Last term, a group of Carmel students took part in round 1 of the Australian-New Zealand Brain Bee Challenge 2026. The median score for the North Island is 71.43% (65.71% in 2025; 62.86% in 2024).

Eight Carmel students from Year 11 have made it through to Round 2 of the competition. The students are: Natalia Gonzales, Kiera Longerstaey, Zoe Gan, Elliott Hou, Sophia Zhao, Aoife Kernaghan, Aanya Mohan and Addison Prenty. All the students who made it to round 2 scored above the median. This is an outstanding achievement and shows that they are punching above their weight! 

Round 2 of the competition will run online at school in June. These students have also been invited to spend a day at the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at the University of Auckland on 24th June, where they can experience a range of exciting activities, including visits to the AMRF Learning Centre, lab tours and hearing from some leading scientists.