Victoria student wins top academic award

A Victoria University student has had the honour of receiving the country’s top award for academic excellence at secondary school level at a ceremony in Parliament.

Joshua Hansen

Joshua Hansen is this year’s recipient of the Prime Minister’s Award for Academic Excellence, presented at the NZQA Top Scholar Award ceremony where Prime Minister John Key was on hand to personally present the award.

Joshua is studying a conjoint Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts in French and History at Victoria University.

His hard work has earned him scholarship money to the value of $10,000 a year, over a period of three years.

Education Minister Hekia Parata congratulated Joshua at the ceremony and noted the prestige of his award. “This award is presented annually to the New Zealand Scholarship student who showed the highest overall level of academic excellence.

 “I’d like to congratulate Joshua on being recognised for his outstanding achievements with this award, which is the top academic accolade secondary students can aim for,” Ms Parata says.

Joshua says he was "really pleased" to receive the award, "especially after such hard work last year and the amazing support from the school and staff".

“I came to Victoria because I like Wellington and I wanted to study Law and had heard good things about it at Victoria. The Halls of Residence also sounded fun and enjoyable."

The academic record of the former Westlake Boys’ High School student includes seven New Zealand Scholarships, five Outstanding Scholarships and a Top Subject award.

In addition to his impressive academic achievements, Joshua was applauded for showing strong leadership qualities, which saw him represent his school on an official tour to Europe to commemorate World War I.