expertise and capabilities that employers will value.

The employers who consistently compete to pick up nine out of every 10 graduates who complete a degree with my college within six months of them leaving say they want to employ graduates with practical skills and knowledge – people ready to thrive at work. And believe me, they never ask about ATARs.

It’s not about where you start – it’s about the degree you finish with.

So as you are about to open up your results this morning, just take a moment to remember that you can never be defined by them, whatever the results are.

Congratulations are deserved for getting through year 12. Take time to look at which course is going to give you a great learning experience, and dare to actually dream about where you could be working after your degree.

Debbie Le Roux is CEO of the Australian College of Physical Education, Australia’s oldest higher education sports institution