North Sydney Boys High School is once again at the top of its class in the Higher School Certificates rankings
The school on Sydney’s lower north coast narrowly missed out on James Ruse Agricultural High after thousands of NSW school leavers received their HSC results on Wednesday.
North Sydney Boys narrowly defeated their selective public school rivals for the second year in a row with a pass rate of 64.9 per cent.
Their previous achievement in 2023 ended James Ruse’s 27-year reign as the top-performing school in NSW.
The results are based on extensive analysis by the Sydney Morning Herald, which calculates pass rates based on the ratio of band 6 and grades of 90-plus compared to the number of students who sat exams.
North Sydney Boys managed to hold on to top spot after the Crows Nest school continually improved their scores in Advanced English over the past six years.
Despite reaching the top spot, their success rate dropped by 4.1 percent after reaching a rate of 69 percent last year.
James Ruse took second place after they improved by almost three percentage points and achieved a success rate of 62.88 percent.
North Sydney Boys High School (pictured) narrowly beat their prestigious selective public school rivals with a 64.9 per cent pass rate to claim top spot
Seven selective public high schools made the top 10 in the HSC rankings.
The third best school was Sydney Grammar, followed by Normanhurst Boys.
Baulkham Hills, Hornsby Girls, North Sydney Girls, Sydney Boys and Abbotsleigh private school for girls completed the top 10.
Reddam House, a private co-educational school in Bondi, was once again the top-placed private school after retaining fifth place.
Newtown High School of Performing Arts rose more than 30 places to finish in 56th, while Epping Boys High achieved their best ever results.
The non-selective school in Sydney’s northwest rose 20 places to reach 60th with a pass rate of almost 25 per cent.
Other major improvements include Barrenjoey High, which rose 223 places, while The Ponds High in Sydney’s northwest rose more than 100 places, just nine years after the school opened its doors.
Originally founded as a boys’ farm school in Carlingford, James Ruse topped the HSC rankings for the first time in 1996 after stealing the title from Sydney Grammar.
North Sydney Boys School graduates are celebrating after retaining top spot in the HSC rankings
James Ruse Agricultural High (pictured) took second place after improving by almost three percentage points to score a success rate of 62.88 percent
North Sydney Boys uploaded a video to Facebook showing the 2024 cohort celebrating the impressive achievement.
I just got a text,” North Sydney Boys Director Brian Ferguson began
‘You did it again. The best school in the state.”
Mr Ferguson told the Herald: “I feel like we have done the impossible and it feels a bit surreal. They were very inspired by last year, the idea of ’you can’ and ‘it is possible’.
Seven selective public high schools made it into the top 10 of its year’s HSC rankings
“I am incredibly excited to see the fruits of a year group who have worked so hard to follow the example of the previous year.”
James Ruse principal Matthew Dopierala, who moved from North Sydney Boys to the Carlingford school in November, said students and staff were pleased to retain second place.
“We work with the smartest kids in the system, and we are so happy for them,” Mr. Dopierala said.
Barrenjoey High, The Ponds High and Pittwater House School were among the best improved schools in the state this year.
Barrenjoey High climbed a whopping 223 places to reach 144th with a pass rate of 13.51 per cent.
There are 57,194 students eligible for an ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admission Rank) this year and the average ATAR for girls was 72.40.
For boys the figure was 70.4.
The highest ATAR score of 99.95 was achieved by nine girls and 42 boys.
The Herald’s analysis only includes schools that have recorded results for at least 150 HSC subjects.