The 17-year-old from Wagga High will sit for his trial exams in two weeks' time.

"I'm not overly stressed for it. The HSC is all about ranking so if you put the effort in you'll get the results no matter what's changing around you," he said.

"Everything is a little uncomfortable and different at school. It's hard to socialise in class and at lunch, we have to keep everything distant.

"It's not what I hoped for when I thought about finishing school."

If he had the year to do over again, there is one thing he would definitely focus as much time on as possible.

"We've missed out on a lot of school sports, we just can't participate in anything [due to the virus]," James said.

"I wanted to pretty much get into as much sport as I could. Anything really, it's social and it's stress-relief."

The pandemic has not affected James' post-school plans. He is hoping to complete his degree in mechatronic engineering at the University of Wollongong.

For Josiah Gray, the situation is slightly different. The 17-year-old Kildare Catholic College student has had to hold off his post-graduation plans as a result of the pandemic.

"I'm going to take a gap year next year and do some year 13 stuff or find a casual job," he said.

"I wasn't planning to do that but, after all that's happened, I've decided that's the best thing to do."

Josiah had planned to join the Australian Defence Force, but the uncertainty over the pandemic meant that he missed some key dates.

"There were a few delays and I haven't been able to do the test yet," he said.

"They only do intake in January so I wouldn't make the cut off now."

While job prospects remain a scarcity as a result of the economic downturn, Josiah admits his immediate future has him feeling nervous.

"Travel isn't on the cards but, if I can't find a job [in Wagga], I'll spend time with relatives in Sydney and see what I can do there," he said.

"I was feeling better that everything was dying down a little, but now after what's happened [in Victoria] I'm just hoping it won't have a detrimental effect on everything here."