KEY POINTS:
Arkesh Patel has been a fixture on the stage at the Cambridge International Examination awards presentation for the past three years.
Last night, the 18-year-old from Westlake Boys High School spoke at the ceremony, held to present the top-achieving students in New Zealand with their awards.
The academic
achievements of 76 students were acknowledged at the Brilliance in New Zealand award ceremony held at Auckland Grammar School last night.
Thirty-seven achieved top marks in the world for their subjects. These students sat University of Cambridge International Examinations in November.
Arkesh was presented with a top-in-the-world award for A level Biology he scored 97 per cent.
This adds to his collection of four top-in-the-world awards over the previous two years.
Last night, Arkesh spoke on behalf of the prizewinners and said he enjoyed the rigorous and progressive nature of the qualification.
"I have had more academic success than I could have imagined under it."
Three other Westlake Boys students received top-in-the-world awards for A level subjects - Heath Vinicombe for economics, Thomas Elton for geography and Samuel Holmes for English.
The school's students also received one AS level and one IGCSE level top-in-the-world and six top-in-New Zealand awards.
Macleans College received 10 top-in-the-world awards, more than any New Zealand school has won.
The chairman of the Association of Cambridge Schools in New Zealand, Auckland Grammar headmaster John Morris, was also enthusiastic about the New Zealand results.
More top-in-the-world awards were awarded than the previous year, reflecting the larger number of students participating this year.
More than 50 New Zealand schools offer the qualification and Mr Morris said it showed Cambridge was no longer a peripheral player.
He said it was encouraging to see a range of schools achieving at a high level through Cambridge students from small Christian schools Carey College in Panmure and St Dominic's College as well as the independent Pinehurst School on the North Shore were among the top achievers.
Students from Wellington's Samuel Marsden Collegiate School, Wellington College, Christchurch Boys High School and Hamilton Boys High School also received awards.
Stephen Mackereth, a Year 11 student from King's College, stood out with top in the world in IGCSE biology, chemistry and English literature as well as top in the world in AS level mathematics, a qualification usually sat by Year 12 students.
He was also top in New Zealand in IGCSE physics and AS level Spanish language. King's College headmaster Roy Kelley said Stephen was one of the most talented students he had seen in his education career.
Westlake Boys High School has also achieved the best national scholarship results it has had in recent years.
Arkesh Patel and Heath Vinicombe found out on Wednesday that they had received Premier Awards.
These awards are presented to the top 10 students in the country, entitling each recipient to $10,000 a year for three years.
