Leading the charge was Benjamin Ford, who scored a Band 6 in Senior Science, the highest mark of the entire year.

With his place in a Biomedical Science degree at the University of New England already secured, his mood was buoyant but calm.

Fellow student Lewis Gooch scored a Band 6 in Ancient History and was palpably relieved.

“I was very anxious last night, so this is a major relief,” Lewis told the Guardian.

He plans to study Civil Engineering at Newcastle University next year.

For 18 year-old Sarah Orman results of Band 5s with one Band 4 were just what she needed to get into nutrition at Monash University.

“It feels wonderful to move out into the world, to be an adult - I’ve been waiting for this,” Sarah said.

Another high scorer was Renee Lindsell, whose hard work means she can follow her dreams of studying environmental science management at the University of New England.

And finally Timothy Daley was well pleased with his four Band 5s and one Band 4.

“It feels really good to have this all finished and to be able to move onto something else, something good,” Timothy said.

For him that will be surveying at Newcastle University.

School principal Simon McKinney said it was wonderful to see not only the exceptional individual achievements but also the good number of students who got good results.

“It’s an exciting time of year, these young people have everything ahead of them – and as a school we celebrate that,” Simon said.