Additional support for NCEA students

The following support and changes to NCEA apply to students in Auckland in the first instance:

• Additional places will be available in programmes led by Te Aho o te Kura Pounamu (Te Kura) from term 4. This will support students most at risk of not achieving their NCEA goals in 2020.
• In partnership with the Ministry of Education, Te Kura will have extra places in their summer school this year. This is for students who need up to 10 additional credits to get an NCEA or University Entrance award.
• Students working towards an NCEA can gain:
  • up to 6 extra Learning Recognition (LR) credits at Level 1
  • up to 4 extra LR credits at levels 2 and 3.
• The credit requirements for certificate endorsements have been reduced by 2 credits. This means students will be awarded a certificate endorsement if they achieve 44 credits at merit or excellence level, instead of 46. 

The changes recognise that students in Auckland lost 13 days of classroom-based learning in August following the resurgence of COVID-19 in the community.

The Ministry of Education and NZQA will look to apply similar measures to other regions should COVID-19 related school closures happen during the remainder of the school year.

There may be a small number of other circumstances where it is appropriate to apply the LR credits to students whose learning has been significantly affected. NZQA and the Ministry will determine the criteria for consideration of these.

These changes build on announcements from earlier in the year.

Announcement of changes to NCEA (external link)

Announcement of changes to University Entrance (external link)