Top of the class
NZ’s best schools
An all-girls school has topped a national ranking of New Zealand schools based on academic and cultural achievement.
The ranking, by private tutoring firm Crimson Consulting, is based on academic achievements from 2019 — before Covid-19 — in Cambridge, International Baccalaureate, University Entrance, and Scholarship exams.
The aim of the rankings was to measure the ability of Kiwi schools to prepare students for places at top universities in the United States and Britain, Crimson founder Jamie Beaton said.
Importance was also placed on cultural diversity, arts and sporting options. The number of students accepted into top universities around the globe was also measured.
This year private Auckland school St Cuthbert’s College topped the list. Girls enrolled in Year 13 were rated the top achievers — up from the third spot last year.
Principal Justine Mahon said teachers continued to encourage every one of the 1444 girls enrolled from year 0 to 13 to achieve their personal best and acknowledged this was different for each student.
“St Cuthbert’s College is very proud of our girls’ outstanding successes, particularly against the backdrop of the uncertainty created by the Covid-19 pandemic last year,” Mahon said.
“Students need to be happy and have self-belief to be successful, and we are very focused on developing every dimension of our girls to support them to really thrive.”
The other all-girl schools in the top 10 included Diocesan School for Girls, Baradene College in Auckland and Rangi Ruru Girls in Christchurch.
Beaton, who is Auckland-born and Oxford University-educated, said Crimson’s Top 50 was in its third year, and schools were increasingly seeing it as a good benchmark.
“We have had an increase in the interest from schools and last year saw
more schools send in information about their diversity and cultural achievements.”
Beaton said top universities such as Harvard and Stanford, which are in the US, were increasingly looking to recruit from New Zealand.
“These top universities are always looking to improve their diversity and increase the international cohort,” he said. “They love taking Kiwis.”
The recent rankings are not adjusted for students’ socioeconomic backgrounds, so nine out of the top 10 are either private or state-integrated schools.
The only state school in New Zealand to make the top 10 was Macleans College in Howick. It has more international students on its roll than any other state school in the country.
Last year Macleans, which is led by principal Steven Hargreaves, was ranked sixth.
This year it ranked fifth, with its annual donation set at $590 for a Year 7-13 student. It was placed ahead of Diocesan, which charges annual fees for a Year 7-13 student of about $25,000.
In comparison, St Cuthbert’s senior fees are set at $49,920 a year, with an extra $17,000 for students who board.
Beaton said Macleans College had a “phenomenal reputation for turning out top students”.
“Harvard came visiting in New Zealand a couple of years ago and they called into Macleans,” Beaton said. “For a few years now the dux at Macleans College has been accepted into Harvard.”
Last year, the top-ranking school was the little-known private school Auckland International College.
This year the school, which is made up mainly of international students, fell to seventh place.
Beaton put this down to a drop in the roll at the school.
Co-educational schools on Auckland’s North Shore, Pinehurst and Kristin, took out the second and third spots on the Crimson list.
Pinehurst rose to second from its fifth-place spot last year and Kristin rose one place to third.
In September this year, Linda Tang, from Pinehurst, will make her way to Britain’s Cambridge University to study medicine.
“It is a remarkable achievement because there are very few places offered in medicine,” Beaton said.
Pinehurst had gained some topachieving students from Westlake Boys High School, which dropped Cambridge Exams in 2015, he said.
Another Ivy-League-bound student from the top 10 schools was Sophie Pye, from Rangi Ruru.
With support from her school and Crimson, Sophie secured offers to Harvard, Princeton, UNC (University of North Carolina) at Chapel Hill, and USC (University of Southern California) with a dean’s scholarship.
The head student was also a top rower and is currently studying agricultural innovation, environmental management and business management at the University of Otago.