Academic Excellence
Toi Wānanga
At St Andrew’s College, academic excellence is built with intention. Strong outcomes grow from excellent teaching, clear expectations, individual support, and a school culture that encourages students to aim high and keep improving. From the Preparatory School through to the Secondary School, students develop the knowledge, habits, and confidence to achieve well, not through pressure alone, but through purposeful learning and steady academic growth over time.
Our academic results (as of 1 May 2026)
Of students gained NCEA at Level 1 in 2025
St Andrew's College Boys = 97.5%
St Andew's College Girls = 99%
Boys' Schools Canterbury = 85.5%
Girls' Schools Canterbury = 81.6%
Of students gained NCEA at Level 2 in 2025
St Andrew's College Boys = 100%
St Andew's College Girls = 100%
Boys' Schools Canterbury = 88.5%
Girls' Schools Canterbury = 90.4%
Of students gained NCEA at Level 3 in 2025
St Andrew's College Boys = 99.2%
St Andew's College Girls = 97.5%
Boys' Schools Canterbury = 88%
Girls' Schools Canterbury = 93.5%
Students received an Excellence endorsement in 2025
Of students gained University Entrance in 2025
St Andrew's College Boys = 94.7%
St Andew's College Girls = 91.3%
Boys' Schools Canterbury = 70.1%
Girls' Schools Canterbury = 81.4%
NZQA Scholarships awarded in 2025
Achievement begins with strong foundations
Academic strength at St Andrew’s is built from the earliest years. Students develop clear foundations in literacy, numeracy, and learning habits that support later success, with teaching that helps them understand not only what they are learning, but how to learn well.
By the time students move into the Secondary School, they are building on years of deliberate preparation. That continuity allows academic growth to develop steadily and gives students increasing confidence as their learning becomes more complex and more independent.
Strong outcomes for girls and boys
St Andrew’s academic results matter not only because they are strong overall, but because they show students across the College achieving highly. The latest NCEA results confirm that girls and boys both perform strongly here, reflecting a learning culture that combines ambition, support, and consistency.
For families looking closely at outcomes, that matters. It shows that St Andrew’s delivers academic strength in a co-educational environment where students are expected to aim high and are supported to do so.
Progress that surpasses expectations
Academic excellence at St Andrew’s is measured not only through final grades, but through the progress students make over time. Each year, students who achieve the strongest value-added gains in their NCEA results, based on independent data from the Centre for Assessment and Monitoring at the University of Canterbury, are recognised in assembly.
Nearly half of the 2026 Year 12 cohort exceeded expectations, achieving up to one-and-a-half grades above predicted levels. These gains reflect the combined impact of student effort, excellent teaching, and academic support, and show a school culture where students are consistently growing beyond expectation.
Excellent teaching, informed by evidence
Strong outcomes are built by teachers who combine subject expertise with a clear understanding of how students learn. At St Andrew’s, teaching is informed by research, supported by data, and shaped by relationships that help students build confidence, ask questions, and take the next step in their learning.
The College’s value-added gains provide further evidence of this approach in practice. Academic growth here is not accidental. It is supported by high expectations, targeted support, and teaching that helps students move beyond where they were predicted to finish.
Preparing students for a changing qualification landscape
New Zealand’s secondary qualification system is entering a period of significant change, with NCEA Level 1 being removed from 2028 and a new Foundational Award introduced at Year 11. At St Andrew’s, we are responding thoughtfully to these changes, with a continued focus on strong foundations, academic rigour, and clear preparation for senior learning.
From 2028, Year 11 students at St Andrew’s will have the opportunity to undertake selected International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) courses, offered through Cambridge International Examinations, as an additional option alongside the national changes.
This internationally recognised qualification provides academic challenge, a clear benchmark of achievement, and strong preparation for the new Year 12–13 qualification framework.
For families, this reflects St Andrew’s commitment to ensuring students are both challenged and supported, and that their learning remains purposeful, aspirational, and well aligned to future pathways.
Intellectual ambition in many forms
Academic excellence at St Andrew’s extends well beyond NCEA. Students are recognised in a wide range of competitions, extension programmes, and academic challenges, including ICAS, Future Problem Solving, Australian Mathematics Competition, Cantamath, DELF, Science Badges, Olympiads, debating, speech, and creative writing.
This breadth matters because it reflects a school culture where curiosity, discipline, and intellectual confidence are encouraged in many forms, and where students are challenged to pursue their strengths with seriousness and purpose.
A strong foundation for what comes next
Academic outcomes matter because they open pathways, to further study, to opportunity, and to future direction. But at St Andrew’s, the value of academic excellence is wider than that. It also lies in helping students leave with confidence in their own ability, the discipline to keep learning, and the maturity to take their next steps with purpose.
The College’s strong attainment data, combined with clear evidence of value-added growth, shows that students are not only achieving well, but building the habits and confidence that will serve them well in what comes next.
At St Andrew’s, academic excellence is not only reflected in results, but in the confidence, discipline, and growth that prepare students for what comes next.
Where people belong, grow
and flourish.
Life is Co-ed
Our Vision and Spirit
Our Schools
Our People