2025 HSC Results and Personal Interest Project Awards

Society and Culture Awards HSC 2025 – Top 10 HSC
Place Student School
1 Prof Sol Encel Award Emma Mitsak Canterbury Girls High School
2 Heidi Bromley Naremburn School and Sydney Distance Education HS
3 Saira Jaslene Pillai Cherrybrook Technology High School
4 Amelia Beth Jones Cherrybrook Technology High School
5 Jiya Sood Cherrybrook Technology High School
6 Khuslen Batmandakh Merewether High School
7 Holly Arnold Barrenjoey High School
8 Jian Benge Merewether High School
9 Subanu Thiyakesan Merewether High School
10 Isabella Safiyyah Smith Merewether High School

Society and Culture Awards HSC 2025 – Top 10 HSC
Place Student School
1 Prof Sol Encel Award Emma Mitsak Canterbury Girls High School
2 Heidi Bromley Naremburn School and Sydney Distance Education HS
3 Saira Jaslene Pillai Cherrybrook Technology High School
4 Amelia Beth Jones Cherrybrook Technology High School
5 Jiya Sood Cherrybrook Technology High School
6 Khuslen Batmandakh Merewether High School
7 Holly Arnold Barrenjoey High School
8 Jian Benge Merewether High School
9 Subanu Thiyakesan Merewether High School
10 Isabella Safiyyah Smith Merewether High School

Distinction Personal Interest Projects
Student School PIP Title
Kayla Khoo North Sydney Girls HS Gen-derailed
Saira Jaslene Pillai Cherrybrook Technology HS You’re on Mute Feminism
Isobel Rose Redford Merewether HS Boys Don’t Cry
Carmen Lim Inner Sydney HS Asian First, Woman Second, Politician Third
Elyscia Barret St Andrews College (Quakers Road) The Pursuit of Fame
Suedaba Lalee Blacktown Girls HS The Reading Renaissance: How Feminist Transitions are Reshaping Romance in Literature
Sofia Serban Warners Bay HS “Multumim Din Inima Partidului” – From the Heart we Thank the Party
Emily Rose Merewether HS Not Uncommon, Just Unheard Of
Heidi Bromley Naremburn School and Sydney Distance Education HS Able or Label?
Gabriella Barbara Maria Hinshelwood Northern Beaches Secondary College, Freshwater Senior Campus Revolution Grrrl Style Now

2024 HSC Results and Personal Interest Project Awards

Society and Culture Awards HSC 2024 – Top 10 HSC
Place Student School
1st Prof Sol Encel Award Carla Florit Cuello Killara High School
2 Mia Tzannes Willoughby Girls High School
3 Veronica Ann Rollings-Longhurst Burwood Girls High School
4 Jera Stephens Ryde Secondary College
5 Lucy Finlayson Willoughby Girls High School
6 Sienna Assiouras Bethany College
7 Elisha Petelo Bethany College
8 Lyena Dang Cecil Hills High School
9 Harry Hunter Springwood High School
10 Ella Capolupo Freeman Catholic College

High Distinction Personal Interest Projects
Student School PIP Title
Rozana Eshghighadiri Dr Peg White Award North Sydney Girls High School WHOSE VOICE COUNTS?
Zahra Whitley Corpus Christi Catholic High School, Oak Flats Feminism in Full Colour
Poppy Cameron Central Coast Grammar BOGANISM IS THE NEW CLASSISM
Steffie Forrester Central Coast Grammar Wake up! A (neo) colonialism just dropped…it’s called ‘globalisation’? The echo-chamber of English language hegemony.
Ivy Mills Xavier Catholic College Ballina The Dangers of a Single Story
Matilda Barbarich Willoughby Girls High School Age, Age Go Away
Harry Hunter Springwood High School Oh, you’re female? Cancelled.
Sarah Jade McIlwain Merewether High School I Just Want to Feel Safe Going to a Doctor
Lyena Dang Cecil Hills High School Hook, Line and Sinker
Rebecca Everitt Engadine High School Kids of Capitalism
Madani Khan Elizabeth Macarthur High School Aussie Headlines and Hidden lines

Distinction Personal Interest Projects
Student School PIP Title
Rianna Bansal Clancy Catholic College Timeless traditions: Exploring Indian wedding extravagance.
Themelina Mihailou St Clare’s College Waverly An intergenerational investigation into the feminist evolution and cultural stagnation of migrant women.
Gloria Gauci Clancy Catholic College Empowerment sold separately
Justin Zaia St Narsai Assyrian College Article 19: A modern war of words.
Jascara Lingam Clancy Catholic College The Best of Both World?
Diantha Christie Abadi Willoughby Girls High School Preserve the Tradition Through Terror
Clara Yang Hornsby Girls High School Better Dead Than Co-ed?
Stela Lovrinovic Kaic Willoughby Girls High School Refugees aren’t the enemy. The media is.
Madeleine Grace Rex-Clarke Willoughby Girls High School Like; Save; Retweet.
Olivia Anderson Clancy Catholic College Blame, the Shame?

2023 HSC Results and Personal Interest Project Awards

Society and Culture Awards HSC 2023 – Top 10 HSC
Rank Student School
1st Prof Sol Encel Award Amberley Moffat Merewether High School
2nd Isabel Reid Burwood Girls High School
Equal 3rd Emma Ferguson Trinity Anglican College, Albury
Equal 3rd Annaliese Mustapic Kirrawee High School
Equal 5th Courtney Joubert St Francis Catholic College, Edmondson Park
Equal 5th Robert Ong All Saints Catholic School, Casula
7th Jaslyn Mackenzie Smiths Hill High School
8th Harry Cornford Merewether High School
9th Shaniya Lal St Andrews College, Marayong
Equal 10th Sophie Revis Cammeraygal High School, Crows Nest
Equal 10th Leah Blatchford Mount St Benedict College, Pennant Hills

High Distinction Personal Interest Projects
Student School PIP Title
Grace Lilia Ross Cleave Dr Peg White Award Cherrybrook Technology High School One for all, all for none
Hazel Hunt Central Coast Grammar School, Erina Heights The Power of the Voice
Lilli Campion Willoughby Girls High School That Girl
Emilie Tillman Willoughby Girls High School The Price of Patriarchy
Sarah Moss Willoughby Girls High School Gambling
Sara Kamada Willoughby Girls High School Damsel in a Wedding Dress
Sofia Johanna Luz Figueroa Merewether High School I am woman hear me roar
Annaliese Mustapic Kirrawee High School “Not Only to Represent, But to Inspire”
Tiana Martino Clancy Catholic College, West Hoxton Til debt do us part
Courtney Joubert St Francis Catholic College, Edmondson Park Like a Virgin
Zac Oscar Blades Killarney Heights High School INVISIBILITY
Emma Ferguson Trinity Anglican College, Albury Reviving the Radical Flame

Distinction Personal Interest Projects
Student School PIP Title
Paulina Winie Waskiw Merewether High School AssimiliAsian
Alanna Papic Clancy Catholic College, West Hoxton Too Radical to Rationalise
Anneliese Gramoglia Clancy Catholic College, West Hoxton The Failure of Feminism or The Triumph of Choice
Charlie Lund St Luke’s Grammar School, Dee Why Ecclesia
Jo’Anne Mujuru Clancy Catholic College, West Hoxton Black Bodies, White Gazes
Olivia Kate Collins Hunter School of Performing Arts, Broadmeadow Reading Between the Lines
Caitlin Blanch Peel High School, Tamworth “The only disability in life is a bad attitude”
Claudia Cole Northern Beaches Secondary College Freshwater Senior Campus Escaping Escapism
Kristine Zhang Willoughby Girls High School Projecting Prejudice
Robert Ong All Saints Catholic College, Casula Unravelling Masculinity
Leila Merrington Sydney Secondary College Blackwattle Bay Campus Indigenous vulnerability to climate change

2022 HSC Results and Personal Interest Project Awards

Top 10 HSC Course Ranks
Place Name School
1st  Sing Huey Ong
Prof Sol Encel Award		 Australian International School Malaysia
2nd Cassie Xiyu Cal North Sydney Girls HS
3rd Talon Woodward Central Coast Grammar School
4th Gabrielle Elizabeth Cant Penrith HS
5th Jessica O’Brien Willoughby Girls HS
6th Jasmine Tanazefti All Saints Catholic College, Liverpool
Equal 7th Charlie Hope-Parsons Northern Beaches, Freshwater
Equal 7th Yindi Schiphof Northern Beaches, Manly
Equal 7th Gabrielle Rose Woodger St Marys Senior HS
Equal 10th Phoebe Britten Central Coast Grammar School
Equal 10th Sophie Grant Roseville College

2022 High Distinction Personal Interest Projects
Jamila Escobar

Dr Peg White Award

 Clancy Catholic College The Space In Between
Grace Ryan Port Hacking HS That’s Not Very Ladylike!
Madeline Hagley Willoughby Girls HS Nasty Women: Western cultural narratives continue to stigmatise, mock and trivialise women’s anger, undermining their power and space in public discourse.
Stella Coppola Clancy Catholic College Single and Under Construction: An investigation into the socio-cultural construction of singleness.
Rhiannon Day Willoughby Girls HS Unkempt Women of Politics
Sameera Khan Clancy Catholic College Heroines don’t dream of heroes
Liam Hickey Clancy Catholic College If he can see it will he be it
Sophia Devine Merewether HS The Man-Made World
Eva Nyman Merewether HS Consumer Occulture
Juliette Allen Riverside Girls HS TikTok… Times Up for Internalised Misogyny!
Sophie Viol Roseville College “Where did you hear that, honey?”
Sri Kolluri North Sydney Girls HS Lights, Camera, Oppression

2022  Distinction Personal Interest Projects
Mikayla Foong Willoughby Girls HS The Perfect Distraction
Casey James Willoughby Girls HS ‘My apologies Mr Speaker’
Tianne Dsouza Clancy Catholic College Femme Fatale or the Fatality of Femininity
Talon Woodward Central Coast Grammar School Make Australia Great Again
Vani Nahar Merewether HS White Damsels in Distress
Nicole Oghostin Sangar Clancy Catholic College Queering Conventions or Transgressive Tokenism: An investigation into LGBTIQA+ relationships in contemporary television dramas and sitcoms.
Ariel Lin Elizabeth Macarthur HS  Unearthing the uterine family: the awakening of feminism in Taiwan
Paige Clifford Engadine HS ‘The Nu-Queer Family’
Nicole Wang Willoughby Girls HS Return of Yellow Peril
Josie Carroll Kildare Catholic College Power structures and institutions are inherently shaped to dismiss young voices in order to maintain the status quo.
Sophia Aspera Willoughby Girls HS The Mainstream Pill
Ella Osborne Merewether HS The Paralympics: A Story of Disempowerment?

 

In 2022, 12 High Distinctions and 12 Distinctions were awarded from 4,622 candidates.

The Dr Peg White Award is for the best PIP which focuses in intercultural communication.

The Prof Sol Encel Award is for First in the state in Society and Culture.

All Award recipients will have a certificate sent to their Schools Principals in recognition of their achievements. However, only Top 10 and High Distinction PIP recipients attend the SCA Awards Ceremony at State Library on 3 March 2023.

2021 HSC Results and Personal Interest Project Awards

Top 10 HSC Ranks
Place Name School
1 Sophie Loiselle
Prof Sol Encel Award		 Merewether High School
2 Radhika Warrier Elizabeth Macarthur HS
3 Yu Na Chung Willoughby Girls HS
4 Lucinda Johnston Lindfield Learning Village
5 Lalika Joya Blaser Byron Bay HS
5 Olivia Kelly All Saints’ Catholic School, Liverpool
7 Madison Tayla Fleming Cherrybrook Technology HS
8 Riya Rao Hurlstone Agricultural High School
9 Mia Giovannoni St Scholastica’s College, Glebe Point
10 Tabasum Dehsabzi Willoughby Girls HS

2021 High Distinction Personal Interest Projects
This is Australia. Speak English (Dr Peg White Award) Isabella Fung Hunter School of the Performing Arts
In business to change the world Yu Na Chung Willoughby Girls HS
A beginner’s guide on the word: ‘Feminist’ Jade Yee-Smith Willoughby Girls HS
The L Word Grace Bu Willoughby Girls HS
Born to buy Rosalie Wilson Trinity Catholic College Lismore
Blackfishing Kushi Leggo Willoughby Girls HS
R.I.P. Rest In Perpetuity Latisha Lightowler Clancy Catholic College
Queerbaiting is the hook that lures out the LGBTQI+ Crystal Wan Willoughby Girls HS
Feminism? In This Economy? Sophie Loiselle Merewether HS
The Real Housewives Olivia Kelly All Saints’ Catholic School
The Drover… and His Wife Lucinda Johnston Lindfield Learning Village

2021 Distinction Personal Interest Projects
My dress is not a yes India-Rose de Caires Willoughby Girls HS
Herstory or history Mariam Malko St. Narsai Assyrian Christian College
Teenage girls used by The Man Keira Bingham Willoughby Girls HS
Foreign at Home Tabasum Dehsabzi Willoughby Girls HS
“I’m Not Brave Enough for Politics” Henry Tredwell Cherrybrook Technology HS
Fake it till you make it Oscar Priestman Freshwater Senior Campus
Mindless masses: Everything wrong with the digital world Katya Ivkovic Willoughby Girls HS
F**k B**ches, Get Money’ Emily Vuong Cheltenham Girls HS
My Cultural-Life Crisis: The Zimbabwean’s Journey into the Feminist World Maita Mtandabari Engadine HS
Double Disempowerment Katelyn Kokokios Clancy Catholic College
Once Upon a Time…In Hollywood Kristen Farrugia Emmaus Catholic College
Knight In Not So Shining Armour Marco Cordi Clancy Catholic College
Not Cool Bro! Emily Anstice Central Coast Grammar
Delighting Your Imagination. Stripping Me of My Identity Alanah Maroun Catherine McAuley Westmead
Who am I? Where do I belong? Akari Hiramatsu Mena Barreto Mercy Catholic College

2020 HSC Results and Personal Interest Project Awards

Top 10 HSC Ranks
Place Name School
1 Hugh Service Hunters Hill High School
2 Ginger Maree Kaye Arena Northern Beaches Secondary College Mackellar Girls Campus
3 Claudia Blane Mercy Catholic College
4 Katelyn Williams Central Coast Grammar School
5 Heidi Finlayson Willoughby Girls High School
5 Mia Thom Byron Bay High School
7 Isabella Sophia Baker Northern Beaches Secondary College Mackellar Girls Campus
8 Flynn Broom Patrician Brothers’ College Blacktown
9 Stephanie Lee Hornsby Girls High School
10 Emma Young Belmont High School

High Distinction Personal Interest Projects
The making of the other (Peg White Award) Jessica Beutum Emanuel School
Racism and Representation through the Pigeonhole Flynn Poelmann Barrenjoey High School
Sign of the times Michelle Foerderer Willoughby Girls High School
And they’re still painting priviledge Simone Yaco St Narsai Assyrian Christian College
Saving or Serving- Voluntourism Madison Wilson Willoughby Girls High School
Big data meets big brother Sophie Ridley Willoughby Girls High School
Change the system not the climate Louis Valente Freshwater Senior Campus
In money we trust Kyoko Ichida-Griffin Macarthur Anglican School Cobbitty
News Media: The Guardian of Democracy the Elite. Harriette Burke Freshwater Senior Campus
Girls behind the games Jasleen Singh Macarthur Girls High School
Onnara She – Gendered language in Japan Molly Robinson Jindabyne Central School
A fair go in a country on fire Oscar Dow Blackwattle Bay Campus

Distinction Personal Interest Projects
Beyond the asian mystique Stephany Lu Willoughby Girls High School
All the news that’s fit to print Heidi Finlayson Willoughby Girls High School
You can’t say that Mandy-Lee Taitz Moriah College
Man of the house Sasha Evans Rorris Blackwattle Bay Campus
Out of Sight. Out of Mind- The Austalia Homeless crisis Allegra Nash Willoughby Girls High School
Ignorance is Bliss’ Bianca Dowd Bulli High School
Born on the Wrong Side of the 38th Parallel Alice Morgan Ryde Secondary College
Voluntourism Lucy Matthews Willoughby Girls High School
This raunch has no dressing Savannah Kopsias Willoughby Girls High School
Political Tribalism – Us Them Hugh Service Hunters Hill High School
Heels on a glass ceiling Samantha Naiman Moriah College
There is a fine line between liberation and titillation Lucinda Devereaux Willoughby Girls High School
Once upon a time in Bollywood Shanelle Anjaiya Clancy Catholic College
Decolonising the Patriarchy Mia Thom Byron Bay High School
Pride and Prejudice Kayla Christie Freshwater Senior Campus
Easy, Breezy, Beautiful, Covergirl. Stephanie Bosmans Clancy Catholic College