NCEA

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NCEA HELPFUL WEBSITES
Session 3 Sarah Cornish, Education New Zealand
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NCEA

• NCEA (National Certificate of Educational
  Achievement) offered at all NZ secondary schools.
  It is administered by NZQA.
• NCEA is the national qualification for secondary
  students in Years 11-13.
• NCEA creates a pathway from secondary education
  to New Zealand tertiary education. All levels
  are recognised by New Zealands tertiary
  education providers
• The National Qualification Framework (NQF) is a
  system which integrates all New Zealand
  Qualifications (including University degrees)
  into an overall framework. The three levels of
  NCEA are the first levels of the NQF.
• NCEA is New Zealands national qualification so
  is automatically observed by offshore governments

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Level
NQF
NCEA is the first three levels of the National
Qualifications Framework.
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NCEA

• New Zealands 21st Century assessment system,
  which started in 2002 (Level 1) and has been
  fully implemented since 2004.
• An assessment system which recognises and reports
  on actual achievement
• A balance between external assessment (most
  commonly, examinations) marked by NZQA and
  internal assessment marked by school.
• A way of breaking subjects into parts (which are
  called standards), and reporting on each of the
  standards to give a clearer picture of what a
  student can do.

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NCEA

• NCEA works like a university paper credit system.
  Each standard achieved gives a certain number of
  credits towards the certificate.
• There are two types of standards unit
  standards and achievement standards, both of
  which are used to assess programmes taught at
  school.
• For achievement standards you can be graded
  achieved, merit or excellence. Achievement
  standards can be either internally or externally
  assessed.
• Unit standards have just one level of achievement
  - achieved. Unit standards are internally
  assessed

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NCEA

• Allows teachers to assess skills not suited to
  exams - such as making a speech in English,
  having a conversation in languages, doing an
  experiment in Science.
• This is also a recognition of the difficulty that
  some students had with traditional
  examination-based assessment.
• NCEA recognises the idea of a subject as not
  being fixed for all students at all schools.
  Schools can now better meet the needs of students
  by designing courses to meet their needs, rather
  than a unified, single syllabus - eg most schools
  offer a range of differing courses in Maths and
  English with a different mix of Achievement and
  Unit Standards, and a different mix of assessment
  types.

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• The result is that NCEA provides a large amount
  of Assessment information, giving a clear picture
  of what a student can achieve and what they know

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ACHIEVING NCEA LEVELS

• NCEA Level 1 is gained by achieving 80 Level 1
  Credits, of which 8
• must be in English (4 in Reading and 4 in
  Writing) 8 must be in Mathematics
• NCEA Level 2 is gained by achieving 80 Credits of
  which 60 must be Level 2 credits
• NCEA Level 3 is gained by achieving 80 Credits of
  which 60 must be Level 3 credits
• Credits can come from either Achievement
  Standards or Unit Standards

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Entrance to University from NCEA

• 14 Credits at Level 3 in one approved subject
• 14 Credits at Level 3 in one approved subject
• 14 Credits at Level 3 in no more than 2 approved
  subjects
• 14 Credits in Mathematics at Level 1 or higher
• 8 Credits at Level 2 or above in Literacy (4 in
  Reading 4 in Writing)

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Entrance to University from NCEA

• All New Zealand secondary schools offer NCEA,
  which is recognised by all New Zealand tertiary
  institutions.
• As New Zealands national qualification, NCEA is
  also recognised by international universities.
• NCEA Level 1 is broadly equivalent to the English
  General Certificate of Education (GCE).
• NCEA Level 3 is equivalent to English A Levels
  and Australia's Higher School Certificate (HSC).

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NCEA DISCUSSIONS

• Disadvantages to NCEA
• Results are not marked as
• Some think it favours vocational students rather
  than academic students
• Is a fairly new system and was introduced
  quickly
• Advantages to NCEA
• Students can study at multiple levels
• Part of the NQF (National Qualification
  Framework) so can gain extra
• credits at a tertiary provider
• Mixture of internal and external assessment
• - students accumulate credits throughout the
  year
• - students see their progress throughout the
  year
• - students try hard all year instead of for 3
  hours only
• - students are able to re-sit assessments that
  theyve failed

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CAMBRIDGE EXAMS
www.cie.org.uk www.acsnz.org.nz

• Originate from Cambridge, UK so exams are marked
  there
• CIE exams are available from 6,000 schools in 150
  countries around the world
• Qualifications cover the 14 19 year old age
  bracket. Including A O Levels
• Some New Zealand secondary schools are
  introducing CIE exams as an option, in addition
  to the national qualification, NCEA, to give
  students a choice of qualification.

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INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE (IB)
www.ibo.org

• The IB is administered by a head office in Geneva
  and the Curriculum and Examinations Centre in
  Cardiff.
• The IB Diploma programme is available at 1,000
  schools in nearly 100 countries
• Only 7 New Zealand schools offer IB as an option,
  they are a mixture of primary and secondary
  schools.

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NCEA
www.nzqa.govt.nz/ncea/about
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FIND A SCHOOL
www.tki.org.nz
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SCHOOL RESEARCH
www.ero.govt.nz
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SCHOOL RESEARCH
www.nzqa.govt.nz