One of St Andrew’s College’s most exceptional academics, Corin Simcock (Year 13 in 2022), has been named as one of the top 11 students in New Zealand, after winning a Premier Award in the 2022 NZQA Scholarship examinations.

Corin is one of only two South Island students to achieve this honour, after gaining an impressive seven New Zealand Scholarships overall, with three at Outstanding level in Calculus, Chemistry and Technology. He also gained four New Zealand Scholarships as a Year 12 student, in 2021. As a Premier Award winner, for three years of his tertiary studies he will receive an annual $10,000 scholarship.

This wasn’t the only success for St Andrew’s College at the highest level. Tom Edwards (Year 13 in 2022) won a Top Subject Scholar Award for receiving the top mark in New Zealand in Digital Technology. Overall, he gained seven Scholarships with two at Outstanding level.

Tom Edwards and two other former Year 13 students, Luke Zhu (eight Scholarships, one Outstanding), and Toby Harvie (seven Scholarships, one Outstanding) also gained Outstanding Scholar Awards, which placed them amongst the top 62 students in New Zealand.

The academic talents of the four boys were already well-recognised at St Andrew’s. In an unprecedented decision, three of them, Corin Simcock, Luke Zhu and Toby Harvie, were jointly awarded College DUX for 2022, when it was impossible to choose one based on their academic results. Tom Edwards was the Proxime Accessit. The boys are friends as well as academic rivals, and also gained global success in 2022 as one of three winners of the International Mathematical Modeling Competition.

Overall, it was a record-breaking year of achievement for St Andrew’s students in the New Zealand Scholarship examinations, with 33 students (including five in Year 12 and two in Year 11) achieving 76 Scholarships (12 at Outstanding level) between them.

Several other students gained multiple Scholarships, including Sarah Anthony with five Scholarships and was one of the 2022 Academic Captains.

Rector Christine Leighton says she is “incredibly proud” of the students’ achievements. This is the third time during the last 12 years that a St Andrew’s student has won a Premier Award.

“The Scholarship numbers have grown each year to the 76 Scholarships from the 2022 examinations by St Andrew’s students. This is a testament to the commitment and passion for learning of the students, and the expertise and dedication of the teaching staff at St Andrew’s College,” says Christine.