NSW:More students access HSC marks via text

AAP General News (Australia)
12-15-2010
NSW:More students access HSC marks via text

By Sarah Malik

SYDNEY, Dec 15 AAP - A record number of students sitting the Higher School Certificate
(HSC) accessed their results via text message.

Nearly 15,000 students pre-registered to receive their HSC results via mobile phone
at 6am (AEDT) on Wednesday morning, according to Education Minister Verity Firth.

It was 2500 more than the previous record set in 2007.

"There's amazing differences of ways you can now get your HSC results many of which
were adopted by students this morning," Ms Firth told reporters at Sydney's Dulwich Hill
High School of Visual Arts and Design.

"Those that received their results by SMS literally would have got an SMS first thing
in the morning.

One such student was Sydney Secondary College's Vanessa Dwyer, who counted down the
hours to the all-important beep on her phone on Wednesday morning.

"It took a while to get to sleep, I was counting down the hours," the 18-year-old told
AAP on Wednesday.

"I was really nervous before I opened the text message... but once I opened it I was
fine but it was a bit nerve racking obviously!"

Ms Dwyer said she received the text at 5.49 am (AEST) and was relieved to beat the
online rush for results.

"It saves me getting up and signing in (online)... because there are 71,000 people
doing it and logging on so I wouldn't have to wait to log on," she said.

"From previous experience with other things, it takes forever when there are a lot
people trying to log on."

Ms Dwyer said she was happy with her marks and hoped to study IT at university after
taking a gap year to do an American Field Service (AFS) exchange in Denmark.

"As soon as I opened it I was really happy and surprised," she said.

A record 71,000 students sat the exams in November with the results made available
online, and via text message and telephone on Wednesday.

Technology was at the forefront of the HSC results delivery as the majority of students
accessed their marks via the internet, with 48,016 students logging on by 9am (AEDT).

The most popular mobile devices used to access results were iPhones with 1351 students
using them to get their marks, followed by iPods, and iPads.

A small number of students even used Playstation consoles and Blackberry's to access their marks.

Meanwhile, students began an anxious wait for their Australian Tertiary Admission Rank
(ATAR) - the rank NSW and ACT universities use to select school leavers for their courses.

Students will be able to view their ATARs online from 9am (AEDT) on Thursday.

AAP sbm/tr/it

KEYWORD: HSC WRAP (PIX AVAILABLE)

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