Ballarat Clarendon College school captain Jack Kinnersly was the city’s top ranking VCE student, receiving an ATAR score of 99.6, narrowly pipping Ballarat High School dux Laura Benney with 99.5.
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The pair were among 47,450 Victorians to receive their Australian Tertiary Admission Ranking (ATAR) results online from 7am yesterday.
More than 1380 Ballarat students sat at least one written exam during the testing period last month, with the city claiming a swag of the state’s top achievers.
At Ballarat Clarendon College, 13 students received an ATAR of more than 98, and a quarter of students scored higher than 95 – putting them in the top 5 per cent nationally of students.
“I wanted to get the best score possible and really hoped for above 99, but I never in my wildest dreams expected 99.6,” Jack said.
“I logged on and got my results in my bedroom this morning, and mum was hovering at the door at 7am wanting to know how I went, so everyone was very excited,” said Jack who hopes to receive a university offer to study medicine at Monash.
Laura was “a bit flabbergasted” at her ATAR, which was well in excess of her goal, but went off to work as a swimming teacher soon after receiving her result.
Passionate about education, Laura spoke on the subject in several public speaking competitions during the year and she has set her sights on a Bachelor of Arts/Education at Federation University.
Her public speaking role was one of many extracurricular activities she took on, as well as the school captaincy at Ballarat High School where she also played in the band and worked part time throughout the year.
In five of her six subjects – literature, psychology, further maths, legal studies and history revolutions – Laura scored higher than 40 including a perfect 50 in psychology and 49 in literature.
Education Minister James Merlino congratulated all VCE students, including the 14,797 high-achieving students who received a study score of 40 or more in at least one subject, but reminded all graduates that the ATAR “is not the be all and end all – there are many pathways to success and to get to where you wish to go in life.”.
“Those getting results will experience a rollercoaster of emotions but I hope they are proud of everything they’ve achieved over the past 13 years of schooling.
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“Completing VCE requires determination and hard work and I congratulate all students on this occasion.”
Across the state, 36 students receive the highest possible ATAR of 99.95 including 28 males and eight females.
The average ATAR across all students was 65.10 with an average of 66.25 for females and 63.70 for males.