A Hunter principal believes sending students their Higher School Certificate results and Australian Tertiary Admission Rank on the same day may compromise their feelings of achievement.
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For the first time, the NSW Education Standards Authority and the Universities Admissions Centre will send students their HSC results and ATAR respectively on the same day, December 17.
Students will receive their HSC results from 6am and their ATARs from 1pm on Tuesday.
In previous years, ATARs landed at least 24 hours after HSC results.
St Joseph's Lochinvar principal Patricia Hales said for students who wanted to study at university, receiving their ATAR on the same day as their HSC results would save them anxiety and the uncertainty that came with putting their marks into an ATAR calculator, which could inaccurately inflate or deflate their expectations.
But she said less than 30 per cent of year 12 students used their ATAR to go directly from school to university.
Others received early offers - a system Mrs Hales supports - enrolled in pathway programs, or were interviewed for places.
"In the past we celebrated HSC results regardless of future pathways," Mrs Hales said.
"We'd talk about the HSC being an internationally recognised credential, a signal that you completed 13 years of schooling, demonstrated tenacity and resilience and that it could be used for a variety of pathways," she said.
"They were focused on their results in each subject, they'd look at marks and the band description and say 'Okay, I did really well in Legal Studies, could have done better in English', it was limited to their HSC performance.
"Now the student goes 'Okay, got it, but am I getting into my law course?'
"For the students not necessarily wanting an ATAR I think there will be a loss of sense of achievement around achieving the HSC and their results - everyone will be talking about the ATAR, not the HSC.
"For them, the HSC is going to be lost in all the hype around the ATAR."
Most schools tell students to do their best and that their future will not be determined by a singular number.
Mrs Hales said separating HSC results and ATARs "almost stressed the differential between those results - and this [new practice] does not".
Meanwhile Catholic Schools Office acting director Gerard Mowbray said he applauded the same day release.
"While the move to increase the proportion of early offers to university is certainly a very positive move, there is still significant anxiety around the receipt of HSC results and the subsequent ATARs," Mr Mowbray said.
"This seriously lessens the waiting game students have to endure. This is a great step in the interests of student wellbeing."
A spokesperson for UAC said the same day release was a "good outcome".
It said it wanted to make sure students had enough time to finalise their preferences for the main round of univesity offers to year 12 leavers, on Monday 23 December.
"The change of preference date for this round is midnight on Thursday 19 December, so if we'd released ATARs on the day after the HSC - as we've traditionally done - applicants would only have one day to get their results, do their research, and change their preferences."