The 12-year-old year 6 student from Orange Public School sat the University of NSW's English competition for schools and gained the top mark in NSW and the ACT.

For her achievement, Xanthe has been invited to a ceremony in Sydney to receive a medal.

Typically, students who receive high distinction are in the top 1 per cent of all results.

Xanthe said while the test enabled her to practise in a test environment, it also helped her reading, one of her daily pastimes.

"I really like learning what words mean, and unusual words," she said.

It was the first time the test was conducted online, which Xanthe said was an improvement on the old paper system, where students coloured in a circle for A,B,C or D next to the question number.

"If you missed a question or wrote the wrong one, it was easier to mess it up," she said.

The university's International Competitions and Assessments for Schools program is now run globally.

Debbie Smith, who has been organising the ICAS exams at OPS for the past decade, said none of her previous students had won a medal and discussions with colleagues had revealed similar scenarios.

"She's amazing really," she said.

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