Gaining an Excellence endorsement for NCEA is challenging enough. This group of scholars, however, has raised the bar by achieving more than double the number of excellence credits required.
To pass Level 1 NCEA a student must gain a minimum of 80 credits across all their subjects. If 50 or more of those are gained at an "Excellence" level, then NZQA will award the certificate with an excellence endorsement.
To acknowledge this achievement, the school has for many years awarded a scholar's tie to those working at this level (McGlashan awarded more than 30 of these for 2016 Level 1 students - see article and photo in this issue) However, as student achievement continued to increase at the college, we had to find other ways to acknowledge those at the very top.
In 2013 we instigated the "100 Club" for students who gained 100 or more excellence credits. Many boys have taken this as a challenge and are now even pushing these limits. Of particular note are Ben Mitchell (161 excellence credits) and Ben Wishart (152 excellence credits) - that's more than three times what is required for an Excellence Endorsement! Perhaps we need to consider an even more exclusive academic club?
Well done to all boys who achieved their own personal bests in last year's exams - collectively you have put the college at the very top of academic achievement, not just within the city, but across the country.
See also "200 Club Recipients", "Scholar's Tie Recipients" and "IB Top Scholars", in this issue.