Do not underestimate their efforts, principals say about class of 2023

This is a cohort that missed on-site learning for the bulk of years nine and 10, jumping straight into VCE and the now-branded Vocational Major studies.

St Patrick's College principal Steven O'Connor said he was enormously proud of the efforts of all young men in year 12 at his school, having to rebuild study habits.

"Like a lot of kids coming through the COVID-19 pandemic, getting a routine has been an adjustment for them," Mr O'Connor said.

"These are great results. This was our first lot of boys doing the Vocational Major. We have quite a broad range of students - we're really inclusive in enrolments - and supporting each boy through that is rewarding."

The class of 2023 statewide had 39 students achieve the highest possible Australian Tertiary Admission Rank of 99.95. This included Ballarat Clarendon College student Zakariah Alansari, who was in Iran when results were released on Monday, December 11.

There were 22,192 unique subject combinations used in ATAR calculations. The most popular, used by 283 students, featured English, biology, health and human development, general mathematics and psychology.

Results included students who did not receive an ATAR, such as those studying the VCE Vocational Major or electing an unscored VCE.

Ballarat Clarendon College, which long has a history as one of the highest ranking schools in the state, had almost 70 per cent of its year 12 cohort achieve an ATAR higher than 90 and 19 students ranking higher than 99. Seventeen students woke up to find they had achieved perfect study scores of 50.

Retiring College principal David Shepherd said the overall results for this year's cohort was an example of achieving excellence, the continued pursuit of improvement and a commitment to ensuring students were guided to make progress in their learning.

Mr Shepherd also said VCE scores were not everything: "school life, with its rich variety of opportunities for personal growth, cannot be represented by a single figure".

Ballarat High School assistant principal Sharon Eppingstall said High's cohort had "exceeded expectations" with an average study score of 29.5 and this was testament to the hard work of students and teachers.

Schools such as Phoenix P-12 Community College and Woodmans Hill Secondary College both increased their median study scores.

Woodmans Hill principal Stephan Fields said his school's average study score of 30 "says a lot about what you can get from your local state school." The school was established in 2019 and had less than 30 year 12s in 2023 but each year was growing.

All Vocational Major students were going on to an apprenticeship or full-time work.

"We believe our students can achieve anything if they work hard, if they take on the feedback and if they can believe in themselves," Mr Fields said.

Ballarat Grammar also has a record number of graduating students set to take up apprenticeships. About 50 per cent of Grammar's VCE students achieved an ATAR higher than 80.

Grammar headmaster Adam Heath said for all students to achieve at this level was exceptional.

"It is clear that those independent study skills they have had to develop whilst learning from home for those years has really come to the fore now," Mr Heath said.

"They have really benefitted from the incredible work of their teachers, but they had also had to go away and manage their own workloads. They have done that at the next level I think, which is why these results were so strong."