In this year's HSC results in the Hunter and Central Coast, students at the Merewether High School and Gosford High School led the charge, as academically selective schools, with a total of 268 students on the Distinguished Achievers list.
Christian Prince and Amberley Cate Moffat from Merewether came First in Course in Engineering Studies and Society and Culture respectively, and Liam Lightfoot from Gosford came First in Course in French Beginners.
The Distinguished Achievers list recognises students who achieved the highest band possible for one or more course (or optional exam).
Hunter School of the Performing Arts, also selective, had 68 students on that list, but their talent pool clearly extends well beyond the arts, with Barnaby Maxwell Young coming fifth in the state in Industrial Technology.
Elsewhere in the region there was more evidence of excellence across the areas of study: Hunter River High School and Irrawang High School both had strong results in Music and Maths.
A number of schools shone in particular subjects, including Singleton High School in Visual Arts, Whitebridge High School in Hospitality, Kincumber High in the arts and with a total of 15 students on the Distinguished Achievers list, and Brisbane Water Secondary College, Woy Woy Campus and Tuggerah Lakes Secondary College, The Entrance Campus, in maths. Respectively they had 28 and 13 Distinguished Achievers.
Other schools with large cohorts on the list included Lambton High and Warners Bay High with 31 and 23 respectively.
