Coming from a classroom of three, Ella Sinclair had no concept of how her HSC results would stack up against the rest of the state.
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So when the NSW Education Standards Authority started blowing up the Blayney High School student's phone, she didn't know what was going on.
"I was in my sister's primary school presentation and NESA kept ringing me so I had to go outside," the class of 2025 graduate said.
The call was to inform Ella she'd finished tied for first in her food technology course across the entire state.
"It was a crazy, big shock," she said.
"It was just a fun subject. You get to cook and there's only three of us in the class having fun. It's kind of crazy that I topped it."
Ella was one of only a handful of students from regional NSW to receive a first in course for 2025, along with Orange High School's Milly Priest who finished atop the rankings for community and family studies.
The Blayney girl loved the opportunity to fly the flag for regional communities during an awards ceremony on December 17 honouring all first in course recipients.
"To be able to represent my school and the whole area is a massive accomplishment," she added.
"I'm very proud to represent rural people."
While eating delicious food was an added bonus, it wasn't the main reason Ella signed up for food tech in the first place.
She chose it with a goal in mind to study health degrees in university such as speech pathology, nutrition dietetics or occupational therapy.
"It's a big achievement and doesn't feel quite real," she added.
Overall, a first in course was recorded for 113 subjects, with 139 awards handed out in total to the 132 students.
NSW Education Standards Authority CEO Paul Martin said it was "always exciting" to see students celebrate their achievements.
"Topping an HSC course in the biggest state cohort is an incredible achievement," he added.
"Congratulations to all on this well-deserved achievement - your hard work has paid off, and a bright future awaits."
A record 73,000 HSC students will receive their HSC results by SMS, email and online from 6am on Thursday, December 18.
