Year 12 student Tuhin Baucus scored 39 out of 40 in the 2014 American Latin examination, putting him in the top 1% worldwide.

The New Zealand average was 32 out of 40. Tuhin was awarded a gold medal and a summa cum laude (with greatest praise) certificate.

But he might have achieved a perfect score had he not confused the Pantheon, a temple in Rome, with the Parthenon, a temple in Athens, Greece. Tuhin says the question will stick in his mind forever, but  could laugh about it in hindsight and was still proud of his achievement.

The exam was taken by over 19,000 students from Australia, Canada, China, England, Germany, Guam, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Poland, Taiwan, Turkey, the United States, Zimbabwe, and, of course, New Zealand. Eleven New Zealand schools participated.