Students have the opportunity to achieve their NCEA qualification up to Level 3. Students in Years 11, 12 and 13 study NCEA at the level suited to their progress. The opportunity to sit Scholarship is offered to suitable candidates in Year 13. Some Year 10 students are also given the opportunity to begin their NCEA studies. Students are encouraged to achieve to Excellence level in their studies. The school hopes that these Excellence grades will assist students when applying for tertiary courses and scholarships as the entry level required by tertiary organisations continues to rise. This is true also of the levels students must reach before they can apply for many scholarships for tertiary study.
To develop students’ understanding of NCEA at Year 9/10 students complete a Foundation Certificate based on a points system and the students receive grades such as Achieved, Merit and Excellence for their work. This is similar to the NCEA system.
NCEA is the national qualification for senior secondary school students in New Zealand.
Students will complete courses at each level of the National Qualifications Framework and will be assessed on the learning attained in each course. Each assessment generates credits that contribute to a certificate at Level 1, 2 or 3 of the National Qualification Framework.
Level 1: 80 credits are required at any level (level 1, 2 or 3) including literacy and numeracy.
Level 2: Literacy = 10 credits | Numeracy = 10 credits
Level 3: 60 credits at level 2 or above
+ 20 credits from any level
The Level 1 literacy and numeracy requirements must also be met.
60 credits at level 3 or above
+ 20 credits from level 2 or above.
The Level 1 literacy and numeracy requirements must also be met.
These Achievement Standards are assessed as part of the learning within the school year.
These Achievement Standards are assessed by an external marker, for example, examinations or portfolios in Visual Arts and DVC.
For an NCEA certificate to be endorsed with Excellence a student must gain 50 credits at Excellence at the level of the certificate or above. So, if a student has 50 Level 1 credits at Excellence they may have their Level 1 certificate endorsed with Excellence. Likewise, if a student gains 50 credits at Merit (or Merit and Excellence) at Level 1 their NCEA Level 1 certificate may be endorsed with Merit. Endorsement awards show on the Record of Achievement
Course endorsement provides recognition for a student who has performed exceptionally well in an individual course.
Students will gain an endorsement for a course if, in a single school year, they achieve:
University Entrance is the minimum requirement for getting into a New Zealand university. Many universities and other tertiary providers have further programme entry requirements so you will need to also check with them.
To gain University Entrance you will need:
Students who know what type of degree they want to do and at what tertiary organization they should look on the relevant website of the tertiary organization they want to attend to find out specific entry requirements for the course they want to do. These often change from year to year and can be different from one organization to another.
For further information about NCEA go to: Home » NZQA
By entering in external assessment, including exams, students agree to follow the rules as outlined in Instructions and Information for Candidates (PDF, 241KB) provided to them in term 4; and to comply with the decisions of NZQA. These rules ensure assessment conditions for all students are fair and allow them to present original work.
Students must not break the rules in any way. NZQA will investigate any possible breach of the rules and may withhold results where the breach is proven.
For further information on Breaches of the Rules for External Assessment read the Assessment (including Examination) Rules for Schools with Consent to Assess – 2015.
The NCEA and New Zealand Scholarship examination sessions are three hours. The exam sessions start at either 9.30 am or 2.00 pm. To find out the date and time of an exam, see Exam timetable.
Students are responsible for taking the correct equipment to the exam and making sure that it is working. Bring equipment into the exam room in a clear plastic bag. Students can bring:
You can confirm what is allowed in a specific exam by reading the relevant assessment specification. To find this, see NCEA subject resources.
Calculators must be silent, hand-held, non-printing and work from their own power. Students cannot keep notes, routines or store files in the calculator memory. Teachers or supervisors will check the calculator memory is cleared before it can be brought into the exam room.
Students are allowed to bring items for an emergency evacuation into the examination room in a clear, sealable plastic bag. This pack must stay under the chair and not be touched or opened without the permission of the supervisor. Contents could include a mobile phone (switched off) or other electronic device, keys, money, bus pass and medicines.
Do not bring the following items into an exam room unless sealed in the emergency evacuation pack:
Arrive at least 20 minutes before the exam starts to find out the location of the exam room arranged by the school. If a student arrives more than 30 minutes after the exam has started they will not be able to sit the exam or enter an exam room.
Students should:
Students should:
Students must stop writing when the supervisor tells them to. They must hand all material to be marked to the supervisor before they leave. If they take any work outside the examination room, it will not be marked.
Students can keep resource booklets and separate question booklets.
Building Strong Foundations, Clear Pathways, Successful TransitionsVocational Pathways provide students with a structure to understand the relevance of their study to a wide range of jobs and study options in six broad sectors of the industry. In the course outlines at Level 1 and 2 the standards will be colour coded so that the student knows which standards are relevant to the student’s chosen vocational pathway. The vocational pathways and the colours associated with them are:
Construction and Infrastructure – Orange
Manufacturing and Technology – Red
Social and Community Services – Purple
Services Industry – Blue
Primary Industries – Green
Creative Industries – Yellow
Students can achieve the Vocational Pathways award as well as an NCEA qualification.
To do this the student must:
Both the 60 Recommended Assessment Standards and the 20 Sector-Related Standards must come from the same Vocational Pathway.
Learners can achieve more than one Vocational Pathways Award if they complete more than one Vocational Pathway.
For more information: Go to:
youthguarantee.net.nz
Other useful website to use when deciding on subject options and career pathways is:
https://www.careers.govt.nz/
