The state's brightest young women have outshone their male classmates at the pinnacle of HSC achievement this year, taking home almost two-thirds of the top trophies.
At the prestigious First in Course ceremony on Tuesday, 67 girls and 38 boys were recognised for topping the state in at least one of their subjects.
News of their exceptional result was a welcome relief for the students, who will receive all their HSC marks on Wednesday morning with more than 76,000 other students.
While female students claimed more than their share of the top awards, the state's two most decorated students were male, each excelling in the classical languages and humanities.
The students came from 69 different schools, of which 34 were public and 35 private. It was a dead heat for the top place in five subjects, with dance being split between girls from three different schools, while five remarkable students received more than one award.
NSW Education Minister Adrian Piccoli said coming first in a subject was an "incredible achievement".
"You've really got to pay testament to those students but also the great work their teachers and schools do to support their work," he said.
The academically selective Fort Street High School came first in six subjects, largely owing to four appearances from language whiz Janek Drevikovsky, who also conquered a fifth course he studied with an outside tutor.
Sydney Grammar took out five honours and three went to both North Sydney Girls High School and Trinity Catholic College in Lismore.
While most of the high-level maths and science subjects went to graduates from competitive selective schools, students excelled from a number of comprehensive public schools including Doonside High School, St Ives High School and Plumpton High School.
Marcel Salloum, who was the school captain at Doonside High School in Sydney's western suburbs, recieved the top mark in Standard English.
"To be honest, I was just completely shocked," said the 18-year-old, who hopes to study law at university next year. "They called me but I didn't believe them at first. It was amazing to be honest. I just wanted to get a band 6 [above 90]."
The NSW Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards president, Tom Alegounarias, said on the whole this year's students did not receive higher marks than in previous years, which he said was a sign the qualification was in good shape.
"Variations in standards is actually a bad sign," he said. "It's a sign that we're marking differently – too hard or too little – because when you've got 75,000 kids chances are there will be an equal performance each year."
Students can access all their HSC marks from 6am Wednesday online or by SMS. The Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) is released on Thursday at 9am.
