New South Wales’ highest achievers have been revealed, with the release of the 2025 HSC Distinguished Achievers list, and the HSC All-round Achievers list.
Today, over 60 000 students across the state received their ATARs – a marker of all the hard work they had put in throughout Year 11 and 12.
For Harry Sargent-Wilson, this day would not only be significant for him, but for the entire Woonona High School community.
“I woke up quite early this morning out of pure adrenaline. I was definitely very nervous, and definitely excited to get that ATAR and my marks, and see how I went and whether my hard work paid off,” he told news.com.au.
Ultimately, Harry said he was shocked at his result of 95.5 – not only landing him a spot on the prestigious All-round Achievers list, but earning him the highest score his school had seen in at least 15 years, and perhaps ever.
“When I opened that final email, I was just full of tears, to be perfectly honest. I was just so happy, and so glad that I had finished,” he said.
Harry pinned his success down to his teachers, friends, and particularly his parents – who are both teachers themselves.
“My parents are so supportive of me, and they’re definitely very understanding of what I was going through,” he said.
“The HSC is such a stressful time in your life. [My parents] were giving time out of their day to help me succeed, whether that was just by helping out around the house doing jobs that I was supposed to be doing, or keeping me accountable for my study.”
Well and truly an all-rounder – being his school’s Captain, and taking out a number of its most prestigious awards including Most Conscientious Student and The Woonona High School medal – Harry said he isn’t completely sure what he wants to do beyond school yet.
But, he has early entry offers and scholarships from UoW and Bond University, and knows that the world is his oyster.
“At the moment, I am looking more towards a law kind of area, but I think I’m a very adaptable person, and would love to go into any kind of area – whether that’s science or humanities based,” he shared.
Fellow Illawarra graduate from The Illawarra Grammar School, Elle Johnson, however, has one goal in mind.
With an ATAR of 96.85, 17-year-old Elle said she too has earned early entry offers into multiple universities. But, medicine is where she ultimately wants to be.
“I work in two pharmacies, so I was really hoping to do something health-related – so either pharmacy, or medicine if I was lucky enough to get in,” she told news.com.au.
Elle credited her marks to consistency, keeping to a regular study schedule, and workshopping drafts and ideas with both friends and teachers.
However, it was her TikTok account which truly held her accountable.
Elle has been posting videos around her study routines and tips all year, with some videos accumulating over 100,000 views. So, when she got her marks, she said it was as much for her followers as it was for her.
“I think TikTok really pushed me past limits I never thought I could get to,” she said.
“I had to prove it to myself, but also to all the people who were behind me and supporting me on TikTok, that you can keep your after school activities, and you can post on TikTok, and achieve great results.”
Moss Vale High School graduate Aiden Torpy was also able to master the juggling act, getting an ATAR of 96.65 while playing guitar in a jazz band called The Bosstongs in his spare time.
“I’m really good friends with who I play with, so that was a good way to have fun with my friends,” he told news.com.au.
“I never felt overwhelmed. I felt like I always had time to myself and to hang out, on top of my school work.”
Aiden saw his results for the first time this morning on St Kilda pier with his friends, and he couldn’t be happier with what he was able to achieve.
“It was pretty surreal,” he said.
“I called my mum, and she said she’s gotten calls from the school about the All Rounder achievement, which is crazy. It just felt like all this work I’ve put in has paid off.”
In the future, Aiden said that he hopes to go into engineering – reflecting his Band 6 results in mathematics Extension 1, Physics, and Software Engineering. But, he’s not going to leave music behind.
“I have early entry into UNSW for engineering and computer science, and I really want to get into some sort of motorsport engineering,” he said.
“I’m going to do everything I can in uni to work towards that goal, while also keeping up music as more of a hobby with my friends.”
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