St Brigid’s College year 11 student Ethan Jolley studied year 12 outdoor and environmental studies this year and received a study score of 50 – the highest students can get.

Ethan was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in June and had to received chemotherapy every two weeks.

He said he was proud of his achievement.

“At the start of the year I set myself a goal – I wanted to get above 40,” he said.

“I studied really hard before every assessment and made sure I knew the content well.”

Ethan said his hard work had paid off.

“I was extremely shocked to receive a 50,” he said.

“I thought there must be a mistake and called my teacher to check.”

Ethan was diagnosed with stage two Hodgkin's lymphoma.

He said he had to have six months of chemotherapy, which he received every two weeks.

“I was lucky that the exam fell in a week where I had more energy,” he said.

Ethan said while regular chemotherapy was difficult, it ensured he devoted more time to his studies.

“For me, my life was school and chemotherapy,” he said.

“I couldn’t do much else because I couldn’t risk getting an infection, so I actually had more time to study.

“I was only away from school every second Friday and I worked my study habits around the treatment.

“Because of the chemotherapy there were some weeks when I was fine to do school work but other weeks I would have no energy and just have to sit on the couch.”

Ethan said the phrase he liked to live by was ‘you can achieve anything in the world if you put your mind to it – no matter what challenges you face’.

He has now finished chemotherapy and will received his final test results next month.

He is hopeful they will be positive.

“I’m feeling pretty much back to normal now,” he said.

“My tests results, that were done half way through the treatment, were positive.”

St Brigid’s College outdoor and environmental studies teacher Cameron Pickering said he was exceptionally proud of Ethan and what he achieved.

“Regardless of the results, I was pleased with his dedication and commitment throughout the year, especially considering his illness,” he said.

“For any student to get a 50 is an amazing feat, but for Ethan it was phenomenal.

“He was an extremely hard worker and this is icing on the cake.”

Mr Pickering said 50 per cent of the exam mark went towards the study score.

He said he knew Ethan would go well, but he never expected him to get a perfect score.

“You never know how the students are going to go on the exam, you don’t know what questions will be on there and how they will cope on the day,” he said.

“It was also Ethan’s first time sitting a year 12 exam, but he hadn’t dropped a mark all year.”

Ethan hopes to join the Australian Defence Force after he leaves school.