Unlocking HSC Mathematics Excellence: Lessons from Sydney’s Top Schools

By Pascal Press I August 21, 2025

The Sydney Morning Herald's recent HSC analysis has revealed the secrets behind the state's top performing schools in Mathematics, and the results highlight strategies that every student can apply to their own studies. Schools such as James Ruse Agricultural High, North Sydney Boys, Balgowlah Boys and Reddam House dominated the leaderboards, but the real insight is how consistent practice, strategic preparation and syllabus focus make a measurable difference (Carroll & Gladstone, 2025).

At Pascal Press, we embed these same success factors into our popular Success One and Success One Topic-by-Topic Workbooks, making high-level HSC preparation accessible to all students.

What the Sydney Morning Herald Revealed

1. Consistent Mastery Across Levels: The Sydney Morning Herald analysis showed that the strongest schools achieve excellence across Mathematics Standard, Advanced and Extension courses. Their success comes from carefully structured study programs that build confidence and capability at every level (Carroll & Gladstone, 2025).

2. A Culture of Practice and Preparation: Top schools place strong emphasis on exam readiness. Students gain familiarity with question styles and marking expectations through repeated exposure to past HSC papers. This practice helps them manage time, refine their technique and reduce exam-day stress.

3. Alignment with the Syllabus: Schools that consistently perform well ensure their teaching and revision cover every dot point in the NESA syllabus. By leaving no gaps, students walk into the exam room with confidence.

How We're Bringing These Strategies to HSC Students Like You!

At Pascal Press, we've built our HSC resources around these proven methods:

✅ Success One Updated Edition includes the past 25 years of HSC Mathematics papers, for Mathematics Standard 2, Mathematics Advanced, and Mathematics Extension 1, with fully worked solutions and examiners comments, giving you the same type of practice that the top schools rely on.  
✅ Topic-by-Topic Workbooks break down the syllabus into manageable sections, allowing students to focus on weaker areas while ensuring complete coverage. Answers include mark allocations showing where points are awarded even in cases of carry over errors so that students can see exactly how markers give credit.
✅ Syllabus Alignment ensures every resource follows NESA requirements, so students revise with confidence knowing nothing has been missed.

These tools replicate the preparation strategies used in selective and independent schools but are designed for any student at any level to use at their own pace.

Set Yourself Up for HSC Success

The analysis makes it clear: top schools succeed in HSC Mathematics by combining practice, syllabus alignment and consistent preparation. With our Success one Updated Edition and Topic-by-Topic Workbooks, every student can adopt these strategies and work towards their own personal best.

Click here to explore our full range of Excel Success One and Topic-by-Topic workbooks today and get the results you want.

References

1. Carroll, L. and Gladstone, N. (2025) Revealed: The secrets behind Sydney’s top schools for HSC maths. Sydney Morning Herald, 12 August. Available at: https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/revealed-the-secrets-behind-sydney-s-top-schools-for-hsc-maths-20250812-p5mmdd.html