In light of the disruption caused by COVID-19, NZQA and the Ministry of Education announced a number of changes to NCEA this week. These changes have been endorsed by the Minister’s professional advisory group to ensure both the integrity of the qualification and equity for students.
NZQA has also worked with Universities on changes to the University Entrance award for 2020, which the NZQA Board has endorsed.
NZQA will implement three key changes for 2020:
- Students working towards NCEA can gain additional credits, based on the number of credits they achieve during the 2020 school year. For every 5 credits a student achieves towards their NCEA through internal or external assessment, they can be awarded 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 or 3 are eligible for up to a maximum of 8 additional credits. These will be known as Learning Recognition (LR) 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 to 12 credits in three UE-approved subjects, from 14 credits in each of three approved subjects. Students still need to attain NCEA Level 3 and meet the literacy and numeracy requirement to be awarded University Entrance.
The changes are underpinned by the following principles:
- Students have a fair and equitable opportunity to achieve the qualifications and awards they would have been able to achieve in any other year;
- Students are engaged and progressing in their assessed learning;
- Changes are consistent with the integrity and credibility of the qualification; and
- Changes impose minimal workload on schools.
For more information, please visit the NZQA website.
