Senior high school students received their NCEA results last week. NCEA means National Certificate of Educational Achievement. Students in Year 11 need to get 80 credits at Level 1. Some of these credits are from work done in class and this is called internal assessment. The word assessment just means tests, exams, or other ways that teachers can measure what students know. One example is a speech in class. If a student gives a good speech, this is 3 credits. There are three grades: a pass, merit or excellence. By the end of the year, students already know the results of internal assessments.
Other credits, however, are from exams in November and December. This is called external assessment. One example is to write an essay of 250 words or more. These exams are sent to NZQA (National Qualifications Authority) in Wellington for marking. Students got these results last week. They will also get their exam papers back again. New Zealand is the only country in the world to return exam papers.
Year 13 students need 80 credits for level 3 but 20 of those can be level 2 credits. For entry to university, students need 42 credits at level 3 in certain subjects. Some courses at university have restricted places so students may need more credits or grades of excellence.
Year 13 students wanting to challenge themselves, sat scholarship exams at the end of the year. They will get their scholarship results in the middle of February. |