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Cambridge International Exams An education for the world WITH A NEW SCHOOL year just around the corner many parents are considering the best choice of education for their children. For the majority, the syllabus NCEA provides is adequate for their child's needs but the prospect of an education recognised throughout the world was attractive enough for 30,087 students nationally to seek out an international level of learning in 2011. One year prior to the introduction of NCEA in New Zealand came the University of Cambridge International Examinations; the world's largest provider of international education programmes and qualifications for 5 to 19-year-olds. Since then it has been reinforced many times that schools can no longer be parochial or insular about the curricula they teach or about the performance levels of their students. In New Zealand, Cambridge students in more than 50 schools nationally perform outstandingly well against the world average. The list of winners for the annual Top in the World Awards always includes students from New Zealand. These awards recognise exceptional performance in Cambridge exams. In the 2010 end-of- year examinations 16 students ranked top in the world for their IGCSE courses and nine students in each of the AS and A levels achieved top in the world with their results. As an organisation CIE is now accepted as an important part of the New Zealand qualifications landscape and in large measure has overcome the clichéd criticism that it is a Third World qualification, but now in some quarters the organisation is being criticised for being elitist. Chairman of the Association of Cambridge Schools in New Zealand, John Morris says elitism, rooted in talent or an appreciation of it, is nothing to apologise for. Rather it is a cause for celebration. "New Zealand school leavers will have to compete in an international workplace and hence their credentials must have international currency. Participation in international qualifications affords our students a local opportunity to be internationally competitive. It also provides a measure of the school's achievement in a global context." More than 90,000 students from more than 140 countries take part in the Cambridge exams, which are held twice a year in June and November at three levels, IGCSE in Year 11, AS-level in Year 12 and A-level in Year 13, gaining entry into some of the world's top universities. The programmes and qualifications are recognised by over 450 United States universities, all United Kingdom and European universities and other universities around the world, including New Zealand. They are also valued by employers worldwide as a reliable record of academic achievement. Cambridge schools and learners in New Zealand are part of a global learning community. Through events and online forums Cambridge schools, teachers and learners are brought together to share best practice. By developing a global outlook, Cambridge learners are equipped for success in a fast-changing modern world. www.cie.org.uk HER MAGAZINE | December/January 2012 | 55