Is It Cool to Keep Your Final School Marks a Secret From Friends and Partners?

Do you actually have to tell anyone your final school mark?

Final school marks are a touchy area. When you first get them, they can feel like the only thing that matters, but after a few weeks, months and then years, we tend to forget about this (sometimes traumatic) period in our lives.

But, what happens when a future friend or partner asks you about said mark and you're "forced" to disclose it?

That's what happened when one half of the Hamish & Andy team, not-Hamish (a.k.a. Andy Lee), joked (we hope?) that he refuses to propose to his girlfriend, Bec Harding, until she tells him her Equivalent National Tertiary Entrance Rank (ENTER) score. ENTER was replaced by Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) in 2010, except in Queensland where Overall Position (OP) is used.

"Bec has never told me her ENTER score, what she got when she finished Year 12," Andy explained on KIIS 101.1's Jase & PJ show.

"So, I said to her 'If you want to be proposed to, we can't have any secrets so the day you tell [your] ENTER score is the day I'll know you're ready.'

"She still hasn't told me [in two years] and she still laughs it off but I'm like 'No, I'm deadly serious, I will not do anything like that until I know your score.'"

While not all of us will relate, a lot of us felt like this (or will feel like this) upon seeing our final marks.

So, it's completely understandable that not-Hamish's girlfriend doesn't want to disclose that sort of triggering information. But, is it actually necessary to tell anyone who asks?

Short answer: No. Slightly longer answer: Only if you feel comfortable with telling them and they're not the sort-of jerk to tease you about it or compare their own (potentially higher) mark with yours.

But, what to do when someone actually does ask?

Step one: Divert the topic.

Step two: Act really coy and respond with snarky rhetorical questions like, 'Do people still care about those?'

Step three: Ask them what they got and then escape the situation when they ask for your response (a trip to the toilet is always classic).

You're welcome.

Remember, the only people who legitimately need to know your ATAR are the universities and colleges that actually require that information. You can keep everyone else guessing.

Header Image: Fox