Jack Hastie – making the grade for Duke
23 Jun 2026
Gaining a scholarship in Year 9 to attend Christ’s College has opened the gates to an incredible academic pathway for Old Boy Jack Hastie.
After arriving from Cobham Intermediate in 2021, Jack soon immersed himself in school life, quickly grasping “the many opportunities of a Christ’s College education”.
At 18, he is now heading to one of the most prestigious universities in the United States to study engineering. Duke University in Durham, North Carolina only accepts the most highly ranked young scholars from around the world, making Jack’s achievement all the more impressive.
“I greatly appreciate my school scholarship and know that Christ’s College and the teachers have prepared me very well for Duke University,” he says. “Duke is ranked No.7 in US universities and No.6 when it comes to having the lowest acceptance rates, so I was thrilled to get the email offering me a place. Most importantly, its engineering programme has an amazing reputation.
“Duke values academic achievement and co-curricular commitment, so I felt that was the right fit for me and more aligned with my educational experience in New Zealand. I also plan to play rugby for Duke, having played at school.
“Of course, I would not have got there without my parents’ support and commitment, both during my time at College and for my journey overseas.”
In 2026, the former Head of Condell’s House topped the NZQA Scholarship list for Christ’s College, achieving subject Scholarships in Chemistry, English, Geography, and Physics. In 2025, he also reached the highest grade in Advanced Placement (AP) exams, scoring a ‘5’ in two of the toughest subjects, Calculus BC and Physics Mechanics.
In 2025, Jack was one of five College boys to receive the highest academic honour – the Gold Tie, awarded to those students with the highest percentage of NCEA Excellence credits in one year. He also represented the school in the EPro8 Challenge and at the Christchurch Model EU, and successfully tackled the Coast to Coast in his final year.
While he is “excited but nervous” about attending Duke University, Jack also hopes the university degree will lay the foundation for one day establishing his own business start-up, mixing engineering with technological innovation.
