Why is the simple past wrong? He did not achieve more than six A's.

I have made up an example below.

(ex) To be eligible for a scholarship, a student needs to have at least ten A's in an academic year. Over the past five years, Jack did not achieve more than six A's a year. However, only halfway through the current year, he has already achieved ten A's. He is happy about his achievement.

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I think in this context, the simple past "did not achieve" is correct because the past four years is already gone. He failed to reach the mark for a scholarship during those years. So far in the current year, he has finally met the requirement for a scholarship. So, I think the simple past "did not achieve" is the correct tense.

But, my non-native English speaking friends think it's more natural to use the present perfect: "Over the past five years, Jack has not achieved ..."

I don't know which tense is correct in this context: <did not achieve > or <has not achieved>?

Please help me with this one. Thank you very much for your time and help.