Education
From Mt Druitt to Vaucluse, teacher-to-student ratios ranked from best to worst
In Sydney’s most affluent areas, teacher-to-student ratios lag private schools, but in other parts of the city, the situation is reversed.
- by Christopher Harris
Latest
Indian students rejected as Australia cracks down on ‘ghost colleges’
Data shows Australia approves far fewer student visas from India than China, despite government ministers visiting India to promote skills study.
- by Angus Thompson
Opinion
Gen Z is the generation of protest, but we don’t always get it right
The biggest names of my generation – Malala Yousafzai, Greta Thunberg, Chanel Contos – are activists. But even I, as a teenager, feel alienated by the intransigence of most youth strikes.
- by Saria Ratnam
Opinion
Pitting us against each other is no way to improve our crumbling school system
No other government would subject parents to a school system that forces them to consider their kids as customers. And you know what? No other country does.
- by Adam Voigt
‘Prune the tree’: Halting new colleges considered amid student visa crackdown
Skills and Training Minister Brendan O’Connor says the government is also considering measures to weed out unscrupulous providers already in the vocational education and training system.
- by Angus Thompson
Union lashes Yarra Council’s ‘extreme’ ban on childcare gifts
The City of Yarra is showing no signs of backing down despite outcry over their banning of Christmas presents for childcare workers.
- by Melissa Cunningham
‘One number does not a good person make’: Does the HSC result matter?
Education is not a competition, readers told the Herald, and the focus on HSC results fails to identify the many benefits of education.
Exclusive
‘It won’t be China, India any more’: Universities urged to pivot to new student market
The university lobby’s outgoing chief, Catriona Jackson, warns the sector needs to capitalise on the emerging African market to stay “on the front of the wave” in the global competition for students.
- by Angus Thompson
The low-fee private schools outperforming expensive rivals in the HSC
Multiple lower-fee Sydney schools have recorded similar or higher HSC success rates than schools where fees are above $30,000, according to a new Herald analysis.
- by Lucy Carroll and Nigel Gladstone
The ATAR cut-off for every university course revealed
For Sophie, a 99 ATAR might not quite be enough for her first choice. Read the full list here.
- by Christopher Harris and Nigel Gladstone
The school that rocketed up the HSC rankings by 200 places
Setting high expectations of behaviour and scheduling study skills sessions have proven the secrets to success.
- by Lucy Carroll and Nigel Gladstone
Students from WA react to their 2023 ATAR
Students from WA share their reactions to their 2023 ATAR scores on social media.
The state’s top schools for HSC mathematics revealed
At Knox Grammar and Menai High, the road to success started long before year 12.
- by Christopher Harris, Nigel Gladstone and Lucy Carroll
Opinion
If only we had an HSC honour roll based on more than a number
We seldom hear the stories of everyday students who try their hardest to be the best academic version of themselves.
- by Lisa Schofield
Exclusive
Boys close the gap on girls as single-sex schools outperform co-ed
A Herald analysis of this year’s HSC data reveals the gap between the average number of top scores achieved by students at all-boys and all-girls schools is closing, with public boys schools achieving the biggest gains.
- by Lucy Carroll and Nigel Gladstone
School is over, but life is just beginning
Congratulations to all the students who completed 13 years of schooling. Just having reached the end of this marathon is an achievement in itself, never mind scores on a piece of paper.
The schools that blitzed HSC English
North Sydney Boys High School’s success in English drove it to the top of the HSC rankings. But it wasn’t the only school to record an astronomical rise in the subject.
- by Lucy Carroll and Nigel Gladstone
Opinion
So much changes for us at North Sydney Boys. But so much stays the same
The five values by which the school abides do not change, despite no longer being “second best”.
- by Mark Ju and Jordan Ho
The median mark in every HSC subject revealed
Mathematics Extension 2 and Latin had the highest medians after scaling.
- by Daniella White
The high-performing NAPLAN schools revealed
Schools as diverse as Fairfield Heights Public, Plumpton High and Abbotsleigh and Newington are among the 100 in NSW to be identified as high achieving in this year’s results.
- by Christopher Harris
HSC, ATAR results 2023 as it happened: NSW Year 12 students receive end of year results
Join us as we celebrate the Class of 2023 as they receive their HSC results this morning.
- by Anthony Segaert and Angus Thomson
HSC 2023 results explained in five charts
HSC results provide interesting insights into the way our education system works.
- by Nigel Gladstone
‘It’s a beautiful day’: Roslyn’s joy at HSC band fives and sixes
Roslyn de Lara was terrified of what the message from NESA would say. A moment later she was astonished.
- by Christopher Harris and Angus Thomson
Amid tragedy, St Andrew’s students support each other to best result
The school’s head said a number of year 12 students knew Lilie James and Paul Thijssen well, and were deeply shaken following their deaths.
- by Mary Ward
Editorial
HSC is just one small test in a life of learning
To all NSW Higher School Certificate graduates, the hard work is over. Congratulations. While we celebrate the high achievers, it is important to acknowledge there are many who are not high achievers who nevertheless achieved great things
- The Herald's View
How North Sydney Boys pulled off the greatest heist in HSC history
The inside story about how a school, so often the next-best, took on the most successful selective school in Australia’s history, and won.
- by Christopher Harris
The moment North Sydney Boys was told they came first in the HSC
Students in the Crows Nest school were elated when principal Brian Ferguson informed them of their result.
North Sydney Boys High tops HSC for first time
The Crows Nest school’s success ends the phenomenal 27-year reign of James Ruse Agricultural High School. Here’s how they did it.
- by Lucy Carroll, Nigel Gladstone and Christopher Harris
The 2023 HSC honour roll: every student with a top band listed
Search by student, school and course to find all of the high-performing students.
How your school ranked in the 2023 HSC
We’ve analysed the data and the top schools for the 2023 HSC have been revealed. Search the list here.
Opinion
An arts degree won’t lead to a well-paid job, right? Wrong
The liberal arts have an image problem, but they can lead to higher-paying careers than STEM degrees.
- by Sophie Gee and Robert McLean
The top student in every HSC subject revealed
In lockdown, Orlando Douglas-Giles became inspired by literature. He is now the HSC English dux. Read the full list of every HSC student who topped a course here.
- by Lucy Carroll, Christopher Harris and Nigel Gladstone
In August, Angie recited pi to 1000 decimal places. Today she’s the HSC maths dux
Angie Wang turned down a spot at James Ruse and this year placed first in the state in the hardest maths course of the HSC.
- by Christopher Harris
Orlando topped HSC English. This is what he wrote
‘I’d comment on the Sirius building’s ugliness amongst the city skyline … though I have since realised it was the most beautiful building in sight.’
- by Orlando Douglas-Giles
The five questions to help you decide what to do after year 12
Five Australians share how they finally found career clarity, despite some false starts.
- by Kimberly Gillan
ATAR cut-offs could fall as year 12 demand for uni hits new low
The high cost of some degrees may be at the heart of the lowest university application numbers in more than a decade.
- by Daniella White
New school targets, funding boost needed to overhaul ‘entrenched’ disadvantage: report
School systems would need to hit higher attendance and NAPLAN targets and provide greater funding transparency, under an expert panel’s proposals to the nation’s education ministers.
- by Lucy Carroll and Angus Thompson
Universities oppose caps, levies on overseas students amid plan to slash migration
Australia has 650,000 overseas students due to a surge in arrivals after the pandemic.
- by David Crowe
They topped the HSC in decades gone by. Where are they now?
Top HSC achievers of decades past took different paths: medicine, teaching, politics, filmmaking – and dancing in Las Vegas. They share their advice for the class of 2023, who will get their HSC results this week.
- by Jostina Basta and Lucy Carroll
‘Like the set of Fame’: The schools nurturing our next generation of stars
High demands are required of students in NSW’s eight speciality performing arts schools, but the state’s talent of the future is flourishing by being alongside like-minds.
- by Andrew Taylor
Extreme fire danger for Sydney as temperatures soar to mid-40s
Sydney is on high fire alert with temperatures set to hit the 40s and thousands predicted to pack beaches and outdoor spaces across the region this weekend.
- by Jessica McSweeney, Sarah Keoghan and Laura Chung
Deputy principals and senior teachers told to get back in the classroom
Thousands of public school deputy principals will be told to spend more time teaching under a radical plan to plug widespread staff shortages across the state.
- by Lucy Carroll
Exclusive
Sydney private schools lift teacher pay as fees tip past $40,000 for year 9
Some of Sydney’s private schools will increase teacher pay by up to 8 to 12 per cent in a bid to match historic wage rises across the government sector.
- by Lucy Carroll
Noisy, disruptive, distracted: Australian classrooms among world’s worst
Australian students do not listen to teachers and are distracted by digital devices in classrooms full of noise and disorder, according to the latest international report card.
- by Christopher Harris
Opinion
Noise, chaos and disengagement: I was wrong about open-plan classrooms
I was the inaugural principal of a school built for co-teaching, a model where two teachers worked together with around 50 students. Then the trouble began. Poor behaviour soared, students fell through the cracks, the noise was too much.
- by Adam Voigt