Mt Barker school makes the top 25

Mt Barker Community College has proved country students can contend with the best when it was named in the top 25 WA Certificate of Education schools in the State.

Despite having only 58 Year 12 students last year and with fewer than half doing Australian Tertiary Admission Rank courses, the college placed 24th of WACE schools and 20th in the top median ATAR scores.

It was also ranked the top regional school in WA. WA College of Agriculture in Denmark followed close behind in 26th and St Joseph's College came in at 41 in the top WACE schools and 29th in the top median ATAR schools.

Mt Barker principal Andrew Fraser said the college and the Mt Barker community were thrilled with the result and credited the success to the support of the community and to the resourcefulness of the school's programs.

"It's very exciting news for our college, and our students have done very well by being represented in the top 50," he said.

"This year's group was a pretty talented group we identified them quite early to ensure we supported them to achieve their best.

"Because we are a small school, we are unable to offer all the subjects, but through video conferencing with our partner schools - North Albany, Albany, Katanning and Denmark - we can work together to offer more subjects throughout all the schools."

Individual Mt Barker students also shone when school dux John Hitchins was awarded a Certificate of Distinction for English for being in the top 0.5 per cent in WACE English and a Certificate of Commendation for obtaining at least 20 A grades in subjects over the past three years of secondary school.

John, who received an ATAR score of 99.1, was home-schooled with his twin James until they were of Year 10 age.

Certificates of commendations were also awarded to Albany Senior High School's school dux Sarah den Boer, vocational dux Lorissa Ferrell and Danielle Vermulerum, Great Southern Grammar's Charlotte MacInnes and Denae Ruland and St Joseph's College's Sarah Jaboury.

Sarah was also awarded a Certificate of Distinction for English and Lorissa received a Certificate of Distinction (VET) for Community Services for being in the top 0.5 per cent of students who completed an Australian Qualification Framework Certificate II or higher.