Maitland students top the state in HSC courses

All Saints' College had two students excel in Drama, with Ryan Hodges coming third place and Arianwen Dastoor coming seventh.

Hunter Valley Grammar School had Taylah Percival come seventh place in Earth and Environmental Science, and Ronan Green come sixth place in Software Design and Development.

OneSchool Global NSW - Maitland, which offers classes onsite and remotely, had many students excel in the Financial Services Examination.

Taylor Earl came first place, Declan Thrush came second place, Jasmine Thrush came third place and Georgi Henderson, Fergus Noakes and Bracken Wallace came equal fourth place.

All Saints' student Ryan Hodges said he was surprised by his mark in Drama, which was 100.

"I think it made me feel confident that I didn't need to be so scared of my ATAR," he said.

"Even though I got early entry, I still wanted to try my hardest when it came to the HSC."

Ryan is the dux of the school at All Saints' and received a 98.1 ATAR. He plans on studying law at a university in Sydney.

Fellow All Saints' student Arianwen Dastoor said she was shocked by her results.

"Very happy of course and pleased," she said.

"I was in shock for most of the day, I couldn't really believe it."

Arianwen was also named on the all-round achiever merit list.

Hunter Valley Grammar School student Taylah Percival hadn't even considered she might top the state in a course.

"I was surprised about my ATAR, let alone coming seventh in the state... that wasn't even a consideration so getting it was a big shock," she said.

Taylah plans on studying advanced science at the University of Newcastle or conservation at the University of Sydney.

"I'm pretty excited, it's been nerve-racking moving on from school, but at the same time doing a degree that I love will make it a smooth transition," she said.

Fellow Hunter Valley Grammar School student Ronan Green received an ATAR of 99.50, one of the highest in the school's history.