“I believe there is too much of a focus on ATAR,” she said.

“It depends who you are and what you want, but I think people stress out too much about the score itself.”

Ms Don, 18, achieved an ATAR of 56.3 and hopes to study veterinary nursing at Wangaratta GoTAFE, which does not require a certain ATAR.

She said she was proud of what she was able to achieve in year 12 and throughout high school.

“I’m feeling really good,” she said.

“It was the aim of finishing year 12, for me, that was the achievement rather than aiming to reach a certain score.”

The Wodonga teenager, who graduated from Wodonga Secondary College, said she was relived to have finished VCE and was excited to have a gap year working before attending TAFE and starting her career.

Scots School principal Penny Mahy said HSC students should remember there were many pathways to success.

“It’s really important to keep a sense of perspective an ATAR is like an initial opening to one set of opportunities,” she said.

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Albury High School’s Darryl Ward said the end of HSC was a time to celebrate all the success of all students.

He said nine students achieved ATARs above 90 and about 14 students scored in the next decibel, while five students from a class tailored for people with a learning disability achieved their HSC. Mr Ward said it was an outstanding outcome that staff, students and parents should be proud.

Wodonga Senior Secondary College Cassandra Walters said they were proud of their students’ performance with a number of students receiving study scores in the 40s.

“Today’s results enable our students to make decisions about their next step in their pathway to their chosen career,” he said.

Catholic College Wodonga had five students achieved an ATAR over 90 while 21 per cent of students had an ATAR over 80.

While 11 per cent of Victory Lutheran College students received ATARs above 90.

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