The external examinations are run by NZQA not by the School. The Exam Centre Manager, appointed by NZQA, in in charge of the examinations. You must follow all directions of the Exam Centre Manager and the Examination Supervisors. Any breeches of rules or conditions will be reported to NZQA.

Your Responsibilities

Before the Examination:

A week or so before the examinations you will be given an admission slip and a Candidate Information Sheet.

You need to:

• • • check all the personal details on the admission slip are correct (if there is an error see the Principal's Nominee urgently).

    • check that the standards you are expecting to sit are all listed (if a standard is not listed see the Principal's Nominee immediately - if you are not going to attempt a standard listed you do not need to do anything as you can not be withdrawn from a standard after 1 September.

    • keep the admission slip in a safe place - you will need to take it to every examination session.

    • read through the candidate information sheet. It tells you what you need to know for the examinations.

At the Examination:

• • • make sure that you have the correct day and time for your examination. If you miss the exam you can not sit it at another time.

    • arrive in plenty of time. You should be at the main entry to the school by 9:10 AM for morning examinations and 1:40 PM for afternoon examinations.

      • • there will be whiteboard at the main door which will show the exam session for the day and the venue for the exam. Most exams will be in the hall or the pavilion but some may be in other venues.

        • you should assemble outside the main entrance (or in the foyer if it is wet) or outside the pavilion. You must not enter the examination room until instructed to do so.

    • you will be called into the exam room in groups and you will be required to sit in your assigned seat.

    • make sure that you have your admission slip with you. You will need to show this to the supervisors who will check that the details match the examination papers. If you arrive without your admission slip you MUST go to the main office and request a replacement slip. You must get this signed by the Principal's Nominee (or by the Principal).

    • if you arrive after students have entered the exam room you must wait until the Principal's Nominee or a supervisor calls you into the room. If an exam supervisor has started giving the exam instructions you may be delayed as you can not start the exam until you have read and signed a copy of this information.

    • if you arrive more than 30 minutes after the start of the examination session you will not be allowed to enter the exam.

    • you must bring all necessary equipment (pens, rulers, protractors, approved calculators as required) in a clear plastic bag. It is NOT the responsibility of supervisors or the Principal's Nominee to supply you with equipment.

    • you must not bring into the examination room any electronic device which has the capability to store, communicate and/or retrieve information and including MP3 players and iPods, non-approved calculators, approved calculators where the memory has not been cleared, PDAs and electronic translators, dictionaries and cell phones. These will be removed from candidates by supervisors and may be sent to NZQA. Supervisors will file a special report for these candidates, which may be treated as a possible breach of the rules.

      • • cell phones must be switched off and should be left in the location designated by the Examination Centre Manager.

        • approved calculators capable of storing information must have their memory cleared by the Principal's Nominee or by a staff member. It is your responsibility to make sure that this is done.

    • you can not bring any kind of watch into the examination.

During the Examination:

• sets of exam booklets are personalised for you. You must check that they are sitting at the correct desk by matching the NSN and exam code on your admission slip with those on the pre-printed labels on the set of booklets in front of you. This is particularly important if you arrive in the exam room after the exam has started.

• you must must follow the instructions of the supervisor. This includes starting and stopping writing when instructed to. Failure to do so will be seen as a possible breach of the rules and may result in a formal investigation.

• you must only write in answer booklets which you want to have marked. If there are pre-printed personalised booklets in your exam pack for standards which they no longer wish to attempt, you must not write on, or in them in any way. Booklets which have been written or drawn on in any way will be treated as ‘live’ and will be marked according to the appropriate assessment schedule. Answer booklets left entirely blank will receive a ‘standard not assessed’ result.

• answers received on any paper other than official NZQA paper and not countersigned by a supervisor will not be marked. This may be treated as a possible breach of the rules

• if you use correcting fluid, pencil or erasable pens in your answer booklets you cannot have your booklets reconsidered as there is no way of ascertaining when or if an answer was altered. Incorrect answers and mistakes should simply be crossed out in pen. (Once booklets are returned in February, you must not write on, or in any booklets you want to have reconsidered). NZQA treats this as a possible breach of the rules and will undertake a formal investigation of any booklets that it believes have been altered by a candidate after the examinations.