St Paul’s 2015 graduate Hugo Brown was presented with a Premier Scholarship Award by Education Minister Hekia Parata and Prime Minister John Key on Thursday 5 May at the Top Scholars Award Ceremony held at Parliament House in Wellington.
Hugo was one of only nine recipients to be presented with the award for success in the 2015 New Zealand Scholarship exams.
To qualify for the award students must pass five or more New Zealand Scholarship examinations, three of which must have an ‘outstanding’ endorsement. Recipients must also place within the top ten of one or more subjects.
Hugo surpassed this requirement passing eight New Zealand Scholarship examinations, five of which were credited with ‘outstanding’ endorsements. He also placed second in New Zealand in Earth and Space Science.
Peter Hampton, Deputy Headmaster of St Paul’s Collegiate School, said only three per cent of Year 13 students pass Scholarship examinations and that less than 0.3 per cent receive an outstanding endorsement.
“The complexity of New Zealand Scholarship examinations far outweighs NCEA Level 3 (Year 13). Students who gain a pass or an outstanding endorsement are considered to be the very top students in New Zealand,” Mr Hampton said.
As well as receiving the Premier Scholarship Award for his 2015 New Zealand Scholarship successes, Hugo will also receive $10,000 towards the first three years of his undergraduate degree.
In 2014, as a Year 12 student, Hugo completed both NCEA Levels 2 and 3 with Excellence endorsements. In the same year he also passed three New Zealand Scholarship examinations, one with an ‘outstanding’ endorsement.
In 2015, he graduated from St Paul’s as Dux of the School and with a $50,000 scholarship offer to the University of Auckland where he is currently studying engineering.
