Territory teens excel with impressive NTCET results

A RECORD 1430 young Territorians officially received their end-of-school results and now can begin planning their futures

The Essington School’s Beatrice Carter, Zara Antonino, Alessandro Spadaccini, Ciara Marah and Madison La Pira at a ceremony in Parliament House on Tuesday.

A RECORD 1430 young Territorians officially received their end-of-school results and now can begin planning their futures.

The top 20 Year 12 students to complete their NT Certificate of Education and Training (NTCET) had their hard work and dedication recognised with a ceremony in front of teachers, parents and principals at Parliament House on Tuesday.

Darwin High School’s Nisangi Wijesinghe was named the top NT student for 2017 with an outstanding ATAR of 99.80 and university aggregate of 88.30.

Darwin High School’s Nisangi Wijesinghe was the NT’s top Year 12 student.

The 17-year-old said she was “very excited” to be the highest-achieving Year 12 in the Territory and next year hoped to study medicine at Monash University.

The 2017 Top Aboriginal NTCET completer was Johvan Miles of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Catholic College in Alice Springs. He was one of 226 indigenous students to achieve their NTCET – the largest cohort to date.

Other high achievers this year were The Essington School Darwin students Ciara Marah and Madison La Pira, who received ATARs of 99.40 and 98.95 respectively.

“It feels pretty amazing but it was a bit of a shock when I woke up this morning to check – I nearly cried,” Ciara said on Tuesday.

“I finally feel like all the stress has paid off, plus it’s nice to get that recognition for all the work that we put in.”

Madison said she thoroughly enjoyed Year 12 and owed her success to the support networks available at school.

“We had some really good teachers and a great group of friends through Year 12, which made all the difference so you feel like you’re not alone,” she said. “It definitely helped having such a close community of people to support you.”

Ciara said she planned to study commerce through the University of Queensland while Madison hoped to attend a journalism course at the University of Technology Sydney.

Education Minister Eva Lawler said eight students in the Territory had ATARs in the top 1 per cent in Australia.

“These results are an indication of the hard work, dedication and focus of our Year 12 students,” she said.

“They are also testament to the huge effort of our high-quality teachers and support staff.”

Ms Lawler said this was the seventh year of the NTCET, with the number of completers increasing every year.

“We are committed to becoming the most improved education system in Australia, and these fantastic results from our Year 12 students highlight the positive work our schools, students and teachers are doing,” she said.

Don’t miss Friday’s NT News for a special 20-page NTCET liftout