Joshua Andrews, a matriculant at Cornwall Hill College in Centurion, matched his brother’s record of 15 distinctions and will be headed to Harvard University.
The Independent Examinations Board achieved a 98.47% pass rate for the class of 2024, the highest in the past five years. Joshua, 18, came top of his class at Cornwall which received a 100% pass rate with a total of 429 distinctions.
The valedictorian and outgoing head boy is the last of three top-achieving brothers who all excelled at the school.
His oldest brother Matthew, 22, was the school's head boy in 2020, and after receiving several awards for academics and leadership and being in the top 50 in the South African Mathematics Olympiad finals, he matriculated with 10 distinctions. Matthew is now in his final year in Applied Mathematics at Harvard University in the US and is expected to graduate in May.
Two years later, the second brother Luke, 20, became the first to break the record by receiving 15 distinctions after taking on eight additional subjects. He also received the Yale Science & Engineering Association Award for the most outstanding science exhibit in science, technology, engineering and mathematics in his matric year. Luke is now studying mechanical engineering at Stanford University in California.
Drawing inspiration from his brothers, Joshua, 18, decided to take on the challenge, hoping to beat his brother Luke.
He also took an additional eight subjects with some differing from his brother's, including Tourism, Sport and Exercise Science, Further Studies Mathematics, Alpha Mathematics and Additional Mathematics.
He achieved this while also being in the first team for tennis and hockey, being part of the school’s orchestra, pipe band and public speaking, and competing in the South African Mathematics Olympiad, while offering Olympian lessons every week.
“I was lucky to receive training at the University of Pretoria for the Math Olympiad and I would attend camps. I found I had the upper hand because of the training classes. Some walked into the Olympiad blind and with no idea. I realised a tiny bit of help would change their results dramatically. Every Wednesday, I would run senior and junior classes for anyone in the school. I would take my own classes, arrange the lessons and teach my own lessons.”
His efforts yielded results as his students did “tremendously well” in the Math Olympiad, he said.
“A lot of it is honestly the incredible students. I don’t know how much to attribute to myself. One of them made it to the final round of the Olympiad and was in the top 50 and even went overseas to represent South Africa for the Science Olympiad. A lot of things are just about exposing people to the opportunity. I don’t think he realised how talented he is,” Joshua said.
Asked how he was able to juggle his academic and extramural activities while giving classes to other pupils, Andrews told TimesLIVE Premium: “I even wonder sometimes. I have always had this thinking that the more you do, the more you can do. When I find myself busy and excited and enjoying it, I am able to do more. I don’t feel I struggled.
“I enjoyed all the subjects and that allowed me to do them all. It didn’t feel like a schlep or tiresome. I was excited,” he said.
Despite the enthusiasm to take on eight more subjects, it was Further Studies Physics and Tourism that were the most challenging for the high-flyer.
“I enjoyed Further Studies Physics the most but it was one of those which required me to think on another level. I got a shock in my preliminary exams and started working on past exam papers. The other one that got me was Tourism. I started taking it in matric, which maybe wasn’t the best idea. I enjoyed a lot of the subject matter but the problem was time. The other subjects I had done from Grade 8 and 10.
“Another problem came when the final exam timetable came. Further Studies Physics and Tourism were written on the same day. It was a rough day. I took a nap after that,” he said.
Like his eldest brother Matthew, Joshua was also accepted at Harvard University where he will likely study the same course as his brother.
He said his brothers played a huge part in influencing his academic ambitions and while they supported each other, he had hopes of beating Luke’s distinction record. The three brothers achieved a total of 40 matric distinctions at Cornwall.
“Matthew came into the school and he tried to do everything. I was able to see what I wanted to do. He opened those doors immediately for me and with the Math Olympiad as well. That was the biggest part Matthew played by showing me what I can do,” he said.
“Luke came along and knocked it out of the park and wanted to see how much is possible. He went for it and got 15 distinctions. He broke the boundary for me. I am 100%-inspired by them. My initial goal was to top him. It is all positive and healthy competition but it is the motivation that I can do it.”
However, he couldn’t have done it without the support of his family and teachers who accommodated his tight schedule.
“A big thank you to my teachers and my parents and family. There are times when things got stressful. The teachers and my family supported me. It’s the teachers who said I could do the 15 subjects and I couldn’t have made it without them. They never said I can’t do it.”
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