Once again, Wellington College has performed with great distinction in the 2009 New Zealand Scholarship Awards.
The NZ Scholarship examinations represent the pinnacle of academic success for secondary school students. Since the current system was revamped in 2005, Wellington College has won more scholarships than any other school in the country. We are delighted to announce that in 2009, Wellington College students once again performed with spectacular achievement.
• Overall, Wellington College gained 107 Scholarships. Anecdotally, it would appear that we are one of the two top schools in the country, the other being St Cuthbert’s College of Auckland.
• Of those 107 Scholarships, 24 were Outstanding Scholar Awards. In essence, this means that the recipients were in the .03% of candidates in that subject cohort.
• Two of our students, Jack Dunn (5 Outstanding Scholar Awards in Chemistry, Physics, Statistics, Calculus and History) and Stewart Marshall (4 Outstanding Scholar Awards in Calculus, Statistics, Accounting and Economics), were two of the eight Premier Scholarship Award winners in the whole of the country. These highly prestigious awards carry a monetary award of $30,000 over three years of tertiary study. A third candidate, Andrew McIndoe, fulfilled the basic criteria required for a Premier Scholarship Award (3 Outstanding Scholar Awards in English, Latin, Classics and a Scholarship in History), but was one of five students who just missed the cut as only 8 Premier Awards were made.
• Four students were named as Top Subject Award Winners:
Andrew McIndoe (Latin), Stewart Marshall (Calculus), Bowen Liu (Economics) and Taylor Hughson (Media Studies).
Scholarships were won in no fewer than 20 different subjects: English, French, Latin, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Agriculture and Horticulture, Statistics, Calculus, Accounting, Art History, Media Studies, Music, Painting, Design, Geography, Economics, History, Classical Studies and Physical Education.
• 53 different student won Scholarships. This is an extraordinary number for what is designed to be an elite academic examination. It demonstrates clearly that clear vision, an inclusive approach, dedicated teaching and rigorous preparation by students can produce stellar results.
These results are testimony to the reality that large numbers of our students are able to achieve at the elite level by specific target-setting, determination and inspired teaching.