in australia we call the top of the class the "dux"
ive been dux in a few courses/classes, but not overall. scored in the top 20 in the state for my final year, but i couldnt compete with the kids whose parents were both teachers, who had 5 tutors, who went to private schools to the tune of $20k a semester etc...i was just a bum at a public school who really really really really wanted a good score, and relied on sheer willpower to do it, but skipped the previous 3 years of school and so kinda blew his chances of being top of class
...what a crock of shit it all turned out to be. academia has treated me very, very badly