Will Howard, Aidan Hammerschmid and Darcy James
An Australian Tertiary Admission ranking of 99.7 for Aidan Hammerschmid, three boys with ATARs above 98, top-20 placings in three subjects and TAS ranking 59th in NSW in English were among the highlights of the 2013 HSC results for The Armidale School.
Aidan, The Armidale School’s Dux for 2013, was one of three TAS boarders who achieved tertiary rankings above 98. Senior Prefect Darcy James from Ebor, who came second in the state for History Extension and 19th in English Advanced, achieved 98.85, while Will Howard, from Sydney, scored 98.3.
Aidan and Will also made the All Round Achievers’ List of students who achieve 90 or above in 10 or more units of study, the third year TAS has had two students on the list. All three achieved outstanding marks in English, for which TAS was ranked 59th in the state (ahead of many leading Sydney schools) and was highest in the region for the third consecutive year.
Aidan said his family moved from Melbourne to Armidale after choosing TAS for his secondary education. In his final year, he opted to board to take advantage of the positive environment. “It was great to be able to walk from my boarding house to Will and Darcy’s, and talk about assignments and exams – we were competitive in a good way, and kept each other going,” he said. Will Howard agreed that boarding was an advantage and believes his ATAR was higher than he would have achieved had he stayed at the large independent, academically-selective boys’ school in Sydney he attended before coming to TAS. Overall, students achieved 38 Band 6s in 19 subjects, including six for girls studying at TAS.
TAS Headmaster Murray Guest said the results were a great tribute to the students and said the school’s out of hours academic support program, including tutoring and a residential study camp, contributed to the strong academic success. “That TAS has ranked so well in English and for the third year is the highest ranking school in the region in this subject is particularly pleasing and defies a state-wide trend of boys not achieving in humanities,” he said.
“In addition to Aidan, Darcy and Will are many boys who have achieved above expectations and deserve success. That achievements were in 19 subjects says much about the breadth of offering and the commitment of teachers, and I thank and congratulate them also.”
At a glance:
• Aidan Hammerschmid TAS Dux with 99.7
• Three boys with ATARs above 98, nine above 90
• TAS ranked 59th in NSW in English, and is the highest ranking school in this subject in the NE/NW for the third consecutive year
• Also for the third consecutive year, two TAS boys (Aidan Hammerschmid and William Howard) make the Premier’s All Round Achievers List
• Senior Prefect Darcy James second in NSW in History Extension and 19th in English Advanced
• Aidan Hammerschmid seventh in NSW in Business Studies
• 11 boys achieved 32 Band 6s in 15 subjects
• Six girls doing HSC subjects at TAS achieved Band 6 in four subjects
Click here to view full media release HSC 2013 Media Release.
