Coonabarabran High School students have continued to impress, after the Year 12 class of 2023 recently received some excellent results from their HSC exams.

Coonabarabran High School principal, Mary Doolan said the school community is immensely proud of the class of 2023.

“They have been a cohesive and considerate group of young men and women and have achieved very pleasing results in this year’s HSC examinations,” Ms Doolan said.

A smaller cohort this year, 38 students achieved their HSC, with 23 of these students studying courses to obtain an ATAR.

Ms Doolan said students achieved Band 6 results in a number of subjects including PDHPE, Biology, and Industrial Technology Metal.

A number of subjects also achieved class means that were well above the state average including Industrial Technology, Agriculture, Ancient History, Chemistry, Earth and Environmental Science, Physics, Society and Culture, and Primary Industries.

“Such success is built from the hard work of both students and our dedicated staff,” Ms Doolan said.

A number of students have already obtained early entry to a number of universities including University of New England, Charles Sturt University, Wollongong University, University of Sydney, University of New South Wales, and University of Newcastle.

“Many students have also secured employment both long-term or if taking a gap year in 2024,” Ms Doolan said.

“The school’s best wishes go with our graduates as they carve out their futures and we congratulate them on achieving their Higher School Certificate!”

Coonabarabran High School 2023 captain, Alex Letts achieved some outstanding results, with her best results being in Biology and PDHPE in which she recorded two Band 6s.

Alex also achieved some great results in Physics, narrowly missing out on a Band 6 result.

For her efforts, Alex was rewarded with an overall ATAR of 95.85, which she said was above what she was expecting.

“I was expecting high 80s at best, although my goal was to get above 95,” she said.

“I’ve even had a little 95 written on a sticky note on my desk for the past three years!”

Looking back on her final year of high school, Alex said she is proud of the results her hard work has given her and is relieved to have finally finished Year 12.

Next year, Alex plans to go straight into university to become either a rehabilitation or neurological physiotherapist in the future.

“In September, I accepted an early entry offer for a Bachelor of Physiotherapy at the University of Newcastle,” Alex said.

“I’m also hoping to get a job as a high school tutor while I am studying next year.”

Eleanor Rapley also achieved some great results, performing best in Legal Studies and Society and Culture, scoring an impressive 89 in both subjects.

“It was a bit unexpected, given they were so different in what they demanded – but I loved the content, so that helped,” Eleanor said.

Her hard work saw her achieve an ATAR result of 84.9, a result she said she was very happy with.

“I didn’t set myself an idea of what I was expecting – I wasn’t sure how I’d done in all seriousness,” Eleanor said.

“I’m happy with my results. I feel like I’ll still have areas to improve when I go to uni, but it gets me where I want to go.”

Looking back on her final year of schooling, Eleanor said Year 12 students face many challenges in the lead up to their HSC exams.

“The biggest challenge was that they could test you on anything and it would be the smallest dot point from the syllabus,” Eleanor said.

“Having a major work in Society and Culture was scary too, because it was so different from anything we’d done before.”

With Year 12 and the HSC now done and dusted, Eleanor said she plans to have a gap year before heading to university in 2025 to study a double degree in Arts and Law.

Though she’s not sure exactly where her studies will take her, Eleanor said she has considered working in the legal or editorial section of a book publishing company.

Another 2023 graduate, Claire Butcher did well in the HSC, her best results being in Business Studies and Earth and Environmental Science.

Claire’s efforts saw her achieve an ATAR of 70.55, a result she said she was happy with.

Next year, Claire plans to go to university to study a Bachelor of Environmental Science and Management.

Though she isn’t sure exactly where this course will take her in the future, Claire said she hopes to find a role within the national parks.