Academic Results

Academic Learning page_2019 HSC Breakfast group photo_750x333pxPymble proudly offers a comprehensive and balanced educational experience and nurtures students to make the most of their individual potential. As a result, our students consistently achieve top academic results.

Over the years, the College has enjoyed a consistently strong record in the School Certification, National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests and Higher School Certificate (HSC) examinations. This reflects our commitment to quality teaching and equipping girls with the skills to translate their learning into satisfying academic results.

 2019 HSC Results

Year 12 students Isabella Natale and Jaime Bell were jointly named Pymble Ladies’ College (Pymble) 2019 Dux of the School, these outstanding students were thrilled to share the award.

Pymble’s SRC Vice President Jaime won the Ancient History, Drama, English Advanced, English Extension 1 and Legal Studies prizes at Speech Night, plus a Distinction Award. The group drama project Jaime was in, and her individual theatre criticism portfolio, were both selected for this year’s HSC Drama OnSTAGE Showcase. “My final year at Pymble was quite intense, and I’m happy to be taking a break, but at the same time sad to say goodbye to my second home,” she said. Her tip for future Year 12 students: “You get back what you put into it. Plan ahead and start your assessments as soon as possible so you don’t get overwhelmed.” Next year, Jaime is taking a gap year to work at a school in Oxford, UK, taking breaks to travel in Europe. She hopes to study Arts and Law at the University of Sydney from 2021 and dreams of becoming a criminal law barrister.

Isabella was awarded the Chemistry and English Advanced Prizes and a Distinction Award and was recognised for her role as Co-captain of Community Service. “I’m really grateful to all my teachers and peers who helped me along the way,” she says. “It was lovely to share the award with Jaime, we did such different subjects, so it was great to see that Dux can recognise both equally.” Her tip for next year’s students: “Find ways to balance your academic studies, I went running to de-stress and I found voluntary work was also a good time-out. Sleep is really important, so you can retain the knowledge you’ve learned and have your brain in peak condition the next day. Finally, ask lots of questions, teachers can help so much.” Next year, Isabella is planning to study Medicine.

15 Pymble students received ATARs greater than 99.00. Sophie Mok achieved Pymble’s highest ATAR for 2019 with a score of 99.90.

Pymble performed exceptionally across Best in Subject, Top Achievers in Course list and All-round Achievers with 35 students being named across the three categories.

The following students achieved first place in a course:

  • Angela Santoso Indonesian in Context (studied at the NSW School of Languages)
  • Ashley Jacobsson Japanese in Context (studied at the Saturday School of Community Languages Chatswood HS Centre)

In addition, 11 students earned a place in the Top Achievers in Course list across a variety of courses:

  • Jaime Bell 10th in Ancient History
  • Sophia Carmody 2nd in Investigating Science
  • Shimeng (Corinna) Chen (Year 11 accelerant) 5th in Music Extension
  • Ariana Frater 9th in Food Technology
  • Sally Guthrie 7th in PDHPE
  • Ayra Kassam 15th in Modern History
  • Ayra Kassam 7th in History Extension
  • Yejin (Jennifer) Lee 5th in Japanese Continuers
  • Sophie Mok 4th in Latin Continuers
  • Isabella Natale 5th in Classical Greek Continuers
  • Isabella Natale 4th in Classical Greek Extension
  • Saskia Newman 20th in PDHPE
  • Janani Viswanathan 3rd in Food Technology

28 Pymble students were named in the NESA All-round Achievers list. This list acknowledges the results of students who achieved Band 6 results (90 or better) in 2 unit courses or a Band E4 result (45 or better) in an Extension course in 10 or more units:

  • Grace Abadee
  • Medani Athauda
  • Jaime Bell
  • Anhiti Bonu
  • Tin Wing (Tiffany) Chan
  • Jiaxi (Jessie) Chen
  • Alexandria Cung
  • Charlotte Dunning
  • Nini Fan
  • Ariana Frater
  • Katherine Green
  • Sally Guthrie
  • Grace Hu
  • Ayra Kassam
  • Eugenie Kim
  • Melissa Li
  • Jessie Lum
  • Sophie Mok
  • Isabella Natale
  • Saskia Newman
  • Georgina Sargent
  • Chloe Shang
  • Michelle Turner
  • Georgia Winter
  • Sophie Wruck
  • Lydia Yang
  • Carina Ye
  • Selena You

 Pymble results compared against the state

In 2019, 277 students from Pymble Ladies’ College sat for the NSW Higher School Certificate in 46 courses. On average, 79 per cent of Pymble candidates across all 2 unit courses offered at the College achieved results in Band 5 and 6, compared with 47 per cent of students across the state in the same subjects. In the 1 unit Extension courses, on average, 94 per cent were placed in Band E3 or E4, compared with 87 per cent across the state.

When compared to the state average, results in Bands 5 and 6 (2 unit courses) and Bands E3 and E4 (Extension courses) have remained consistently high, with student achievement above state level in all courses offered at the College. In 2019, the combined Band 5 and 6 results were 30 per cent or more above the state percentages in the following subjects: Agriculture, Ancient History, Biology, Business Studies, Chemistry, Dance, Drama, Economics, English EAL/D, Food Technology, Geography, German Continuers, Investigating Science, Japanese Continuers, Legal Studies, Mathematics Standard 2, Modern History, PDHPE, Physics, Visual Arts and Hospitality.