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Courses, Credits and endorsement.
What does it all mean??
Courses, Credits and endorsement.
What does it all mean??
The National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) is the main national qualification for secondary school students in New Zealand.
Each year, students study a number of courses or subjects.
In each subject, skills and knowledge are assessed against a number of standards. A standard details the key knowledge and skills within a given topic or context. It provides clear expectations and requirements for each level of achievement - Achieved, Merit and Excellence.
Schools use a range of internal and external assessments to measure how well students meet these standards.
When a student achieves a standard, they gain a number of credits. Students must achieve a certain number of credits to gain an NCEA certificate. There are three levels of NCEA certificate, depending on the difficulty of the standards achieved. In general, students work through levels 1 to 3 over their school years 11-13.
Credits gained at one level can be used for (or count towards) more than one certificate. They may also be used towards other qualifications.
Level 1
80 credits are required at any level (level 1, 2 or 3) including literacy and numeracy. Schools can explain the literacy and numeracy standard pathways they are using.
ASHS is focusing on Level 1 differently from 2022. Click here for all the details.
Level 2
60 credits at level 2 or above + 20 credits from any level
The Level 1 literacy and numeracy requirements must also be met.
Level 3
60 credits at level 3 or above + 20 credits from level 2 or above
The Level 1 literacy and numeracy requirements must also be met.
Further information: NCEA for Parents
Literacy & Numeracy
Literacy & Numeracy
Literacy requirement
Minimum of 10 credits through either:
Specified assessment standards - specified assessment standards available through a range of subjects including English for Academic Purposes unit standards 22749, 22750 and 22751 (minimum total of 10 credits); OR
Unit standards - package of three literacy unit standards (total of 10 credits - all three required).
Numeracy requirement
Minimum of 10 credits through either:
Achievement standards - specified assessment standards available through a range of subjects - (minimum total of 10 credits);OR
Unit standards - package of three numeracy unit standards (total of 10 credits - all three required).
Endorsement of NCEA certificates & courses
Endorsement of NCEA certificates & courses
Endorsement of NCEA certificates occurs following the release of results in January each year based on credits on a Candidate's New Zealand Record of Achievement at that time.
Where a Candidate qualifies for Excellence or Merit endorsement under paragraphs c. and d. of this Rule 8.4, subject to paragraphs e. and f. of this Rule 8.4, only the highest eligible NCEA Certificate endorsement from the following list will be recognised on the Certificate awarding the NCEA Qualification:NCEA Level 3 ExcellenceNCEA Level 3 MeritNCEA Level 2 ExcellenceNCEA Level 2 MeritNCEA Level 1 ExcellenceNCEA Level 1 Merit.
An Excellence endorsement of an NCEA certificate is issued to Candidates who have achieved 50 or more credits from standards with a grade of Excellence at the same or higher Level as the NCEA Certificate being endorsed.
A Merit endorsement of an NCEA certificate is issued to Candidates who have achieved 50 or more credits from standards with a grade of either Merit or Excellence at the same or higher Level as the NCEA Certificate being endorsed.
Where a Candidate qualifies for an NCEA Certificate at more than one Level in January of a year, each of those Certificates will be checked for endorsement.
A course endorsement is gained at the Level of the lowest standard making up the eligible 14 credits. Subject to the exemptions in paragraph d. of this Rule 8.5, NZQA will grant a Candidate a Course endorsement of:
Excellence where a Candidate achieves 14 or more credits from standards within the Course with a grade of Excellence, including at least three of those credits from internal standards and three of those credits from external standards:
Merit where a Candidate achieves 14 or more credits from the assessment within the Course at Merit or Excellence, including at least three of those credits from internal standards and three of those credits from external standards.
Scholarship
Scholarship
Scholarship is a monetary award to recognise top secondary school students. Scholarship exams are externally assessed and are an additional set of exams. They do not attract credits, nor contribute towards a qualification, but the fact that a student has gained a Scholarship appears on their Record of Achievement.
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