How does NCEA work?Teachers use standards to assess how well you perform in the different skills and knowledge. When you meet the standard, you gain credits on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF).· As a student in Year 11, you will be entering NCEA level 1. Level 1, level 2 and level 3 standards are available.· For students in Year 10 some of your assessments might count for NCEA. NCEA Level 1 When you have achieved 80 credits, you will qualify for a NCEA level 1 certificate, as long as eight of those credits show numeracy skills and eight other credits show literacy skills. These skills can be shown in English or Mäori or a combination of these. Your teachers will be able to tell you which standards qualify for numeracy and literacy skills. NCEA level 2 If you are a Year 12 student and you achieved NCEA level 1 last year then you will probably be working towards NCEA level 2 this year. NCEA level 2 requires a minimum of 60 credits at level 2 or above and 20 credits at any other level. Credits can be used for more than one qualification so some of your NCEA level 1 credits can count towards NCEA level 2. For NCEA level 2 you will not need to achieve a specific number of credits for literacy or numeracy skills. NCEA level 3 · For NCEA Level 3 you will need to achieve 80 credits, of which 60 must be at level 3 or above and 20 at level 2 or above. University Entrance To gain entry to a New Zealand university you will require 42 credits at level 3 or above. At least 28 of these credits must come from an approved list which you can view at www.nzqa.nz/ncea/acrp/secondary/docs/approved-subjects.doc.
As well as the level 3 credits you will need level 2 credits which show that you have reading and writing skills and level 1 credits showing numeracy skills. Entry to a New Zealand University All tertiary education providers have been adapting their entry criteria to use NCEA results. Universities and other tertiary providers can let you know their own requirements for entry to particular courses. You are able to enter for a scholarship standard in some subjects. This will be assessed externally.How will work be assessed?Each standard is either internally assessed by the school during the year, or externally assessed. Most external assessments will be by examination at the end of the year, though for some subjects students will submit a portfolio or have a visiting assessor instead. An external examination is issued by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority, and copies of this will be given to all students part way through the year. Your teacher can tell you more about internal assessment.NZQA takes your entries by separate standards. The way the NQF works means that schools can run a variety of courses and use any combination of achievement and unit standards for assessment.
How does NCEA reward achievement? Achievement standards do not only set out expectations for achieving the standard. They also recognize performance that meets ‘merit’ or ‘excellence’ criteria. You can now gain NCEA certificates endorsed with merit or excellence. If you get 50 credits at excellence level you will earn and NCEA certificate endorsed with excellence. If you get 50 credits at merit level you will earn an NCEA certificate endorsed with merit. (If you get 50 credits with a mix of merit and excellence you will earn an NCEA certificate endorsed with merit). Students will be able to gain merit or excellence in particular subject areas. This means if you’re doing very well in one particular area, that will be recognized in your results. Is NCEA the only qualification? No. NCEA is just one of the 900 qualifications on the NQF. Students can choose from a wide range of qualifications available at secondary school including specialist qualifications in areas like childcare, sport, tourism, computing, electrical engineering, food processing and business management.Some qualifications can be completed at school such as the National Certificates in Employment Skills, Computing, Science and Te Waharoa. Others can be started at school and finished in the workplace or at a tertiary provider. The specialist unit standards achieved in these other qualifications will also contribute to an NCEA qualification. Talk to your teachers about this. Your work might count for more than one certificate at the same time. Financial Assistance Applications for Financial Assistance are processed within the College and all information remains confidential. Applications for financial assistance close in September. |