Ten thousand students around New Zealand are gearing up for Cambridge International Exams, some of which got underway on Monday.
About 50 schools see the exams as a better option than our national qualification, NCEA.
"It's a challenging system and of course it's internationally recognised," says CBHS student Thomas Ingham.
The exams are held in 150 countries. Some teachers here say it has energised the classroom.
"There's certainly a real passion from the boys, that comes out you can sense their enthusiasm, their motivation and it certainly rubs off," says Grant Armstrong, CBHS teacher.
Sixty one out of the 400 or so secondary schools in New Zealand sit either Cambridge International Exams or the International Baccalaureate, and they have grown in popularity since 2002.
Back then, the new secondary school qualification NCEA was under fire for over assessment and marking inconsistencies.
But those behind the Cambridge exams are careful not to criticise NCEA because it is all about choice.
"Choice is absolutely crucial. One size fits all is not a philosophy that is sustainable in this kind of world," says Kevin Stannard from CIE.
An opinion echoed at New Zealand's second biggest high school, Avondale College, which will offer the Cambridge programme next year following concerns over NCEA.
"We've been interviewing students, we've been talking to parents, and discussing the matter with the staff and finally came to the decision that it was in the best interests of our students and community that that choice was available," says Brent Lewis, Principal of Avondale College.
But while there are schools still signing up to the Cambridge exams the Secondary Teachers' Association says the numbers are waning.
There is more confidence that the NCEA qualification ticks all the right boxes.
"NCEA has become less of a political football ... so there's been less of the politics of fear around it, says Kate Gainsford of the PPTA.
