Macleans pair win prizes of $30,000

Caroline Di Jiang

Tom Wang says he's "quite lucky", while Caroline Di Jiang insists she loves studying. It's a little bit of modesty from two of the brightest young people in the country.

The Macleans College students are two of eight winners of the top NCEA scholarship prizes - worth $30,000 each over the next three years.

But Macleans' proud announcement may have stolen the Qualifications Authority's thunder.

The authority usually announces the winners at a prize-giving ceremony in April and this week it refused to reveal the other premier scholars.

The authority said there was still a "reviews and reconsideration" process to go through and the eligibility of all the scholars needed to be double-checked. While that could mean more students win the top prize, it is highly unlikely to mean any will miss out.

And the lack of official endorsement won't dampen Tom's and Caroline's spirits.

Both received "outstanding" grades in calculus, statistics and chemistry. Tom also passed physics scholarship and Caroline passed biology. They both hope to study for a biomedics degree with plans to study medicine at the University of Auckland.

"We are supporting each other - and a little bit of competition is always good," said Caroline. The 16-year-old said staff at Macleans and her supportive family had helped her achieve the results.

And although she admitted there always had to be some free time, Caroline said she rarely needed to escape.

"I love studying," she said.

The award caps off quite a year for Tom, 17, who also sat Cambridge International Exams and got top marks in the world in A-level physics and further mathematics.

"We pretty much had to study for it ourselves because of sitting Cambridge as well," he said. "Scholarship is a level up so we really had to push ourselves."

The Qualifications Authority said the number winning the top award could go up from eight.

There are five levels of awards for scholarship students, ranging from a one-off prize of $500 for more than 1500 students who passed a scholarship exam, up to $30,000 for three years' study for students who passed four with at least three ranked as outstanding.

Byron Bentley, Macleans College principal, said students at his school had won almost $130,000 in scholarships.

"We foster achievement at all levels of college life in cultural, sport and academic studies," he said.

"We are delighted for the students and for the college."