Outstanding Cambridge Learner Awards see NZ students continue to raise the bar

Hamilton Boys' High School's winners of Outstanding Cambridge Learner Awards are (from left): Alex Liu, Michael Lin, Thomas Ter Beek and Harry O'Rourke.

After more than 10 years of the Outstanding Cambridge Learner Awards in New Zealand, students around the country keep raising the bar for academic excellence alongside tens of thousands of their global peers.

Encompassing the two examination series held in June and November 2022, this year, 104 stand-out New Zealand secondary school students from 20 schools received Outstanding Cambridge Learner Awards.

Together, these exceptional students have received 126 awards across 51 subjects, including 24 Top in World and 50 Top in New Zealand awards (for those who came first in a given subject among either all global students or their peers in New Zealand), and 48 High Achievement awards, which recognise their high performance in subjects that are less widely taken in New Zealand.

All of the awards recognise the achievements of New Zealand students who took Cambridge IGCSE and Cambridge International AS and A Levels in the June and November 2022 exam series. Alex Liu, Michael Lin, Harry O’Rourke and Thomas Ter Beek from Hamilton Boys’ High School are among them.

Alex has received Top in New Zealand for Cambridge International AS Level physics and Best Across Four Cambridge International AS Level subjects in the June exams.

Michael has received High Achievements for Cambridge International AS Level biology and chemistry and A Level physics.

Harry has received Top in New Zealand for Cambridge IGCSE economics.

Thomas has received Top in New Zealand for Cambridge International AS Level language and literature in English.

Several students have excelled in multiple subjects:

● Best Across Three Cambridge International A Level subjects – Ryaan Sidhu, Auckland Grammar School. Ryaan was previously Best Across Four Cambridge International AS Level subjects in the 2022 Outstanding Cambridge Learner Awards.

● Best Across Four Cambridge International AS Level subjects in the June exams – Alex Liu, Hamilton Boys’ High School. Alex previously achieved Top in the World in Cambridge IGCSE co-ordinated sciences in 2022, a double award.

● Best Across Four Cambridge International AS Level subjects in the November exams – Jessica Liu, ACG Sunderland.

● Best Across Five Cambridge IGCSE subjects – Charlotte Stokes, ACG Parnell College. Charlotte is also receiving two Top in the World awards (Spanish and history) and a Top in New Zealand award (co-ordinated sciences, a double award).

The success of the current crop of Cambridge International students includes awards but reaches even further, with several being propelled by their academic achievements into some of the world’s foremost universities. Rangimarie (Mari) Puttick, the 2022 dux and deputy head girl of ACG Parnell College, received High Achievement for Cambridge International A Level Spanish and has been accepted to study at the University of Cambridge. Mari’s twin sister Caragh Puttick, ACG Parnell College’s head prefect in 2022, has been admitted to another prestigious United Kingdom university, St Andrew’s.

The students were celebrated at an event at Eden Park in Auckland. Previous pandemic restrictions meant this is the first awards ceremony to be held as an in-person event in three years.

Kanjna Paranthaman, Southeast Asia and Pacific regional director for Cambridge International, says all Cambridge International learners and teachers have shown astonishing fortitude during a volatile past three years, and returning to an awards gathering without restrictions feels all the more special.

Following the worldwide November 2022 exam series, in January 2023, more than 73,500 students received their Cambridge International AS and A Level, Cambridge AICE and Cambridge International Project Qualification results, and more than 91,000 students received their Cambridge IGCSE and O Level results. Cambridge International has awarded grades to students in 132 countries.