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Understanding NCEA and assisting with subject selection
Understanding NCEA and assisting with subject selection
NCEA
NCEA
NCEA stands for the National Certificate of Educational Achievement. It’s the main qualification for senior secondary school students, and it’s available at Levels 1, 2 and 3 on the New Zealand Qualifications Framework (NZQF). NCEA is for everyone, whether you want to do an apprenticeship, go to university, or be ready to get a job when you leave school.
● NCEA Level 1 will provide a solid foundation of skills and knowledge that you can build on
● NCEA Level 2 is usually the minimum qualification you will need for some jobs and tertiary programmes
● NCEA Level 3, along with the University Entrance (UE) award, is what you will need to enter most university and tertiary programmes.
For more information on NCEA click here
Qualification Framework
Qualification Framework
This is how the Level 1,2 and 3 fit into the overall qualification framework:
University Entrance
University Entrance
To gain University entrance, students need to achieve NCEA Level 3, plus 14 credits at Level 3 or higher in each of three subjects from the approved list.
They must also meet literacy and numeracy requirements:
● Literacy: 10 credits at Level 2, with at least 5 credits in Reading and 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 – package of three numeracy unit standards (26623, 26626, 26627)*
* All three required.
Helping with Subject Selection
Helping with Subject Selection
What to think about when choosing school subjects?
There are a few things young people need to weigh up when choosing school subjects. It's not just about what they enjoy – this is important to consider, as they're likely to put more effort into the subjects they enjoy - but also about what subjects will be useful to them in the future. What are the subjects that are needed in the areas of work they are interested in?
Here are some questions to ask your teen before they make their subject choices.
Here are some questions to ask your teen before they make their subject choices.
Step 1. Don’t rush your decision. It is important to take time, do the work and get it right as it may be difficult to change subjects later.
Step 2. Know your options Look through the subject choices either online or get a hard copy. Highlight the subjects you are interested in and take note of what you need to study those subjects (Pre-requisites) – do I have these, or will I achieve them?
Step 3. Think about your abilities and interests at school When you are deciding on what subjects to take think about things like:
• What subjects are you good at or not so good at? What do others say you are good at?
• What does this tell you about yourself?
• What are your strengths? Are you a good writer, good with numbers, a practical person?
• Which subjects have you enjoyed studying? What is it about this subject that you enjoy?
• Which do you dislike and why?
Thinking about these sorts of things will help them figure out what subjects they could do and what jobs they might want to pursue in the future.
Step 4. Think about jobs that have opportunities and that might be in demand Here are some of the ways you can find out about what jobs might be in demand in the future. Immigration New Zealand produces a skill shortage list that helps to identify where the skill shortages are in New Zealand. Occupational Outlook is a great website to understand future job prospects.
NZ Long Term Skill Shortage List
No one can say with certainty what the future work environment will look like. But experts predict that these seven career areas have the most promising future. There are hands-on pathways into some of these careers:
● Medicine and health care
● Renewable energy and green jobs
● Information technology
● International and environmental law
● Content creation and marketing
● Data science
● Financial analysis
Step 5. How will your choices affect your future? When making subject choices, you need to think about how your choices will affect your future career options and/or your future tertiary training options. (University, polytechnics, other training providers, apprenticeships and the Defence Force). List the careers that interest you and then research the secondary school subjects are recommended. (Links to recommended subject list for university degrees below)
Complete the following "Action Plan on Choosing Subjects".
Researching your career options and understanding the subjects that are relevant are important. Here are some other links and tools you can use to help you research more about your career options.
Possible sources of information for job research:
Possible sources of information for job research:
• Link to information about the ITO's in NZ
• Link to information on a huge variety of apprenticeship
• Newspaper and magazine articles
• People with experience of the job
• People who offer training in the area
• Your own work experiences
• Career Videos
o Oompher
Step 6. Keep your career options open. Most people change their minds about what they want to do in the future. Your interests and abilities will change over time, or you might find out about new careers that you had never heard of before.
If you’re unsure about what job you want to do, try to study a wide range of subjects at school. This will give you more options later on. Doing as well as you can in Maths and English is important as literacy and numeracy are important in most careers. Think carefully before giving up any science subjects.
Here is a process for deciding on subjects for Year NCEA:
Here is a process for deciding on subjects for Year NCEA:
• How well do you think you are going with your NCEA Level 1 or 2 subjects?
• Do you know what you need for NCEA Level 1/2/3/UE (have you chosen University approved subjects?)
• Have you spoken with your teachers about doing Level 2 (or 3) in the subject?
• Are you aware of the expectations for the subjects you have chosen?
• Are there any other subjects that you have considered? Have you considered options through Gateway, Trades Academy?
• Are you intending to return for Year 13?
• What job and training ideas do you currently have for beyond school?
• Do you know what the prerequisites are for these choices beyond school? Do you know what career directions they might offer?
• Have you checked your job and training ideas with someone in that area?
• Have you talked over your choices with your parents, whanau, teachers?
• Need more help? Make an appointment to talk with your Career Advisor at school.
Subject recommended by each of the universities for different degree programmes:
Subject recommended by each of the universities for different degree programmes:
• AUT
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