NZEST is the New Zealand Educational Scholarship Trust, which has been offering scholarships since 1991. The top 17 students overall who sit NZEST each year receive the prestigious National Scholarships, worth $1500 each.

This year, we congratulate James Little and Yr 12 student Richard Yu who gained this top honour.

The second tier of achievement (the top 50) receive Scholarships of $500. King’s students who attained this level include 2002 Dux Timothy Bond, Benjamin Pinkham and Marcus Roberts.

William Gunson achieved a notable ‘double’, finishing first in the country in two subjects - History of Art and Spanish. James Gibbs topped the country in Geography.

This continues a fine record for King’s in NZEST, with Abigail Fox being the top female in the country a year ago and Bevan Lye top overall in 2000.

NZEST is sadly due to cease its involvement with scholarship exams from the end of this year.
Linda Keith reports that three of our scholars received Auckland University scholarships (out of 34) in the first year they were awarded. Congratulations to Will Gunson, Eldon Takitimu, and Tim Bond. In addition, two Russell McVeagh law scholarships were awarded to Matt Binns and Sam Clearwater.


Exam Successes

Year 13:  University Entrance, Bursaries and Scholarships (UEBS)

Fifteen students scored total marks of over 400. Students who, in addition, gain three or more scholarships get their names on the Honours Board in King’s Great Hall.

Featuring on that Board this year are (total marks in brackets):

Ben Pinkham (454) 5 schols
Tim Bond (448) 5 schols
Hansoo Lee (441) 4 schols
Marcus Roberts (437) 4 schols
James Little (430) 4 schols
William Gunson (427) 3 schols
John Polkinghorne (426) 4 schols
Dickson Fung (425) 4 schols
Robert Griffiths (423) 3 schols
Nicola Florence (418) 3 schols
Peter Choi (416) 4 schols
Richard Yu 4 schols
Alastair Priestly 3 schols

Ben’s 454 was attained via 88 in Chemistry, 94 in Economics, 87 in Calculus, 92 in Statistics and 93 in Physics. A superb effort. Other notable marks in the "400+ Club" included James Gibbs (430), Arun Thavarajah (416), Sam Clearwater (416) and Tom McCowan (401)

Year 12:  Sixth Form Certificate (SFC) and Sixth Form External Exams (SFEE)

King’s awards Scholars’ Ties to those who score four or more grade 1s in SFC.
Five grade 1s were obtained by: John Christie, Andrew Collins, George Mitchell and Andrew Russell.

Four grade 1s were obtained by: David Hawkins, Andrew Kim and Mitchell Schauer.

Scholars’ Ties were also awarded to Chris Peacock, Martin Peat and Richard Yu.

In SFEE, we are pleased to report King’s scored the quinella in Physics - Taiki Yanagishima 1st with 97% and Andrew Russell 2nd with 95%. We also did exceptionally well in French. Andrew Collins’ 96% placed him 1st in NZ, and Richard Yu’s 92% was good enough for 3rd.


Green light given to Cambridge Exams, plus NCEA

From the beginning of this year, King’s will be offering a combination of the Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) and the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA), for Years 11, 12 and 13.

The Government decision to discontinue Bursary from the end of 2003 has been a key factor in the College’s decision.

In general, the CIE syllabuses provide more academic challenge than the NCEA, are largely externally assessed, provide better preparation for the tertiary institutions and are internationally recognised.

However, subjects such as Graphics, Technology, Media Studies, Art, and Accounting are not catered for adequately under CIE and therefore students taking these subjects are being encouraged to take them as part of the NCEA syllabus.

It’s felt that offering this combination will suit the needs of the great majority of our students and satisfy our philosophy of academic excellence and an all-round education.