Year 12 graduate Kristy Diakou has emerged as one of New South Wales’ highest-achieving students in the 2025 Higher School Certificate (HSC), recording an outstanding ATAR of 99.85 and multiple top-ranking subject results.
A student of Caringbah Selective High School, Kristy ranked first in NSW for Modern Greek Beginners with a perfect score of 100 and placed sixth in the state for Legal Studies, placing her among the state’s elite cohort of HSC achievers.
Reflecting on her results, Kristy said the moment was both overwhelming and affirming.
“Achieving those results felt surreal, but more than anything, it felt validating. It proved that the hard work and persistence were worth it,” she told The Greek Herald.
She said that studying Greek became one of the most meaningful aspects of her final year, explaining: “Choosing to study Greek was deeply personal. After feeling disconnected from my language and culture, learning Greek allowed me to reconnect with my heritage and gave my studies real meaning beyond marks.”
Alongside her academic commitments, Kristy volunteered at a local daycare, an experience she said provided balance and perspective throughout her final year of school.
Looking ahead, Kristy will begin a Bachelor of Accounting at the University of Technology Sydney, having secured the highly competitive UTS Co-Op Scholarship, which offers industry placements alongside academic study.
Her achievements come as almost 83,000 NSW students completed the HSC this year, with more than 20,000 students recognised as Distinguished Achievers across the state.
