The Geelong College’s Joseph Afford is ready to build a career in engineering after achieving a near-perfect ATAR.
The college dux woke up on 11 December to find a 99.8 ATAR result and a perfect study score of 50 in General Mathematics waiting for him.
Joseph also achieved study scores of 44 in English and Specialist Mathematics, along with a 32 in Latin.
Joseph said he was overwhelmed with his results and was looking to study engineering at Monash University.
“It was good, and I didn’t know how to feel when I first saw it (ATAR result),” he said.
“I looked at it a bit blankly, but it didn’t really hit me until my mum walked into the room, and she was very emotional.
“I was a bit surprised (with the General Mathematics result) because I know I made at least two mistakes on the exam, so I wasn’t expecting a 50, but it was a good surprise to get it.
“I want to study engineering as I love learning about how things work, like how planes fly and how cars move, so that, combined with maths and science, is just perfect for me.”
The Geelong College’s proxime accessit was Cate Robson, who achieved the school’s second-highest ATAR result of 99.35 and plans to study medicine next year.
Two other students achieved ATAR scores more than 99 – Sophie Robson with 99.3 and Xavier Blood with 99.25.
