Dubbo College Senior Campus principal Andrew Jones was delighted with the efforts of his students as their HSC marks and ATAR results began to filter through. 

He said results across the entire year group had exceeded expectations.

While almost one-third of their 188 students who sat the HSC had already secured university places through early entry, Mr Jones said they had still given 100 per cent throughout the exam period.

“We were in that fortunate situation that 61 of our kids knew they were headed for university so a large majority went into the exams with that stress taken off,” the principal said.

Read more: 43 Dubbo HSC students named as distinguished achievers

“Going into the exams I was very impressed with how they approached them. They were confident, they were calm and knew what they had to do.

“On the whole, I’d say 95 per cent of them, were happy with how they faced it. They were confident going in and coming out and their results justified that.”

The college’s students had the chance to meet up on Friday for their end of year morning tea and see how each other went.

There were strong results including the school dux Ashwini Manorathan getting an ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admission Rank) of 96.95. Other strong performers included Darcy Nixon with a mark of 89.2 and Jennifer Spence with 89.15.

Ms Spence said her mark would get her into the Bachelor of Commerce degree at Sydney University that she was aiming for.

“I’m happy with my result, I got into the course I want. A lot of other people are happy too, some people are a bit disappointed but most people will find a way to get where they want,” Ms Spence said.

“It’s very relieving [to be finished] it’s good to have some free time and know that I’ve got somewhere to go.”

Read more: Understanding the HSC results

Mr Jones said there had been strong results right through the year group, and not just from the highest achievers.

“We are really about the whole cohort and not just a small group of them,” he said.

“We had 10 courses where there were no band ones or twos. We had 22 courses where there wasn’t a band one. That shift has carried on through the whole cohort so that’s very pleasing.

“We know we are doing the right thing and we hope that will continue next year.”

The teachers could also be very proud and happy of the students, Mr Jones said, with hundreds of hours invested and many going above and beyond what was expected.

“The teachers are so passionate about their subjects and their students so they become very invested,” he said.

“They love to find out how their students went and follow how they go after they leave but it’s not just the teachers that keep in touch.

“Clontarf look after their boys for the next decade, they will track and support them, same with the girl’s academy.

“The students might be done with school but we aren’t done with them.”