It has cost the school more than $100,000.

Anyone who has graduated from high school knows just how difficult Year 12 can be. Not only are there countless assignments, but you've also got to spend the entire year studying for your final exams. 

It can be pretty challenging to motivate yourself, especially when it's all too easy to spend the weekend binge-watching your favourite series instead of studying (this writer is guilty). 

Well, it looks like a Western Sydney high school has, uh, figured out a way to help students stay motivated throughout Year 12. 

As reported by The Daily Telegraph, Auburn's Al-Faisal College gave 212 high achieving students a cheque for $500 for each HSC subject they scored more than 90 percent in last year. 

Yeah, how's that for an incentive? 

The policy has reportedly cost the school more than a whopping $100,000. 

Interestingly, while the school was ranked 54th in the HSC league table back in 2017, they've now jumped to 23rd. (Look, I would have tried a lot harder in Year 12 too if I knew I could get $500.)

According to Yahoo Finance, one student even received more than $3,000 in rewards from the school in 2019 and has gone on to study medicine at the University of Sydney. 

At this stage, it's not entirely clear where the money for the cash-for-marks scheme is coming from, but the school raised around $5 million a year in parent fees in 2018, according to MySchool data. 

Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan told The Daily Telegraph that he would move to formally legislate against the policy if it used taxpayer dollars. 

A NESA spokeswoman also told the publication that there was nothing illegal with paying the students. 

Well, it's certainly nice to be rewarded for all that hard work. 

Header Image: AMC