Three local students from two schools have been named as Premier Scholars following the release of the NZQA Scholarship results last week.
Saint Kentigern College’s Andrew Chen and friend Daniel Mar were named as Premier Scholars while Macleans College announced Yang Fan Yun was also named a Premier Scholar. Only 11 were named nationwide.
Saint Kentigern is the only school this year with two Premier Scholars. The awards recognise secondary school academic excellence of the highest order
Andrew, who featured in the Times last week after achieving the maximum score in the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma examinations, has also been accepted for a place at Oxford University.
Whilst Andrew studied towards the IB Diploma, Daniel undertook NCEA. Both boys also sat NZQA Scholarship exams in seven subjects, remarkably gaining sholarships in all seven, with each gaining four classed at ‘outstanding’ level.
However, the 14 Scholarships between them this year aren’t the sum total.
Both students have punched above their weight in scholarship exams; in Andrew’s case sitting these exams since Year 11 and amassing a total of 13 Scholarships, whilst Daniel has been awarded a total of 10 Scholarships over the last two years – that’s 23 scholarships between them.
In addition, Andrew was named as the Top Subject Scholar in the country for Statistics – the second time he has topped this subject. He also achieved the top possible mark of 45/45 for his IB Diploma, one of only five students in New Zealand to do so.
Andrew has represented New Zealand for three years at the International Mathematics Olympiad.
These two have been friends since starting Saint Kentigern, with shared interests in robotics and premier debating. Both were college prefects.
Yang Fan has a long list of academic achievements and extra-curricular participation and attainment to his name. He held a number of student leadership roles within Macleans College including house and school prefect.
Yang Fan completed a number of university mathematic papers – all with A grades. In 2018 he was selected to represent New Zealand at the Biology Olympiad and travelled to Tanzania and Malawi to undertake a two-week long research expedition.
He was also selected to represent New Zealand at the International Economics Olympiad in Moscow and attained a Gold medal. He was awarded the special prize for achieving the highest mark in the entire Olympiad for the Economics section. This achievement placed Yang Fan amongst the top economics students in the world.
Yang Fan is a talented student of commerce. In 2018 he was part of a team that placed 3rd at New Zealand’s Monetary Policy Challenge in Wellington, and 2nd in the National Schools Business Case Competition.
Yang Fan was a cellist in the Macleans College Symphony Orchestra and Sinfonietta Orchestra and sang in the Men of Macleans Choir.
He is also a talented orator and debater. In 2018 he earned the trophy for overall best speaker of the Auckland region and was part of the winning team at the New Zealand Schools Debating Championships in Wellington. He is a member of the Howick Youth Council.
Meanwhile, another St Kents student won NZQA recognition. Christopher Dirks was named as Top Subject Scholar for Visual Design and Communication. Christopher was only Year 11 last year when he took on the Scholarship paper more usually intended for students in Year 13. Not only did he pass as a Year 11 but he was awarded the top mark in the whole country.
