Ms Macpherson, now 22, began her HSC studies like every other student. She completed Year 11 at Goulburn High School, studying Advanced English, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and the like.

Upon falling sick at the beginning of Year 12, she was unable to continue. "I was sick for quite a while and when I eventually got well I thought, I don't really want to go back to school after such a long break," Ms Macpherson told the Post.

Determined to pursue medicine, at 21 she enrolled in Goulburn TAFE's Tertiary Preparation Course (TPC), an accelerated adult learning program for those wanting an ATAR.

"I was able to do the whole Certificate 3 (Year 11 equivalent) and Certificate 4 (Year 12 equivalent) in 12 months. Even though I wasn't able to have a great deal of options as to what to pick and choose, subject-wise, it was still only six months for Year 12 and was a really good option for me," she said.

"Because I was slightly older I really didn't want to go back into that younger setting and a lot of the students completing TPC at TAFE were of a more mature variety. It fitted a lot better."

This month, TAFE has extended congratulations to Ms Macpherson for achieving an "outstanding" equivalent 99.95 ATAR.

With that, she's off to begin a double degree in Honours Law and Medical Science at Australian National University this month.

She wished to thank the TAFE teaching staff for their guidance throughout the course: specifically, Kerrie McQuaid and Leon Williamson.

"There's no 'you must do this' at the TAFE, they are on a much more friendly adult learning base. It's more like you are talking to a friend or mentor than an actual teacher. They treat you like an adult and whether you are 16 or older they treat you the same."