Nathaniel Mafi was not planning to take computer science at high school – but the 16-year-old has now topped the world in the subject.
The ACG Tauranga student earned an Outstanding Cambridge Learner Award by gaining Top in the World for Computer Science. He also gained a Top in New Zealand mark for Spanish in the Cambridge International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) exams.
Nathaniel is one of three Tauranga college students who ranked highly in the exams. Tauranga Boys’ College student Tasman Struthers earned a Top in New Zealand mark at IGCSE level, and Sukhmani Dhillon, also from ACG Tauranga, earned a Top in New Zealand mark at the AS Level.
“I wasn’t initially going to take computer science as a subject, but my other choices clashed in the school timetable, computer science appealed to me, and obviously it turned out okay,” Nathaniel said.
Nathaniel also achieved five A* grades at IGCSE and an A at AS Level.
“Achieving top in the world was quite a big surprise, but I was super proud of the result,” Nathaniel told the Bay of Plenty Times.
More than two million students across 10,000 schools worldwide sat the exams.
Nathaniel said he worked “quite hard” to achieve the results he did.
“I think the main thing for getting those marks was that it required quite a lot of dedication.”
He said he studied most days for the “majority” of the year.
“For computer science, I mainly used flashcards, and went over past papers, and Spanish was mostly the same, but I changed my phone and computer language to Spanish.”
Nathaniel said he also listened to Spanish music and attempted telling his teachers jokes in Spanish.
“It was quite difficult to maintain study throughout the whole year, but the main thing was staying dedicated, my work ethic and endurance.”
In the second half of the year, Nathaniel was diagnosed with cluster headaches, which he said was a “fairly big” challenge.
“It is about the worst headache a person can have, and they did really affect my study. I even had some during a couple of my exams.
“But I knew that there was an end in sight, so that helped keep me motivated.”
ACG Tauranga principal Thea Kilian said she was “incredibly proud” of her students’ achievements across all levels of the 2025 Cambridge examinations.
“Our best-ever AS Level results, alongside Top in the World and Top in New Zealand awards, reflect both the dedication of our students and the quality of teaching across our school.”
Kilian said Nathaniel was a quiet student but had a “get on with it” attitude.
“I think when you work with students, it’s all about personalised success and who the student is.”
Kilian said when Nathaniel arrived at ACG, she knew he had “incredible potential”.
“He is an incredibly hard worker. He’s very consistent, but he keeps a low profile. He keeps his head down, and he just gets on with it.”
She said at ACG, it was fundamental that students wanted to see others succeed.
“Yes, healthy competition, we compete a little bit, we push a little bit, we jostle a bit. But at the end of the day, everybody is proud.”
Kilian said she was most impressed by the way Nathaniel navigated his work throughout the year, noting his determination and resilience in managing the challenges he faced.
“That has made me the proudest of him. I’m more proud of that than of the awards. I think the awards are a cherry on top.”
The Cambridge International pathway is an alternative secondary school qualification offered at many New Zealand high schools.
It is seen as a more traditional learning structure, using external exams rather than incorporating internal assessments for marking achievement.
International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) exams are the first stage of the Cambridge system and are completed by Year 11 students after two years of study.
This year, 122 Kiwi students earned 143 Outstanding Cambridge Learner Awards for their 2025 results.
Kaitlyn Morrell is a journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has lived in the region for several years and studied journalism at Massey University.