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NCEA - National Certificate of Educational Achievement

NCEA (National Certificate of Educational Achievement) is New Zealand’s national qualification system for senior secondary students.
 
NCEA comprises three levels of qualifications (Levels 1, 2 and 3) usually undertaken in Years 11, 12 and 13.  It is a standards-based system attained by building up credits. To achieve NCEA Level 1 students need to have gained a minimum of 80 credits including ten literacy and ten numeracy credits.
 
Credits are awarded for each standard achieved in each course being studied (eg English, Mathematics, Science etc). Each course is comprised of a number of standards and these are assessed either during the year in class (internally) or in an examination at the end of the year (externally). For some internal standards, you may not be assessed until the final term, taking into account most of your year’s work.
 
All standards are set nationally and student work is moderated by outside experts. The standards themselves are linked to topics or skills. For example in English a standard could be Produce Formal Writing (worth 3 credits), and in Science it could be Investigate Selected Chemical Reactions (worth 4 credits).  When you achieve a standard you receive the number of credits for that standard.
 
For achievement standards, there are four grades you can get: Achieved (A) for a satisfactory performance, Merit (M) for very good performance, Excellence (E) for outstanding performance or Not Achieved (N) if you don’t meet the standard. If you don’t achieve a standard for internally assessed standards, you may be able to be assessed again later in the year. For externally assessed standards, there is only one opportunity to achieve the standard each year - the exam at the end of the year.
 
NCEA is readily accepted overseas, including by universities.
 
Certificate Endorsement
If students perform at a consistently high level across all their subjects they can receive a certificate endorsement. If a student gains 50 or more credits at Merit or higher their certificate will be endorsed with Merit. If a student gains 50 or more credits at Excellence their certificate will be endorsed with Excellence. Students are also able to get single course endorsements (eg in English or Mathematics) at Merit and Excellence.
 
Research into NCEA 
Research undertaken through the Faculty of Education at the University of Auckland has shown that students who do well in NCEA also do well in University. There is a clear correlation between achieving at an Excellence standard in NCEA and attaining high grades at university. There is strong evidence that NCEA challenges students and prepares them well for tertiary study. At tertiary level students have ongoing assignments and assessments throughout the year which necessitate a high degree of self-management and self-motivation. The NCEA approach to learning mirrors what happens both in the work place and at tertiary institutions and teaches students sound work habits which will stay with them for life.
 
More information
Download the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) booklet Understanding NCEA by clicking here
Visit the Ministry of Education's website to find out more about NCEA by clicking here
 

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