Fashion design and medicine are an unusual mix. But Lilian Zhu is confident she can forge a successful career in both. The Pymble Ladies' College student placed first in the state in Textiles and Design and hopes the swimwear from her main work will be the springboard for a thriving online store. "I've always been inspired by what history has meant for women," she said. ''I'm happy to see that the work I have put in is hopefully turning into a good future.''

DREAM COURSE

Tim Mason is well on his way to securing a spot in his dream course - combined medicine and medical science at the University of Sydney - which would later guarantee him a place in postgraduate medicine. The Barker College student beat more than 16,000 students to score first place in Biology. However, he is still nervous about finding out his ATAR results. ''I'm feeling pretty good about [it],'' he said. ''Hopefully I get the marks I need, it could go one way or the other.''

SMALL TOWN SUCCESS

Jack Skelton, from the small town of Gloucester on the state's mid north coast, travelled more than three hours on Tuesday to be awarded top of Information Technology at a ceremony for students who scored the highest marks in individual subjects. He hopes to study software engineering at the University of NSW. ''I'm pretty ecstatic,'' he said. ''I'm from a small town so I'm not really used to anything like this.''

Lara Pearce and Amy McNeilage