Band five and six results have been eagerly counted, but the principals were just as excited to see students’ efforts being rewarded, no matter the score.

Dubbo Christian School’s Anneke Goud scored 73 (out of 100) in advanced maths after getting marks in the 50s during the year, while classmate Ethan Phipps was most proud of his 31 (out of 50) in extension maths.

“They are a hard-working group and they have got the reward for the effort they have put in,” DCS principal Warren Melville said. “We are delighted with their results.”

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With the city’s largest cohort, Dubbo College quadrupled its band six results.

“This has been a culmination of a huge amount of work with our learning and thinking scope and our explicit teaching project and … due to all the hard work the teachers and the students have put in,” executive principal Stacey Exner said.

Through the Dubbo School of Distance Education, 301 exams were sat across 48 courses.

Students achieved ten band sixes and 58 band fives and with many of the graduates residing on remote, drought-affected properties, principal Deb Murray was especially proud.

“We always love seeing the band five and sixes, but what we focus on too is those students who have made significant improvements,” Mrs Murray said, thanking her teaching staff for going above and beyond.

“We’re seeing kids achieving success by raising them by a couple of bands.

“I believe our students in distance education are probably the most resilient in the state … they are self-motivated and independent learners. That alone [gives them] skills that will set them up for any job into the future.”

Macquarie Anglican Grammar headmaster Craig Mansour said the 2018 cohort “achieved better than we could have expected”.

One student achieved band sixes in both biology and community and family studies, while another achieved the top band in extension English.

“We’re also increasingly excited about the wide range of students that received unconditional early entry into university,” Mr Mansour said.

​At St John’s College, principal Kerry Morris was pleased to see band six results “more widespread across all of our key learning areas”.

That included a 99 and a 98 in industrial technical timber, with the NSW Education Standards Authority identifying those students as some of the best in the state.

“This group has students that have put the hard work in and achieved and we are most pleased with that,” Mrs Morris said.

With their school years now behind them, Anneke and Ethan are excited for what the future holds.

“It’s great being done,” Anneke said.

“I loved school. But it’s a new stage and I’m really excited to see where I’ll go.”