Keep in mind that only the highest and lowest Assessment Marks are adjusted to precisely equal the highest and lowest Examination Marks respectively. The Assessment Marks for other ranks will likely not be identical to their equivalent Examination Marks, although they will be similar. Consider the following example from NESA:
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In the case of the student ranked second, the second-highest Examination Mark was 80, whereas the Moderated Assessment Mark for the student ranked second was 77.
If the top 5 students in a cohort do not sit the HSC exam for a particular subject, the cohort may be negatively impacted because it is likely that those 5 students are academically capable, hence the standard for that cohort are lowered. In such a case, the student ranked 6th will have a higher chance of receiving the highest Examination Mark since it is likely that they are the best performing student after the top 5. However, the Examination Mark received by that student will likely be lower than the Examination Mark that the student ranked first would have achieved had they sat the HSC exam for that subject.