Winners of the inaugural ACER Advance Awards for Schools

The ACER Advance Awards are available for students in years 7 to 9, with Literacy and Numeracy scores combined for a total award level. The competition is free for all schools and offers them a chance to showcase the achievement of their students, challenging them with high-order questions and problems where they can demonstrate their skills and knowledge.  

ACER’s Director of School and Early Childhood Education Services, Dr Jarrod Hingston, acknowledged the participation and performance of students, particularly considering the challenging nature of the competition. 

‘The Advance Awards are a unique opportunity for Australian schools and students to showcase critical thinking and problem-solving in literacy and numeracy. Congratulations to every student and school across the country who took part in the Awards,’ Dr Hingston said.  

‘Particular congratulations go to The Essington School in Northern Territory who impressively won two categories in the final tally.’ 

If your school would like to take part, registrations are now open for this year’s awards, held across Term 3.

Category winners 

There are three category winners across the schools, rewarding both the total number of awards, and the percentage of awards achieved by the entrants. The aim is to equally reward schools of all sizes. This year it is exciting to see The Essington School win across two categories, as well as Green Point Christian College and St Andrew’s College (Marayong) tie for ‘Highest total number of Distinctions and above’.  

Highest percentage of High Distinctions  

The Essington School, Northern Territory, 23% of entrants received a High Distinction 

Highest number of High Distinctions   

The Essington School, Northern Territory (3 x High Distinctions awarded) 

Highest total number of Distinctions and above  

Green Point Christian College, New South Wales (11 Distinctions) 

St Andrew's College, Marayong, New South Wales (10 x Distinctions, 1 x High Distinction) 

Participating schools 2023/24 

We want to celebrate all schools who took part in the Term 3 2023 and Term 1 2024 administration. Please see below a list of all schools, with the number of awards for Distinction and High Distinction noted against each school. 

New South Wales 

Brewarrina Christian School 

Corpus Christi Catholic College, Maroubra (3 x Distinctions) 

Green Point Christian College (11 Distinctions) 

Heritage College, Lake Macquarie (1 x High Distinction, 1 x Distinction) 

St Andrew's College, Marayong (10 x Distinctions, 1 x High Distinction) 

St Philip's Christian College (5 x Distinctions) 

Northern Territory 

The Essington School (3 x High Distinctions) 

Queensland  

Beenleigh State High School 

Brigidine College, Indooroopilly (1 x Distinction) 

Carmel College, Thornlands (1 x High Distinction, 1 x Distinction) 

St Eugene, Burpengary (2 x Distinctions) 

St Laurence's College (4 x Distinctions) 

South Australia 

St Joseph's School, Clare 

Tenison Woods College (5 x Distinctions) 

Tasmania 

MacKillop Catholic College, Mornington (4 x Distinctions) 

The competition will be running again in Term 3. Find out more and register your school here: www.acer.org/advance-awards-for-schools