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Top 50 Schools For Gaining Entry to Top Universities 20202020

In line with Crimson’s mission to bring transparency to the education journey for young Kiwis in helping them find the best possible path for their future trajectory, we have now launched our 2020 Top 50 New Zealand Schools for Gaining Entry into Top- Ranked Universities. This is the second year we have provided parents with unprecedented analysis into schooling options. Crimson brings its deep, idiosyncratic knowledge of the New Zealand schooling landscape serving tens of thousands of students nationwide across various ages, cities and backgrounds. We also bring extensive knowledge in NCEA, CIE and IB as well as world-leading experience supporting students Jamie Beaton on their pathway into top global universities like Stanford, MIT, Harvard and competitive Co-founder and CEO of Crimson Education domestic programs like Medicine. Above all, we aim to unveil a rigorous The world is getting smaller. By that, I barometer for a truly world class education mean pathways to top universities and on so that parents and students can access to prestigious careers are becoming more transparency, guidance and clarity when accessible and less abstract. Now in 2020, it is making high stakes decisions about which likely we know of someone who received an high school is right for them. athletic scholarship to compete at a college in the US, or of someone else who is pursuing While no one ranking captures everything, a masters in the UK. This presents us with a we have continued to apply our carefully problem though - how do we measure a school designed methodology in consideration of in New Zealand, based on its ability to prepare the characteristics sought out by the world’s students to seize these opportunities on offer leading universities like Harvard, Stanford and from top-ranked universities in the US and UK, other such institutions. and to go on to make an impact on the global Our rankings are also designed to support stage throughout their professional lives? These school administrators in helping them aspire are the outcomes parents are now weighing up towards characteristics for their institution and have aspirations for, when reviewing high schools for their children. I remember the confusing decision for my family when choosing a high school back in 2008. We had no concrete data to refer to. It “For students to really excel was very difficult to determine the academic “at school and gain admission standings of various schools and the ability to compare schools’ performance across NCEA, to top universities, they CIE and IB was not possible. Compared to many need highly customised countries like the US and China, parents in and holistic support from New Zealand are often left in the dark when it comes to school choice, frequently relying on academics to extracurricular anecdotes and insights from friends of friends. studies and leadership.” that are being consistently recognised by custom e-learning resources, and variable the world’s top universities. As such, we have workload, we draw attention to the ACG Group been delighted to support many schools in for their strong transition to delivering online understanding the sophisticated methodology learning through the COVID period. While it is underpinning the Crimson ranking in hard for any physical school to try and teach considerable detail since the rankings were online so rapidly, they have fared better than released and we look forward to helping more most. To succeed in online learning, a school schools build understanding as they form their needs: teachers specifically trained in online strategic plans and development goals. teaching, a comprehensive technology stack that supports diagnostics, interactive quizzes, In our 2020 rankings, I want to draw attention parent reporting, engagement tracking, to a few interesting trends. The first is attendance management, online proctoring International College. AIC isn’t as well known as and world-class teachers. My research at Oxford some of the classic schools in the New Zealand on online schooling suggests teacher quality circuit, but achieved 22 40+ IB scores in the is substantially more important than class size assessment year. While some of the top private and that parent engagement is even more schools invest heavily in marketing, we would important for online schools than brick-and- caution parents to critically analyze academic mortar schools. results to figure out what type of real academic results are being generated. While no ranking is perfect, our ranking combines more than 100 years of education A school that deserves praise is . experience across Crimson’s consulting team, Kristin went up from 11th to 4th place, driven by data science capabilities recognised by Excel 25+ 40 IB scores, more than triple St Cuthbert’s World Championships and is based on a College. Another school on the rise was St rigorous data-collection practice. We hope it Kents College which saw their UE rate grow can contribute to the nationwide discourse and from 89% to 92%. This growth, alongside other inspire the best in our incredibly talented young compelling achievements in NZQA scholarships, people. saw them rise from 27th to 7th overall this year. We also applaud Woodford House, a state- To sky high ambition and transformative integrated school that went from 29th to 12th education for New Zealanders, place this year with UE of 98% (from 94% last year). Woodford had a higher UE pass rate than virtually all of the highly regarded Auckland schools this year and deserves recognition for this incredible achievement. While we have generally heard of parents Jamie Beaton frustrated with the transitions to online learning with reports of technology glitches, Co-founder and CEO of Crimson Education lower quality engagement given the lack of About the Rankings

This year brings the second release of the Top 50 New Zealand Schools for Gaining Entry to Top Universities by university admissions and mentoring company, Crimson Education. To create this year’s list, schools were evaluated based on a review of secondary schools’ academic performance, extracurricular opportunities and equal access for students - three factors which contribute to students’ chances of gaining admission to, and thriving at, top universities around the world. The list draws on the experience of working with a global pool of top-performing students who year on year continue to secure admission to the world’s most competitive universities, including: Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, UChicago, Duke, Oxford, and Cambridge, among others.

New Zealand School Rankings Methodology

In order to review school performance with consistency, 2018 data was used, given there was an insufficient amount of 2019 data released at the time of the list’s creation. This follows the Crimson Top 50 New Zealand Schools rankings in 2019, which used solely 2017 data. Data was sourced based on a survey and publicly provided information through school websites. NZQA data was referenced, in order to verify.

Academic Performance Diversity, Equity & Process Extracurricular Activities

Academics (70%) Extracurricular Activities and Leadership (15%)

CIE alongside IB, NCEA and NZQA results This was considered to signify whether which are all weighed equally. Information students are being prepared for university accessed for the 2020 rankings included the achievement post-graduation. Options number of awards made publicly available ie like sports, performing arts & co-curricular via websites as well as government reports. activities as well as college admissions results were weighted equally. Ivy League + other top US university admissions results were considered because US universities take Diversity, Equity, Process (15%) extracurricular activities into account when admitting students. This examined the process of enrolling into school and processes within the school to drive good outcomes. Diversity in ethnicity was also Notes: considered, based on our belief that students Extracurricular Opportunities were only should learn within a diverse setting, which evaluated for schools that made the shortlist equips them to thrive on global campuses based on Academic Performance and like Harvard. Diversity, Equity & Process. School Rankings 2020

01 Auckland International College (6) 26 Queen Margaret College (8)

02 ACG Parnell College (2) 27 Wellington College (19)

03 St Cuthbert’s College (1) 28 Epsom Girls’ Grammar School (25)

04 Kristin School (11) 29 Westlake Girls’ High School (34)

05 (16) 30 St Paul’s Collegiate School (42)

06 (3) 31 St Mary’s College (Auckland) (15)

07 St Kentigern College (27) 32 (12)

08 St Andrew's College (26) 33 Chilton Saint James School (40)

09 Baradene College of the Sacred Heart (20) 34 Iona College (33)

10 Scots College (5) 35 (36)

11 Diocesan School For Girls (4) 36 St Peter’s School (Cambridge) (43)

12 Woodford House (29) 37 Hutt International Boys’ School (45)

13 (7) 38 (37)

14 Rangi Ruru Girls’ School (13) 39 (32)

15 St Peter’s College (Auckland) (14) 40 Mount Albert Grammar School (46)

16 Christ’s College (22) 41 Sancta Maria College (59)

17 (21) 42 Botany Downs Secondary College (49)

18 King’s College (18) 43 Wentworth College (44)

19 Samuel Marsden Collegiate School (9) 44 (39)

20 Lindisfarne College (24) 45 Napier Girls’ High School (51)

21 Wellington Girls’ College (30) 46 Hamilton Boys’ High School (50)

22 St Margaret’s College (10) 47 Marist College (48)

23 Carmel College (17) 48 (54)

24 Westlake Boys’ High School (23) 49 Kingsway School (38)

25 For Girls (28) 50 ACG Strathallan (47)

+ Numbers in the parentheses () represent the 2019 ranking of each school. Trends: Schools that improved School Rankings 2020 in the rankings

+ In the 2020 rankings the top ten schools + Kristin School went up from 11th to 4th place. include eight private schools, one state and They secured three outstanding scholarships one state integrated school. The top ten in and performed well with IB, with 25 results that 2019 were eight private schools and two state were 40+. schools. Private schools continue to dominate the top ten. + Baradene College of the Sacred Heart went up from 20th to 9th place. Despite Excellence + In the 2020 rankings top ten, two are single- dropping they went from 29 scholarships to 51, sex girls schools, one is a single-sex with 4 of those being outstanding scholarships. boys and the other seven are co-educational schools. In 2019 there were seven + St Andrew’s College went up from 26th to 8th single sex schools with five of them being place. Excellence went up from 24% to 30% girls’, three being boys’, and three with Three Outstanding / Premier Scholarship co-educational schools. Award Winners. Their scholarships went up from 23 with 3 being Outstanding to 40 with 13 + Of the Top 50 ranked schools, Napier Girls as Outstanding Scholarships. High School ranked #45 is a Decile 6 school, Sancta Maria College ranked #41 is a Decile 7, + St Kentigern College went up from 27th to 7th Mount ALbert Grammar ranked #40 is Decile place. Excellence went up 17% to 19%. Six IB 7, Hamilton Boys’ HIgh School ranked #46, scores were 40+. UE went up from 89% to 92% . Decile 7 and Marist College ranked #47 is Their Scholarships also went up from 35 with 8 Decile 7. All other Top 50 ranked schools are of them being Outstanding to 79 with 15 being Decile 8 - 10 schools. Outstanding. There were also 2 Outstanding/ Premier Scholarship Award winners, and also 1 + The smallest school, AIC with a total school Ivy League admit. roll of 206 students, is ranked #1. + Woodford House being a state integrated + The number of scholarships in general school performed really well and went declined nationwide in 2018 compared from 29th to 12th place. Excellence went to 2017. This can suggest students were up from 38% to 41%. UE went up 94% to academically stronger in 2017 than in 2018 ... 98%. Scholarships went up from 10 with one or scholarships were more difficult to obtain. Outstanding to 14 with 3 Outstanding. They also got 2 Outstanding / Premier Scholarship + In the 2020 ranking the average in the top Award winners. ten for university entrance rate has gone down compared to 2019. In 2019 it was 93.7% and in 2020 it is 88.89% Additions to the List:

+ Sancta Maria College #41

+ Napier Girls’ High School #45

Hear from top-ranked school students

“ACG Parnell has the most “St Cuthbert’s College has not only “determined students who all “helped me achieve my best in learning, share a passion of achieving the but the environment with staff and highest standards.” peers have created lifelong memories.”

Yuxi Felicia Student at ACG Parnell College, Ranked #2 Student at St Cuthbert’s College, Ranked #3