Will you ever look? Yeah I’ll probably look at it this afternoon.

Are you worried about what the score will be or? I have a certain area that I’m sort of aiming for but if I get below that I’m not going to be too hurt. I didn’t apply for uni so it doesn’t really matter to me.

Career plans? I don’t actually have a specific career in mind but I think next year I’ll do a course to teach English as a language with travel as a goal.

Do you think people put too much pressure on themselves? I think there is a lot of pressure on in it (ATAR) – it’s sort of a big build up then everyone gets better than they expect I think.

Message for future students? I’d say stay on top of your work but don’t put too much stress on yourself.

ATAR: 93.40   

Are you happy with that result?  Yes   

How does it feel having your hard work pay off?  Good.

Any more words?  Yes

What are they?  That is all.

Were you nervous ahead of getting your ATAR?  Not at all

What’s your strongest subject?  Physics

Is it your favourite subject? (While physics teacher watches) – Yes it is my favourite subject.

What would you say to people about to do their HSC? It’s as much effort as you think it’s going to be. Exactly as much effort as you’d hope it to be.

ATAR: 96.85

What was your strongest subject? Based on marks I think Mathematics, Ext 1 was my strongest.

Is it your favourite subject? Yeah, so maths is definitely my favourite subject. I found it the easiest to study for.

Future plans? I got early entry to Newcastle Uni, and I’ll be going to study Aerospace Engineering. I hope to go into the defence force or Qantas engineering.

Do you students need to worry about their ATAR so much? I don’t think they need to worry. I think they just know what they need to know. So they’re not wasting time in areas that aren’t as important as others. At the end of the day, you get out what you put in.

ATAR: 73.6

Are you happy with that? Yeah, very happy.

What was your favourite subject? Music.

Future plans? So I have a traineeship surveying starting next year but yeah I’m still going to work towards a music career.

Do you have a message for future students? Just stick with it, get the certificate at the end. That’s all that matters.

How important do you think the ATAR is? Yeah I don’t think the ATAR matters too much, I’m not using it and a lot of people in my family haven’t used one. We’re all pretty happy.

ATAR: 82.55

Are you happy with that? Yeah, it was a bit of a surprise because I didn’t really expect the results I got, but it was pleasing when it came through.

Strongest subject? I thought it was business going into the exams but then maths came out on top.

Is maths a favourite subject? No, definitely not.

Future plans? Next year hopefully I’ll get accepted into occupational therapy or a business course up at uni.

Do people need to worry so much about their ATAR? No, I think there’s a lot of resources that people can use to help them out so it’s not something people need to stress over a huge amount any more.

ATAR: I don’t know my ATAR and I don’t know it because you don’t need it in life. (I’d like my ATAR to be around 80)

ATAR: I don’t know what my ATAR is because I forgot my PIN.

Are you interested in finding out at all?

Natalie – I’ll just do ‘I forgot my PIN’ and get a new PIN (laughs) I hope to get an ATAR of 74.

Career plans?

Maisy – Real estate, so I have a traineeship in real estate so I don’t think that my ATAR is important. Most jobs your ATAR isn’t important and in this case it isn’t.

Natalie – Beauty.

Do people worry too much about their ATAR score?

Maisy – Yes I think they do, there’s always other pathways like newstep into uni and most jobs don’t even require an ATAR, just a HSC.

Natalie – Yeah they stress about it too much, I don’t know why.

ATAR: 65.25

ATAR: 71.10

Are you happy with that?

Lowana – Yeah, I needed a lower ATAR so I got what I needed.

Felicity – Fairly.

Career plans?

Lowana – I’m hoping to go into nursing which I did get thanks to my ATAR I got sent the offer in my email this morning.

Felicity – Health and rehabilitation science or a bachelor of pharmacy.

Do you think people put too much emphasis on their ATAR?

Lowana – Yes, because not many universities go off ATAR marks. You can get early entry and there are other ways to get into university.

Felicity – I think people focus on their ATAR too much because of the big hype around it and it’s always in the news and things which means you hear more about it.

A message for future students?

Lowana – Don’t stress too much. You have to work hard to get the marks that you want but remember to have fun and just enjoy it, but also study.

Felicity – I would say that it is hard work and you do have to put a lot of hours in. But at the end it’s worth it so if it gets you where you want to go then just go for it.

ATAR: 83.90

Are you happy with that? Yeah very happy.

Strongest subject? Maths.

Career plans? I’m looking at doing genetic research. I was pretty set on Wollongong from the get go so I was only looking there mainly. I got early entry.

Do people worry about their ATAR too much? Yeah definitely, it needs to be more about the marks and not that ATAR at the end.

Do you have a message for future students? Don’t worry about the HSC, worry about what’s coming after that because that’s gonna be a lot more intense.

ATAR: 90.10

Stoked with that? Yeah very stoked with that I was quite happy about that.

Strongest subject? Extension 1 Maths, it’s my favourite and was my strong suit through the year.

Career plans? Something maths related based on my results. I’m going to uni to do a bachelor of maths and branch out from there and see where I can go with it.

Do people worry too much about their ATAR score? Yeah, some people. I guess it depends on why they’re stressing,whether it’s family pressure or self pressure but yeah a lot of people over-stress the importance of the ATAR.

A message for future students? Don’t stress too much, it’s just a number, as you’ll hear a lot of people say. But don’t force yourself into a mental breakdown. At the end of the day there are other pathways to take if you don’t get what you want.

ATAR: 85.10

Are you happy with that score? I was hoping for a bit higher but I’m still happy with it,

Strongest subject? Advanced maths.I got a band 6. It’s actually not my favourite subject but I worked really hard because I wanted to succeed in maths.

Career goals? I got early entry into the University of Newcastle for a Science/Law combined degree.

Do you think people worry too much about their ATAR? I think people do worry too much about their ATAR. For example, because I got early entry I wasn’t too worried too much about my ATAR and I actually wouldn’t have been able to get into my degree with the ATAR but I got in via early entry because I tried really hard at school. There’s always other ways to get in. The ATAR isn’t the be-all-end-all.

Do you have a message for future students? I think that you should just try the best you can. You’re going to get there no matter what. Look for other pathways but stay focused.