Fifteen city schools among the top 50 in NSW as 2021 HSC results revealed

By PATRICK MCKENZIE

Fifteen high schools across Sydney’s inner west, city and eastern suburbs have been ranked in the state’s top 50 best-performing cohorts after the Higher School Certificate (HSC) results were released this morning.

Sydney Grammar was the highest-performing school in the area, the fourth-best in the state and the strongest private school overall, and was closely followed by Sydney Girls High School in Moore Park at fifth and Bondi’s Reddam House at sixth.

The eastern suburbs saw the strongest results between the three regions, with ten of the 16 top-ranked schools located in the area.

The full list is as follows:

1. Sydney Grammar School (Darlinghurst) – 4th

2. Sydney Girls High School (Moore Park) – 5th

3. Reddam House (Bondi) – 6th

4. Kambala (Rose Bay) – 11th

5. Sydney Boys High School (Moore Park) – 13th

6. Conservatorium High School (Sydney) – 14th

7. Ascham School (Edgecliff) – 16th

8. SCEGGS Darlinghurst (Darlinghurst) – 17th

9. Moriah College (Queens Park) – 18th

10. Fort Street High School (Petersham) – 22nd

11. St Catherine’s School (Waverley) – 23rd

12. Kincoppal-Rose Bay (Vaucluse) – 28th

13. St Clare’s College (Waverley) – 29th

14. Cranbrook School (Bellevue Hill) – 35th

15. Emanuel School (Randwick) – 36th

St Clare’s College, placed 29th in the state, was the highest-performing Catholic Systemic School in NSW.

Identical twin sisters Lily and Hannah Simos were the school’s top students, with ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank) results of 99.30 and 99.00 respectively.

On Monday, some high-scoring students became aware of their results earlier than expected, after the NSW Education Standards Authority accidentally uploaded a near-finalised version of the 2021 HSC Distinguished Achievers List.

The list displays the names of the students who achieved marks within the top band of one or more subjects. It was removed several hours after it was originally published.

School rankings are determined by a school’s ‘success rate,’ a percentage calculated from the ratio of the number of Band 6/E4 results (an overall subject mark 90 per cent or higher) a school achieves to the total number of HSC exams students attending the school sat.

Government-funded academically selective James Ruse Agricultural High School in Carlingford topped the state for the 26th consecutive year. 

HSC results are usually released to students via email and text message in mid-to-late December but were delayed several weeks after HSC exams were postponed due to the pandemic.