Primary school friends the perfect study pairing

September 3, 2026 — 4:00amThese VCE stars are proof that when it comes to acing year 12, two heads really can be better than one.Clarence Antonmeryl and Dinith Premaratne turned their friendship into an academic advantage, studying side-by-side, challenging each other and finishing with identical scores: perfect ATARs of 99.95.Clarence Antonmeryl (left) and Dinith Premaratne were students at Haileybury.They even landed in the same bachelor of science degree at the University of Melbourne with Chancellor’s scholarships, knocking back offers from US campuses.But while their paths are remarkably similar, they say it’s their differences – comparing approaches, filling each other’s knowledge gaps – that has helped them shine.“We really supported each other through the VCE – we’ve known each other since year 4,” says Clarence, now 18. “We would constantly build upon each other’s work and understanding and I think that really helped make us better learners.”Sometimes they disagreed, and that was the point.“We argued a lot about approaches, such as the best way to solve a problem in maths methods, but it optimised our learning,” says Dinith, also 18. “We didn’t focus on comparing marks with each other either, and rather just on trying to build each other up.”The duo were among a record 65,586 students to complete their VCE in 2025, a 3500 rise from the year before. As a new crop of students prepare to sit their exams, VCAA boss Andrew Smith is encouraging students to support each other.“It is a stressful time because you want to do your best; you want to make sure you put your best foot forward,” he says. “Talk to people about how you’re feeling, about how they are feeling. There are others who’ve been through this who can give you good advice. Those are all things that, to be honest, I wish I had thought about when I was doing my HSC.”VCAA chief executive Andrew Smith.For Dinith and Clarence, it was part of a wider school culture at Haileybury. “We always saw each other as one cohort, so whenever one of us did well, we’d say it was a win for all of us,” Clarence says.Their collaboration continued outside school, with Zoom calls before SACs (school-assessed coursework) to brainstorm possible questions and “push each other’s understanding to the limit”.An iMessage group with nine of their peers provided both light relief and extra study support.When VCE results began arriving in December last year, the chat was buzzing. “We were congratulating each other on results, and were genuinely happy for each other,” Dinith says.Study right, not all nightSurviving year 12 doesn’t have to involve spending every waking hour with your head in the books.The study buddies embarked on their final year armed with a strategy that included taking four subjects instead of five to ease the load.Clarence studied specialist maths, physics, English and French, after ticking off algorithmics and maths methods in year 11. “We gave ourselves more downtime by doing four subjects, so in our spare periods we would go on walks with a group, or play chess or some sport,” he says.Dinith adds: “It’s important to not see downtime as your enemy because as they say, quality over quantity. It helped keep our minds sharp, and stopped us from burning out.”They regularly reviewed each other’s work and taught each other new material in their shared subjects, such as more advanced grammatical structures in French.Dinith studied English, French, specialist maths and chemistry in year 12, and maths methods and accounting the year before.He says injecting a sense of fun into their studies was also helpful.They would discover idioms in English that translated into French, turn content into games, listen to French music and devise their own maths quizzes with classmates.“There’s that phrase that if you enjoy what you do, you don’t work a day in your life, and that’s true too of studying,” Clarence says.Top exam tipsWhen asked for their best exam advice by other students, there’s one thing that tops the list: start early.Frankston High School graduate Blake Alford-Ryan juggled many things during his final year of school.Clarence and Dinith took a systematic approach to their exam preparation, including using the study design as a checklist to consolidate their learning, doing practice exams under timed conditions, reading examiner’s reports and putting on examiner’s hats where they could.“By starting the practice exams early, you really cement your understanding,” Dinith says.“The key is to plan ahead to avoid stress and panic.”Before an exam, he would spend about a week reviewing his mistakes, keeping a running list so he didn’t make the same errors twice.The pair did practice exams until the second-last day, particularly in subjects like maths, so the content remained fresh.Then came the clincher: they stopped. ″⁣On the last day before the exam, it’s all about getting into that exam mode, sleeping for nine to 10 hours and just being hydrated, eating well, and being relaxed,” Clarence says.Dinith agrees being mentally prepared is just as important as knowing the content, after sacrificing sleep to study during year 11.“In a content-heavy subject like accounting, I tended to go to sleep at 1am and then get up at 4am or 5am on the day of the SAC,” he recalls. “But I found that not only was I less focused and jittery, but I also tended to get more sick during year 11.”By year 12, he had changed tack, prioritising sleep, downtime, planning and consistency.Juggling study and a start-upFrankston High School graduate Blake Alford-Ryan had more on his plate than the average student in year 12.On top of his studies, the school captain was leading uniform reform, campaigning for solar panels, collecting leadership awards, hitting the gym ... and building a media agency.But surprisingly, the VCE top performer believes his packed schedule didn’t hurt his studies – they enhanced them.“It’s a little bit different but for me, I managed stress in the VCE by working on my business,” he says. “It allowed my brain to switch off study mode.”The VCE Leadership Award 2025 recipient was recognised for his “strong commitment to student voice, leadership and meaningful change”. He was accepted into his dream course, a bachelor of law at Swinburne University but has recently deferred to run the brand agency Habits of the Few.The 19-year-old says he is also a big believer in the value of teamwork, whether it’s during the VCE or in the world of business.He intentionally sought students who were more advanced in subjects such as English so he could learn from them, and benefited from lunchtime group study sessions.“If you can collaborate with other people, you get perspectives that you would not have [otherwise],” he says.From our partners