One of the recurring concerns raised by Senior students has been anxiety around achievement of NCEA and University Entrance due to the disruption of COVID 19.
To help address this and support students, NZQA have made the following changes to NCEA and University Entrance (UE) requirements for this year:
Students working towards NCEA can gain additional credits, based on the number of credits they achieve during the 2020 school year. These additional credits will be known as Learning Recognition credits. For every 5 credits a student achieves towards their NCEA either through internal or external assessment, they are entitled to an additional 1 credit. Students at NCEA Level 1 are eligible for up to a maximum of 10 additional credits while those at Levels 2 and 3 are eligible for up to a maximum of 8 additional credits.
Students will be awarded a certificate endorsement if they achieve 46 credits at Merit or Excellence level, rather than the usual 50. Students achieving 12 credits at Merit or Excellence level in a course – rather than 14 – will be awarded a course endorsement.
Current UE requirements have been reduced from 14 to 12 credits in three UE-approved subjects. Students still need to attain NCEA Level 3 and meet literacy and numeracy requirements to be awarded University Entrance.
External NCEA examinations and NZ Scholarship examinations will now take place from 16 November 2020 to 9 December 2020. This will provide extra time for teaching, learning and assessment in Term 4.
The submission date for subjects which require students to submit a portfolio (for example, Design and Visual Communications) has been extended to 12 November 2020, to give students more time to complete their portfolios.
NZQA has produced this summary for students.
As a school we have also tried to use the flexibility of the qualification to ease the pressure on students. Heads of Department have reviewed their courses and where practicable, have reduced the number of topics being assessed. These course changes have been communicated with students.
These changes will ensure the integrity of the qualification and motivate students to continue working towards achieving their qualification
