Examination Results

Academic Excellence

Preparing for Academic Excellence - The Junior School:

In form 3 and 4, boys are rigorously prepared for the senior school. All boys take courses in English, Maths, Science and Social Studies, as well as experiencing a range of Technology and Arts subjects (including Music). They follow a Physical Education course, and study a language of their choice. For those with an aptitude, two languages are offered. In doing this we have taken many aspects of the 2010 NZ curriculum and have integrated them to enhance our current programmes.

NCEA and Cambridge International Examinations:

We are proud to be able to offer Westlake boys two pathways to academic success. All students have the opportunity to take a very wide range of courses in Forms 5, 6 and 7 leading to NCEA qualifications. These are the New Zealand national qualifications, and performing well in them will allow access to universities in New Zealand or overseas.

If a boy is placed in the top 40% of our boys at the end of Form 4, he has the chance to follow, if he wishes, the Cambridge pathway. Cambridge International Examinations are based in the UK – they are linked to the University of Cambridge – and are taken by thousands of schools all over the world, as well as by many of the top schools in the UK and NZ. They follow the British model of qualifications – IGCSE, AS Level and A Level, taken in Form 5, 6 and 7. Performing well in these examinations will, as is the case
with NCEA, allow access to universities in New Zealand and overseas.

We call these options our ‘dual pathway’. Every year, a number of our boys receive ‘Top in the World’ or ‘Top in New Zealand’ awards in the Cambridge examinations, and we were delighted to see that many of our boys had their NCEA qualifications endorsed with either ‘Excellence’ or ‘Merit’ in 2007 and 2008, the first time these endorsements had been available. Our overall pass rates are also exceptional in both NCEA and Cambridge examinations, evidence that our ‘dual pathway’ offers two clear routes to success.

For the full range of courses available in both pathways, please refer to the tabs above, or pages 5 – 7 of the Prospectus.

Scholarship:

Our boys have the opportunity to sit the New Zealand Scholarship examinations in their last year at school. Scholarships can be awarded in most subjects, and we encourage our boys to enter them. The awards offer the greatest challenge available to school students in New Zealand, and carry with them money to help finance their years in university.

Each year, a number of our top students are awarded ‘Outstanding Scholarships’. Indeed, in 2008, two of our boys received
‘Premier Scholar’ awards, placing them in the ‘Top Ten’ performers nationwide. We are confident even more will do so in the
future. This is testimony to our outstanding academic programmes and our ability to ensure our academics achieve the best
results possible.