With HSC results recently coming out, graduated students are now eagerly making plans for the year. Whether those plans include university, TAFE courses or apprenticeships, the HSC results and ATAR promise to play major impacts.
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While many will be comfortable in whatever comes next, there are those who might not have gotten the results they hoped for or needed for their initial plans. For those young people, Headspace had some important advice.
"Obviously, the HSC results don't define who you are and the lucky thing is there's numerous pathways. These days, there's more opportunities to do pathway courses and stuff like that," said Dylan Oliver, the clinical lead at the Griffith centre in NSW's Riverina.
He added there was a lot of pressure put on students to do exceptionally well at the HSC, but emphasised that they should feel proud no matter the number on the page.
"In regards to mental health - there's a lot of pressure that if you don't do well, your whole schooling career hasn't been a success," he said.
"Look at the pandemic. This is the first time that people have gone through this, they should be extremely proud of the results they got considering the circumstances."
While a good HSC mark can make getting into university easier, there are other alternatives that can prove beneficial.
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Mr Oliver said it was always worth calling a university and asking what other options were available, or if there were other factors you could submit in lieu of a few points.
"If you weren't successful in getting the marks you want, reach out to the university. There's no harm in asking."
Headspace also offers a work and study assistance program, offering aid with writing resumes or applications as well as help in identifying potential pathways.
"People can just call us up and say I'd like to access it. A lot of our young people, we refer them to it and all our feedback has been quite promising," Mr Oliver said.
Find your local Headspace here or if you need to speak to someone urgently, call Lifeline 13 11 14 or Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467.