Two Tauranga Intermediate students have claimed the top marks in an Australasian mathematics competition.
Ga-Eun (Julie) Bae, 12, and Jun Min (Jason) Hong, 13, each got 100 per cent in the 40-question International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS) mathematics test, also known as the University of New South Wales mathematics test, earlier this term.
Almost 40,000 students from Year 7 and Year 8 took part in the competition from New Zealand and the Pacific and Ga-Eun and Jun Min both ranked top of their respective year groups.
They said they had to study hard to achieve their results.
"I do a lot of extra study. I go to after-school maths classes twice a week for two hours then I also get 30 minutes to an hour of maths homework every night," Ga-Eun said.
She found parts of the New South Wales test easy and struggled with some, particularly where she was not sure of what an English word meant, but persevered and got all the questions right.
Although obviously good at maths, Ga-Eun said physical education was her favourite subject.
She did not know what she wanted to do when she grew up, but thought she might enjoy being a veterinarian as she liked animals.
Ga-Eun moved to Tauranga last year, where she spent six months at Greenpark School. She will be returning to Korea next week, although she said she did not want to leave.
"My teacher here was really good, and I like the technology and stuff. I like the rock climbing wall here as well."
Jun Min said he honed his maths skills with the educational board games he played as a young child.
He also took two after-school maths classes a week and did the same amount of homework as Ga-Eun.
Jun Min said there were easy and hard parts to the test.
He has been in Tauranga since 2011 and also attended Greenpark School before coming to Tauranga Intermediate.
He enjoys being a student at the school because of the sporting facilities - his favourite subject - and the technology suite. Jenny Clark, assistant principal, said about 160 students from the school took part in the test and it was an unprecedented event to have two students getting the top score from one school. "It's a fantastic achievement."