Whanganui High School maths students get strong results in Cambridge exams
Whanganui High School (WHS) students have aced their Cambridge mathematics exams, with a 100 per cent pass rate for the Year 11s who took part, a 93 per cent pass rate for the Year 12s and a 100 per cent pass rate for the Year 13s.
Cambridge mathematics is one of the international exams and programmes administered by the Cambridge University Exam Board.
The curriculum is designed to incorporate a wider range of mathematical topics than those NCEA covers, with exams recognised worldwide.
Year 13 student Victor Xie got an A+ grade on his exam.
“They had a small proposal and they said it was more maths, and I was like, ‘Oh yeah, I like maths, I can do more maths’,” he said.
Xie thought the overall high marks by the students were surprising considering the difficulties posed by Covid-19 throughout the year.
Fellow student Phillip Dale said the good results were a relief after an intense year of work.
“Considering how intense the year was, it was relieving that it actually accumulated to something,” he said.
Ria Sinha was thankful for the teachers in the programme, who helped a lot with students getting a handle on the topics.
“The syllabus was well-handled and we didn’t feel stressed out throughout the year,” she said.
WHS’s Cambridge school co-ordinator Ravi Prasad said the results were very impressive for the school.
Year 13 Cambridge tutor Christopher Burrows said the purpose of the programme was to prepare the students for university.
“It sets them up for the way exams happen at university - it’s more about percentage and a grade based on that, rather than a standards-based assessment,” he said.
Both tutors also said many of the students were looking to go into careers in fields like engineering, which taking part in the programme helped prepare them for.
One of those students was Jack Johnson, who graduated from WHS last year and was now about to start a degree in engineering.
He said he was inspired to do the programme by the teachers.
“By carrying it through all the years, it’s given me more understanding that will be able to help me be prepared for university maths,” he said.