Education
The boy who is suing his private school
The student alleges the school’s governing council contravened the terms of a 19th-century charitable trust by implementing its plan to admit girls.
- by Christopher Harris
Latest
HSC students receive university offers: Search our database for cut-off scores
Use our interactive database to search for university and college courses throughout Australia in 2025 and their minimum entry requirements.
- by Craig Butt, Christopher Harris and Cindy Yin
Teens eye teaching, commerce and health in first-round university offers
A record 47,500 year 12 graduates will learn their university pathway today with the fastest growing study area management and commerce.
- by Noel Towell
The state’s top schools for HSC mathematics revealed
Epping Boys High had its highest share of maths students achieving marks above 90 on record, while Abbotsleigh and Meriden were among the top private all-girls schools.
- by Lucy Carroll and Nigel Gladstone
‘Horrific acts of animal cruelty’: Dozens of chickens killed at NSW high school
NSW Police are investigating after 29 birds were slaughtered south of Sydney.
- by Eryk Bagshaw
Exclusive
The low-fee Sydney schools that outrank expensive rivals in the HSC
Schools including St Clare’s in Waverley and Parramatta Marist High are outperforming high-fee private schools.
- by Lucy Carroll and Nigel Gladstone
The radical proposal that could end Sydney Uni’s proud history of rebellion
A new rule to enforce a more civil discourse on campus has been backed by the university. It’s caused alarm within.
- by Daniella White
The top schools for HSC English revealed
Eastern suburbs private girls’ school Kambala was the best school for the subject in the 2024 HSC. Here’s how they did it.
- by Christopher Harris and Nigel Gladstone
Opinion
To AI or not to AI? How chatbots can help revive the university essay
Artificial intelligence could help in writing essays, but only if we take the time to reconsider their history and real purpose.
- by Huw Griffiths
Coalition doubles down on promise of student caps, but still doesn’t say how
The Coalition has given its strongest signal yet that it will target rich city universities such as Sydney, Melbourne, UNSW and Monash with its own student caps.
- by Natassia Chrysanthos
Meet every student who got 99.95 in this year’s HSC
One Sydney private boys school claimed one-quarter of the 51 perfect ATARs.
- by Lucy Carroll, Mary Ward and Ricky Blank
Exclusive
Go-slow visas to provide quick fix for ballooning international student numbers
Labor will issue a go-slow on student visa processing once universities hit a certain number to get around Peter Dutton’s decision to block its student caps bill.
- by Paul Sakkal and Natassia Chrysanthos
The schools that surged up the HSC rankings – one by 220 places
When the new principal was appointed in early April, this Sydney high school was struggling with an urgent need to fill more than a dozen vacant teaching positions.
- by Lucy Carroll
HSC results 2024 as it happened: NSW year 12 students receive marks, ATARs
The day has come. Join us as we celebrate the Class of 2024 as they receive their results this morning. Follow our live coverage.
- by Anthony Segaert and Angus Thomson
Menai High school student opens his ATAR results
Menai High school student Isaac Warwar opens his ATAR results on Wednesday 18th December, 2024.
Inside the island study camp where North Sydney Boys plotted their HSC success
On a warm November day last year, students took a train an hour north to the Hawkesbury River and boarded a creaky ferry to Milson Island. There, they built their ‘secret little academic weapon’.
- by Christopher Harris and Anthony Segaert
‘One of the worst sleeps of my life’: Class of 2024 receive HSC results and ATARs
Lily Thompson took on some of the HSC’s most difficult subjects, and is thrilled with her band 4s and 5s, while her classmate Isaac Warwar was shocked by his ATAR.
- by Christopher Harris
North Sydney Boys goes back-to-back atop the HSC rankings
The race between North Sydney Boys and James Ruse was close, while a private school has surged into third.
- by Lucy Carroll, Nigel Gladstone, Christopher Harris, Nick Newling and Anthony Segaert
Students from NSW react to their 2024 ATAR
HSC Students across the state have opened their ATAR results after the UAC website crashed.
How your school ranked in the 2024 HSC
See the top schools and look up your school in our interactive list.
The 2024 HSC honour roll: Every student with a top band listed
Search by student or school to see who received a mark above 90 per cent.
Menai High School student opens her HSC results
Menai High School student Lily Thompson opens her HSC results on Wednesday, December 18, 2024.
Adelaide, Perth blend environmental bliss with educational opportunity
Adelaide is home to three universities and great cultural attractions, while hitting the books, then beach, is easy in the WA capital.
- by Caroline Zielinski
Sun, surf and study – Sydney life presents a world of opportunity
Few places in the world offer a student lifestyle to match that of Australia’s premier city.
- by Caroline Zielinski
Stressed about first-year uni? These student tips will help
We asked successful students how they made the transition to university.
- by Alyssa Talakovski
Brisbane adds depth to sunny vibe for students
There’s more to the Queensland capital than blue sky.
- by Caroline Zielinski
Cafe culture, arts and sport make for Melbourne’s magic blend
Dubbed the “education state”, tertiary study is entwined in the fabric of Victorian life.
- by Caroline Zielinski
Canberra: nation’s heart offers monumental time
Canberra’s appeal is underscored by its national icons.
- by Caroline Zielinski
Grace topped English in the HSC. This is what she wrote
Inspired by her Blue Mountains surroundings, HSC English dux Grace Costigan submitted a short fiction. Read two short extracts here.
- by Grace Costigan
How long is a piece of string? HSC star Anubhav has the answer
Anubhav Ammangi combined his love of multiple STEM subjects to make the calculation – and has added to his tally of HSC first-in-course awards with a subject he almost dropped.
- by Christopher Harris
The top student in every HSC subject revealed
Sydney Grammar has scooped eight first-in-course awards, while Knox and Pymble Ladies’ College were not far behind. Search the list for the top student in every course.
- by Lucy Carroll, Nigel Gladstone and Christopher Harris
Updated
‘Cheering out of happiness’: The year 12s who received perfect IB scores
Some 827 NSW International Baccalaureate students received their results on Tuesday morning, ahead of HSC results being released on Wednesday.
- by Daniella White
Opinion
A fantastic school like ours should be replicated, not erased
Freshwater Senior Campus has been transformational for many of its students. So why is the department tinkering with it?
- by Sophie Rawstorne and Sebastian Rayel
How long is a piece of string?
Anubhav Ammangi, who has now come first in three HSC subjects, explains how to calculate it. And why it matters.
Students from WA react to their 2024 ATAR
Students across the state opened their results on Saturday afternoon, and have posted their reactions to TikTok.
You met these kindy twins 13 years ago. Now, they reveal the best (and worst) parts of their schooling
As they await their HSC results on Wednesday, these students reflect on their schooling.
- by Christopher Harris
How Hayley took control of her personal safety
Like many women, Hayley Jiang takes precautions to ensure her safety but she feels safer on campus.
- by Joanne Brookfield
Exclusive
It was called a ‘cheat bot’. Now, this uni is paying for students to use it
The deal with the US-based technology company would give access to students and academics to a special version of ChatGPT.
- by Daniella White
Exclusive
‘Absolute insanity’: Parents, students vow to fight changes at top Sydney school
The NSW government will turn a northern beaches senior high school into a year 7 to 12 campus under a plan to expand access to co-education.
- by Lucy Carroll
Explainer
A good toy can be the building blocks of a career, or just a way to skip church
Not all toys say “educational” on the box. Still, some can spark lifelong learning. Here’s what the experts put in toy boxes.
- by Jackson Graham
Opinion
The best bits of Fitz. My best chats of 2024
This year, I published 46 interviews in this space. These are the exchanges that most resonated with you, or most moved me, or turned out to be particularly prescient.
- by Peter FitzSimons
They topped the HSC over the past 40 years. Where are they now?
More than 76,000 HSC students – the largest-ever cohort – will receive their marks on Wednesday. These are the lessons graduates from the past four decades have for them.
- by Daniel Lo Surdo
Opinion
Dickens may be out, but I’d be thrilled to teach these HSC texts
This HSC English syllabus overhaul is a micro-history of why it is so important to keep fighting over books.
- by Sophie Gee
Dickens, Orwell and Plath dumped from HSC English lists
Female authors, poets and directors will make up 49 per cent of creative works on the prescribed text list, but some teachers have criticised the changes.
- by Christopher Harris
Exclusive
Broke and desperate for cash, North Sydney Council asks top private schools to pay voluntary rates
The cash-strapped council is also considering selling a street to SCEGGS Redlands.
- by Lucy Carroll and Megan Gorrey
These Sydney mega-schools have 2000 students. Now they’re getting something more
Built a decade ago to cater for the growing number of children in Sydney’s north-west, The Ponds High and its neighbour, Riverbank Public, are two of the city’s super-sized public schools.
- by Christopher Harris
The public school asking parents to pay $80,000 for an extra teacher
An eastern suburbs public school has asked its parents and citizens’ association to help cover teaching costs next year.
- by Lucy Carroll
The private schools paying senior staff more than $300,000
Some of Sydney’s top private schools posted surpluses of millions of dollars last year before imposing sharp fee hikes on parents.
- by Christopher Harris
Co-ed principal recruited to lead one of Sydney’s oldest boys’ schools
Shore’s former headmaster, Tim Petterson, was dismissed following a culture review by the school’s government board.
- by Lucy Carroll
Opinion
Sydney Uni’s ‘enforced civility’ is an assault on free speech – and likely unlawful
It could become one of the most restrictive campuses in the country for peaceful protest, intellectual freedom and critical debate.
- by Sarah Schwartz
Original URL: https://www.smh.com.au/education