Ever since primary school, Daniel Hughes knew he wanted to be a physicist – and he's well on his way to fulfilling his dream, starting his first year at university as one of the top 10 students in the country.

A former Aquinas College student, Daniel sat five scholarship exams; calculus, statistics, physics, chemistry and French while in Year 13 last year.

Daniel Hughes' Year 13 NCEA results for 2013 put him in the country's top 10. Photo by Tracy Hardy.

The 18-year-old received a Top Subject Scholar award for his French exam and an Outstanding Scholar award for the other four scholarship examinations. The results earned him a Premier Award, which is presented to only 10 students nationwide.

His efforts grant him a monetary award of $10,000 each year for three years towards his maths and physics studies at Auckland University.

'I'm feeling pretty pleased to be honest,” says Daniel. 'It is very unexpected; there is a lot of surprise.

'I've always been interested in maths and physics. I sort of actually knew, even when I left primary school, I wanted to be a physicist.”

Daniel's dream is to become an astroparticle physicist at CERN – the European organisation for nuclear research in Geneva, Switzerland.

'There's so much we don't know yet; and there's so much out there that we can find out. It's the idea of learning more and gaining more knowledge about the universe and what makes up the universe and how the universe works.”

Aquinas College principal Ray Scott says Daniel is an all-round academic achiever who took on leadership roles, including student executive in 2013, and was head of the school's environment committee.

'Obviously, he's quite an outstanding student and to achieve at that level – you don't come across that very often. We're really thrilled for him.

'It's very rare to see a student working at that level across such a range of subjects.”