This is a short video put together by NZQA to help explain NCEA. It is a great place to start if you are interested in knowing about how the qualification is gained. 

What Qualifications Can Students Gain?

There are three NCEA qualifications students work to gain at school:

Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3. These are the first three levels of the National Qualifications Framework’s (NQF) 10 levels.

For a student to be awarded NCEA Level 1 they must achieve 80 credits*. Ten of these credits must be in literacy standards and ten credits in numeracy standards.

For a student to be awarded NCEA Level 2 they must achieve:

• 60 credits* at Level 2 or above; plus
• 20 credits* at any Level, even if gained for any other National Qualification.

For a student to be awarded NCEA Level 3, they must achieve:

• 60 credits* at Level 3 or above; plus
• 20 credits* at Level 2 or above, even if gained for any other National Qualification.

*Credits can come from both Achievement Standards and Unit Standards. Each subject Information Booklet details which Standards are assessed, together with their credit value.

Level Endorsement

Level Certificates now can be endorsed With Merit or With Excellence.  To gain a certificate endorsed With Merit, 50 credits are needed at Merit level or better. For a certificate endorsed With Excellence, 50 credits are needed at Excellence level. 

Course Endorsement

A course endorsement provides recognition for a student who has performed exceptionally well in an individual course (or subject).

The key objective of a course endorsement is to motivate students to achieve their potential in one or more courses.

Students will gain an endorsement for a course if, in a single school year, they achieve:

• 14 or more credits at Merit or Excellence for Merit Endorsement
• 14 or more credits at Excellence for Excellence Endorsement
• at least 3 of these credits from externally assessed standards and 3 credits from internally assessed standards.  (Note: this does not apply to Physical Education and Level 3 Visual Arts.)

University Entrance - Current

The literacy and numeracy requirement only has to be achieved once. For entrance to university you will need to have 42 credits at Level 3 or above. At least 28 of these credits must come from an approved subject list.

As well as these Level 3 credits, you need some Level 2 credits that show you have reading and writing skills, and Level 1 (or better) credits showing numeracy skills.

Additional information can be found at: www.nzqa.govt.nz/qualifications-standards/awards/university-entrance.

From 2014 'New' University Entrance

University Entrance (UE) will continue to be the minimum requirement to go to a New Zealand university.  From 2014, to be awarded UE you will need:

• NCEA Level 3
• Three subjects at Level 3 or above, made up of:
• 14 credits each, in three approved subjects
• Literacy - 10 credits at Level 2 or above, made up of:
• 5 credits in reading
• 5 credits in writing
• Numeracy - 10 credits at Level 1 or above, made up of:
• Achievement Standards - specified achievement standards available through a range of subjects, or
• Unit Standards - a package of three numeracy unit standards (26623, 26626, 26627 - all three are required).

Once you have met the requirements for University Entrance it will appear on your Record of Achievement.

Fees and Financial Assistance

The fees for NCEA are set by NZQA. Students can pay these at the Student Services Centre.

Please see the following links for more details:

Information for students and their parents, whanau or caregivers for 2012 NCEA Qualifications http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/assets/qualifications-and-standards/qualifications/ncea/Entry-into-NCEA/March-Candidate-Information-Sheet.pdf

Application for Financial Assistance: You can collect a form from the Student Services Centre or print a copy from this link: http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/assets/ncea/Application-For-Financial-Assistance.pdf

Contact

If you have any questions please contact Anna Wilson – Principal’s Nominee

Email: Anna.wilson@wegc.school.nz

Phone: (04) 385 8514 extn 857