So basically what you are saying is even if i get 100% in the HSC mathematics exam, whether or not i get a state rank depends on how well the no. 1 person goes?
i was told state rankings were only from EXTERNAL HSC performance and if your raw mark is equal another person's they look at your assessment mark.
Last year for chemistry, around rank 5 to 20 got a HSC mark of 98. Though this was allinged, i would hazard a guess that alot of them got the same raw mark and their ranks were differentiated upon their internal performance