VCE 2019: Top scorers honour roll revealed
From specialist maths to dance, find out how the state’s top scorers blitzed their VCE. Search this year’s top scorers database for high-achieving students and see how your school performed.
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VCE students who achieved a top study score of 40 and above have been revealed in today’s searchable honour roll.
Eight pupils at both public and private schools earned the highest achievement of three perfect scores of 50 — the most of any students in the state.
Search our database below to see how students fared in this year’s VCE by subject or school.
HONOUR ROLL
This year’s top students have revealed the secret to their success.
According to pupils who earned the highest number of perfect scores, spending holidays with school work and prioritising study over SACS are the surest ways to take top honours.
It comes as private schools dominated top scores of 40 and above, though public campuses — some non-select entry — remained hot on their tail.
TODAY: Pick up a Top Scorers liftout in today’s Herald Sun. Subscribers can DOWNLOAD THE DIGITAL PRINT EDITION for a digital replica of the liftout
TOMORROW: Search every school’s median VCE study score at heraldsun.com.au
Melbourne High’s Pedraam Hosseini got perfect scores in Chemistry, Maths Methods and Specialist Maths.
He credited his summer holiday of study before year 12 and a pinch of luck for his achievements.
“Rather than do nothing but relax during those (holiday) weeks, I treated them like normal school weeks,” Pedraam said.
That meant studying from 9am until knock off time at 3.30pm.
“I knew most of the students would be resting during that time — it’s important to get your rest.”
But the 17-year-old said a few months into year 12 he was “really grateful” for the spare time during assessments thanks to his preparation.
“It’s best to get ahead then through the year, you use that time to sharpen up.”
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STUDENTS’ ATAR RESULTS RELEASED
Kew High’s Dean Damevski got a 50 in Business Management, Further Maths and Legal Studies following a perfect score in Accounting as a year 11 student.
“It was beyond my wildest expectations,” he said.
Dean also studied during holidays — though not the summer break.
He also prioritised keeping up with the work, even over pending assessments.
That meant he “always kept on track” so when it came time for the all-important exams, he’d covered all bases.
“It’s also important to keep up your hobbies,” he said.
“A lot of students burned out in term one — you need to have regular breaks.”
He urged any future year 12 students to get involved in extra curricular activities.
St Kevin’s had two students with three perfect scores each.
The Toorak school also featured as the second best campus in the state for study scores of 50 with 21 perfect results, following closely behind top school Haileybury with 22.
McKinnon Secondary student Tristan Prazeus has felt a weight lift from his shoulders now the heavy burden of VCE is behind him.
The national junior weightlifting champion said he didn’t have the energy to stress through his final year of school after spending 16 hours in the gym every week.
That relaxed attitude may have been what helped the 18-year-old secure four study scores of 40 and above.
“A lot of my friends and people I know burned out in the VCE, but (the gym) really gave me a balance to my life and helpedme stabilise my mood,” Tristan said.
“It certainly took a lot of my energy.”
Tristan went to Phoenix weightlifting gym in Oakleigh five days a week during VCE and achieved top scores in Maths Methods, Specialist Maths, German and Chemistry.
Now, Tristan has set his sights from school to the international sporting stage.
He’s already taken out a national junior record lifting 110kg.
“My dream was always to represent Australia and the easiest way to do that right now is the junior Oceania,” he said of thechampionships, with qualifiers next year and the competition in 2021.
Beyond that, Tristan hopes to study engineering or science at Monash University.
Meanwhile, one student achieved a top result despite doing a performance subject over the internet. Cora Hughes studied Dance through the state’s online school Virtual School Victoria, sending her teacher video clips of her choreography.
“I did often send through videos of short glimpses of my solo and I would get feedback from my teacher on that,” she said.
“You never really worked on your solos with your teacher in person, but you do perform them at the end of the year to the examiners.”
Those final exams helped her secure a study score of 46 for Dance.
“It was very surprising because it’s a completely different way of working — you have to be really self motivated,” she said.
The 18-year-old now hopes to turn that school success into a career as a contemporary dancer.
“It’s something I’ve never pictured myself not doing,” Cora said.
Only students who gave permission for their results to be published through VCAA will be featured.
STUDENTS WITH MULTIPLE PERFECT SCORES OF 50
Xinyi Wu from Balwyn High: 50 in Biology, Specialist Maths and Maths Methods
Samyak Shah from Haileybury: 50 in Accounting, Chemistry and English
Dean Damevski from Kew High: 50 in Business Management, Further Maths and Legal Studies
Pedraam Hosseini from Melbourne High: 50 in Chemistry, Maths Methods and Specialist Maths
Isaac Rozental from Mount Scopus: 50 in Chemistry, English and Physics
Thomas Woods from St Kevin’s: 50 in English, Legal Studies and Literature
Joshua Collins from St Kevin’s: 50 in PE, Economics and English
Madison Phuah from Yarra Valley Grammar: 50 in Business Management, English and Psychology
PERFECT SCORES BY SCHOOL
Haileybury: 22
St Kevin’s: 21
Caulfield Grammar: 19*
Melbourne High: 19
Melbourne Grammar: 17
Haileybury Girls: 14
Ballarat Clarendon College: 13*
Balwyn High: 12*
Loreto Mandeville Hall: 11
Strathcona: 11*
Huntingtower: 10
Methodist Ladies’ College: 10
Scotch: 10
Box Hill High: 9
McKinnon Secondary: 9
PEGS: 9
Camberwell Grammar: 8
Carey Baptist: 8
Genazzano FCJ College: 8
Kew High: 8*
Nossal High: 8
Trinity Grammar: 8
Victorian College of the Arts: 8
*These schools contacted the Herald Sun and requested their perfect score number to be updated as some students had not given approval to be listed publicly. Any other schools with silent listings are invited to do the same by emailing ashley.argoon@news.com.au.
PERFECT SCORES BY SCHOOL SECTOR
Independent: 281
Government: 173
Catholic: 114