Latest news with #NationalCertificateofEducationalAchievement
NZ Herald
4 days ago
- General
- NZ Herald
As NCEA faces increasing scrutiny, how does it compare to other qualifications?
The National Certificate of Educational Achievement, or NCEA, has been New Zealand's main secondary school qualification for more than 20 years. But its future could be on the line, as more top schools plan to offer alternatives. In the past few weeks, we've seen Epsom Girls' Grammar announce it
NZ Herald
4 days ago
- Business
- NZ Herald
Opinion: NCEA changes must build on what works, not destroy it
NCEA supports student success by recognising diverse talents and allowing personalised learning pathways. Photo / Monkey Business Images THE FACTS As serious conversations about the future of NCEA get under way, it's important to stay focused on what matters: supporting student success, recognising diverse talents, and ensuring every learner has the opportunity to thrive. At its core, NCEA (National Certificate of Educational Achievement) reflects values that New Zealanders
Otago Daily Times
4 days ago
- General
- Otago Daily Times
Testing times for NCEA
Many who have struggled to get to grips with the unwieldy beast which is our main secondary school qualification will be pleased it looks set for a major overhaul. The National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) was brought in about 20 years ago to replace School Certificate, University Entrance, Sixth Form Certificate and University Bursary. Scholarship exams remained. The change was designed to allow recognition of more than just academic subjects. There was also a concern the school qualifications were too dependent on external exams. In the case of School Certificate, sat in year 11, a pupil who might have been working well and passing tests throughout the year but who failed the end-of-year exam would have no qualification to show for that year. The School Cert exams had been around since the 1940s. Until the early 1990s they were set up so raw marks were scaled to ensure only a certain percentage of pupils passed each subject. The NCEA, with its three-year levels, plethora of unit and achievement standards and mix of internal and external assessments, also involved a new way of recognising passes. It replaced percentages and A, B, C, D and E grades with achieved, merit, and excellence (and not achieved) grades and a number of credits for each standard. Credits can be gained through internal assessments during the year and at end-of-year exams. It has long been criticised. Parents and prospective employers have found it hard to get their heads around it, the workload for teachers has been immense, and there are concerns the flexibility offered means a pupil can gather disparate credits which do not add up to a coherent core qualification. There have been concerns too many pupils are turning up at universities without the required entry qualifications and having to undertake foundation studies before they start their tertiary study proper. Officials are concerned at what they describe as the "increasingly problematic imbalance" between internal and external assessments. Last year only 22% of the results came from external exams. There have been an increasing number of "no shows" at the end-of-year external exams, where pupils have been enrolled for exams but not turned up. Last year, there were more than 250,000 instances where students did not turn up, presumably because they already had enough credits to pass. The impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the authenticity of internal assessments is also an issue. Some changes have been made, including the recent introduction of online literacy and numeracy tests which must be passed in order to achieve NCEA. But these have proved controversial because too many pupils are failing them, and the alternative of completing extra literacy and numeracy credits is only going to be available for a couple of years. Some schools have opted out of offering the level 1 certificate in favour of other international qualifications. Just how any revamp might be handled and when it might happen, is unclear. But both Education Minister Erica Stanford and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon have been keen to emphasise it will not be tinkering, and all options will be on the table. Reaching consensus on how the qualification system best accommodates those subjects which are not suited to exam assessment and ensures a diverse range of learners are catered for may not be easy. Changes are coming thick and fast in the education sector and, as much as many might see the flaws in the existing set-up, enthusiasm for more major change now might be muted. Women schoolteachers, who make up the majority of the post-primary workforce, will still be smarting after the scuppering of their previously lodged pay equity claim as a result of the controversial law change earlier this year. Ms Stanford says whatever changes are made will need to be "very well communicated, very well staged and very well resourced". Mr Luxon has stated: "We're going to open it up and we're going to fix it and do it once and do it right". A bold claim, and one he will be hoping does not come back to haunt him.
Otago Daily Times
08-05-2025
- General
- Otago Daily Times
Exam successes impress
High school attainment rates for NCEA were released last month. PHOTO: NICK BROOK South Otago high schools continue to impress with the release of National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) attainment rates last month. A selection of Clutha district secondary principals were pleased to comment on their schools' performances, as recorded by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority. "A 100% [pass rate] in NCEA level 2 is outstanding and a testament to the hard work students and staff put in throughout the year," Tapanui's Blue Mountain College principal Janelle Eason said. "While the level 3 and University Entrance pass rates are not as high, all of our leaversachieved what they needed to follow their intended pathway, and we are very happy with that. "In an education environment where it feels like the only constant is change, our staff and students have shown great resilience [and] we have implemented some more support for literacy and numeracy this year to help our students pass the co-requisites." Balclutha's South Otago High School, recorded a pass rate of 87.4% for a student count of 111. "We are very pleased to have had improved retention of students into Y12 and Y13, and are clear that students' minimum exit qualification is NCEA L2," principal Mike Wright said. "Some of our students do take a couple of years to achieve this and we support them in their learning journey. "For South Otago High School it is about finding the best path for individual students to enable them to find success and move from school to employment, training or further education [and] we have a number of students following vocational programmes which provide great opportunities for students to get into tertiary study and apprenticeships. Lawrence Area School also recorded a 100% pass rate for its 13 level 2, 3, and University Entrance candidates, and new principal Dave Bagwell was quick to praise his predecessor. "I would say it is a fitting legacy for the outgoing principal John Auld and the work he did over many years at the school. "There is a strong focus on individual achievement, mentoring and support [and] the results are testament to what I have seen here over the last term and the way the school operates. "It is also testament to the very strong partnerships between home and school," Mr Bagwell said.
