Columba College is the only Dunedin secondary school — and one of only two in the South Island — to be named by Crimson Education as one of the country’s top 20 schools.
Crimson Education is a multinational university admissions consultancy which ranks schools on how they prepare students for entry into the top tertiary institutions in the United States and United Kingdom. It bases 70% of its ranking on academic performance, and 15% each on diversity and access and extra-curricular.
Columba is ranked at No19.
Acting principal Aaron Everett said the success was down to the students. The teaching staff were just there to help them along the way.
‘‘Some of our students are really aspiring to go to overseas universities and things, which I know is part of the criteria ... we don’t push that, but some of them are really taking up those opportunities in places like the US or the UK.’’
While the school did push ‘‘really hard’’ academically, it also had a good amount of growth in its arts and cultural programmes.
‘‘We’re trying to get balance as much as we can ... about 93% of our students actively participate in sport — we also have a large and ever-increasing number in the arts area as well.’’
Mr Everett said while academic achievement was important, what was more important was creating grounded, well-rounded students.
Head girl Shanti Kara said students looked after each other and felt supported, and all that work to make the college a comfortable place was evident in their academic performance.
‘‘This year we’re striving to continue building this legacy.’’
She and fellow head girls Lula Joseph and Anika Leyser had started a wellbeing committee, saying it was important for everyone to feel supported.
