Overall New Zealand Scholarship results 2024

Information on awards achieved and the number of students per subject

See the tables below for information about the 2024 New Zealand Scholarship award recipients.

2024 New Zealand Scholarship monetary awards

In 2024, the 37 Top Subject Scholarship awards were achieved by 33 students.

Candidates receiving a Top Subject Scholar Award, who also achieve Scholarship in another subject, receive the Top Subject Award and, in addition, a maximum of one $500 Single-Subject Award.

Award

2024 Awardees attained

No. of Students

Premier Awards

$10,000 each year for three years (for the very top 7 to 12 students) as long as they maintain at least a B grade average in tertiary studies

  • 4 Scholarships at Outstanding level, or
  • 3 Scholarships at Outstanding level and at least 6 additional Scholarships, or
  • 3 Scholarships at Outstanding level and at least 5 additional Scholarships, with 1 Top Subject Scholar Award.

NB: The number of recipients for this award is restricted and achieving the minimum requirement will not guarantee an award.

12

Outstanding Scholar Awards

$5,000 each year for three years (for the top 40–60 students) as long as they maintain at least a B grade average in tertiary studies

  • a minimum of 3 Scholarships with 2 at Outstanding level, or
  • a minimum of 6 Scholarships with 1 at Outstanding level.

NB: The number of recipients for this award is restricted and achieving the minimum requirement will not guarantee an award.

55

Top Subject Scholar Awards

$2,000 each year for three years as long as students maintain at least a B grade average in tertiary studies

  • Top of Subject

 33

Scholarship Awards

$2,000 each year for three years as long as students maintain at least a B grade average in tertiary studies

  • Scholarship in three or more subjects, or
  • Outstanding Scholarship in 2 subjects (with no third subject) in the same year.

325

Single Subject Awards

A one-off award of $500 per subject (maximum payment is $1,000)

  • 1 or 2 Scholarships

2035

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New Zealand Scholarship awards by subject - provisional

Information on the number of New Zealand Scholarship students for each subject and what they were awarded.

Scholarship Subject

Level 3 Cohort

% Level 3 Cohort Awarded Scholarship (including Outstanding)

Scholarship
(excluding Outstanding)

Outstanding

Accounting

2,091

2.92

55

6

Agriculture and Horticulture

737

2.99

20

2

Art History

900

2.67

21

3

Biology

10,404

3.2

303

30

Calculus

11,032

3.12

310

34

Chemistry

9,288

3.15

265

28

Chinese

831

3.25

24

3

Classical Studies

3,262

3.25

96

10

Dance

1,270

2.13

23

4

Design

2,557

3.05

71

7

Design and Visual Communication

1,597

2.69

39

4

Drama

2,004

3.04

55

6

Earth and Space Science

1,338

2.91

36

3

Economics

3,275

2.47

75

6

English

19,252

3.33

569

73

French

475

3.58

15

2

Geography

5,171

3.02

143

13

German

170

4.71

7

1

Health and Physical Education

9,338

1.26

104

14

History

7,126

2.74

176

19

Japanese

578

3.46

17

3

Latin

31

16.13

4

1

Media Studies

3,305

2.9

87

9

Music

2,088

3.16

60

6

Painting

3,138

3.03

86

9

Photography

3,322

3.01

90

10

Physics

9,655

2.92

253

29

Printmaking

489

3.27

14

2

Religious Studies

3,970

3.1

112

11

Samoan

324

2.78

8

1

Sculpture

328

3.66

10

2

Spanish

476

3.78

17

1

Statistics

10,959

3.13

307

36

Te Ao Haka

678

0.88

1

5

Te Reo Māori

1,518

3.03

40

6

Te Reo Rangatira

258

5.04

10

3

Technology

4,748

2.21

92

13

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The Technical Overview Group Assessment applies discretion in the setting of cut scores. The 3% criterion is applied with discretion of plus or minus 5 students.

Cut scores are set so all students at or above the cut score have demonstrated performance at the Scholarship standard.

How many students get this award?

To be awarded Scholarship in a subject, students must meet the Scholarship standard for that subject. Scholarship is awarded to the top 3% of students in a subject cohort. This is to ensure comparability and fairness between subjects.

Before 2024, the subject cohort was determined as those students who achieved 14 or more NCEA Level 3 subject credits in the year. Achieved in this context refers to achievement of internally assessed standards plus entries in externally assessed standards.

For 2024, the subject cohort of each NZ Scholarship subject comprises those students who meet any one of these criteria:

  • Achieved 14 or more NCEA Level 3 subject credits in 2024. Achieved in this context refers to achievement of internally assessed standards plus entries in externally assessed standards.
  • Achieved 14 or more NCEA Level 3 subject credits across 2024 and 2023. Students must have achieved some NCEA Level 3 subject credits in 2023 and either achieved some internally assessed subject credits or been entered for externally assessed standards at NCEA Level 3 in 2024.
  • Entered for NZ Scholarship in that subject.

Some students may meet more than one of the above criteria, but are counted once only.

The 2024 change in determining the subject cohort acknowledges that, in any given year, there are a large number of students participating in the New Zealand Scholarship who have not entered 14 NCEA Level 3 subject credits that year.

The following graph shows the student cohort and number of Scholarships awarded each year 2013-2024:

Cohort sizes and Scholarship Awards 2013 2024

High numbers of Scholarships in Latin

A significantly higher number of students achieve New Zealand Scholarship in Latin than in other subjects. This is because:

  • Latin has a very small number of students at NCEA Level 3 and the cohort is based primarily on students studying at this level. Also, a significant number of students studying Latin in Year 13 enter for alternative qualifications. These students are only included in the cohort number if they have entries in NZ Scholarship.
  • Up to 5 students in addition to the 3% of the Level 3 cohort can receive Scholarship in each subject.

New Zealand Scholarship cut scores

The cut scores table shows the range of New Zealand Scholarship scores and number of students for each subject.

Scholarship Subject

Scholarship Score Range

Scholarship No. of Candidates

Outstanding Scholarship Score Range

Outstanding No. of Candidates

Accounting

17-26

55

27-32

6

Agriculture and Horticulture

13-21

20

22-24

2

Art History

13-17

21

18-24

3

Biology

13-18

303

19-24

30

Calculus

19-27

310

28-32

34

Chemistry

17-24

265

25-32

28

Chinese

18-20

24

21-24

3

Classical Studies

14-19

96

20-24

10

Dance

13-21

23

22-24

4

Design

14-19

71

20-24

7

Design and Visual Communication

13-18

39

19-24

4

Drama

15-20

55

21-24

6

Earth and Space Science

14-18

36

19-24

3

Economics

13-18

75

19-24

6

English

13-18

569

19-24

73

French

14-18

15

19-24

2

Geography

14-18

143

19-24

13

German

17-20

7

21-24

1

Health and Physical Education

13-18

104

19-24

14

History

13-18

176

19-24

19

Japanese

16-21

17

22-24

3

Latin

22-27

4

28-32

1

Media Studies

13-18

87

19-24

9

Music

16-19

60

20-24

6

Painting

13-19

86

20-24

9

Photography

13-19

90

20-24

10

Physics

18-26

253

27-32

29

Printmaking

14-20

14

21-24

2

Religious Studies

13-18

112

19-24

11

Samoan

14-18

8

19-24

1

Sculpture

14-20

10

21-24

2

Spanish

17-20

17

21-24

1

Statistics

17-25

307

26-32

36

Te Ao Haka

13-20

1

21-24

5

Te Reo Māori

14-20

40

21-24

6

Te Reo Rangatira

18-20

10

21-24

3

Technology

13-18

92

19-24

13

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