Alfriston College offers assessment and qualifications through New Zealand’s NCEA (National Certificate of Educational Achievement). NCEA is a standards-based system with three levels that are usually completed in Years 11, 12, and 13.
General Structure of NCEA
A learner is awarded an NCEA certificate when the credits required for the level have been earned. Credits are gained throughout the year by successfully completing assessment activities linked to standards. If a learner demonstrates that they have met the criteria for the standard, then the credits are awarded.
There are two types of standard:
- Achievement Standard – most assessments in school use achievement standards. There are three grades available, Achieved, Merit and Excellence. If a learner does not meet the standard they are graded as Not Achieved.
- Unit Standard – A few assessments in school and most standards in the Pathway Courses use Unit Standards. There are two grades available, Achieved and Not Achieved.
Each standard is worth a set number of credits. If a learner meets the standard they are awarded the credits regardless of the grade. Not Achieved grades do not earn credits.
Assessment usually takes place in one of two ways:
- Internal assessment – work is usually completed in class or independently at home and is marked by Learning Leaders at school.
- External assessment – this is usually in the form of an online test or examination, or a report or portfolio of work which is submitted to NZQA for marking.
Each level of NCEA requires a learner to earn 60 credits at that level or higher. The credits can come from assessments in any of the classes, courses or subjects that the learner is enrolled in. In addition to the 60 credits a learner must also demonstrate competency in Numeracy and Literacy. This is done by achieving specific credits in Numeracy (10 credits) and Literacy (10 credits). The co-requisite needs to be achieved only once and it counts towards all levels of NCEA.
The results from each assessment opportunity that a learner takes during the year are collated by NZQA, and in January following the assessment year, learners will be awarded the NCEA Level certificate provided that the requirements have been fully met.
Achieving NCEA
Requirements for NCEA Level 1 certification
To be awarded the NCEA Level 1 certificate, both of the following requirements must be met:
- A minimum of 60 credits at Level 1 or above from any combination of classes which can include a mixture of achievement standards and unit standards, and a mixture of Achieved, Merit and Excellence grades.
- The 20 credit co-requisite for Numeracy and Literacy.
Requirements for NCEA Level 2 certification
To be awarded the NCEA Level 2 certificate, both of the following requirements must be met:
- A minimum of 60 credits at Level 2 or above from any combination of courses, including Pathway Courses, which can include a mixture of achievement standards and unit standards, and a mixture of Achieved, Merit and Excellence grades.
- The 20 credit co-requisite for Numeracy and Literacy (if this has not already been achieved in Year 11).
Requirements for NCEA Level 3 certification
To be awarded the NCEA Level 3 certificate, both of the following requirements must be met:
- A minimum of 60 credits at Level 3 or above from any combination of courses, including Pathway Courses, which can include a mixture of achievement standards and unit standards, and a mixture of Achieved, Merit and Excellence grades.
- The 20 credit co-requisite for Numeracy and Literacy (if this has not already been achieved in Year 11 or 12).
The University Entrance (UE) Qualification
To be eligible to apply for entrance to a New Zealand university, school leavers must achieve the University Entrance (UE) qualification.
Requirements for University Entrance qualification
To be awarded UE, learners must achieve all of the following:
- NCEA Level 3 (which cannot be awarded without successful completion of the Numeracy co-requisite and the L1 Literacy co-requisite).
- The Level 3 qualification must include 14 or more credits from each of three approved subjects. Approved subjects consist of achievement standards which means that unit standard achievement from Pathway Courses can’t contribute to UE. The list of approved subjects and standards in each subject can be found on the NZQA website. This list is reviewed each year.
- UE Literacy which requires 5 credits from standards approved for UE Reading (R) and 5 credits from standards approved for UE Writing (W). Some standards are approved for both (B) and can count towards either the reading or the writing requirement, or can be split across both reading and writing. The requirements for UE Literacy are independent of the L1 Literacy and Numeracy co-requisite.
Endorsements
Endorsement recognises high achievement at either the course level or certificate level.
Course Endorsements
When a learner achieves 14 or more credits in a single course they can earn an endorsement for that course. The achievement must include credits from a mixture of internal and external assessment. An Achieved course endorsement is recognition that a learner has completed a significant quantity of learning in a single course. A Merit or Excellence course endorsement recognises that 14 or more credits have been achieved at a higher level.
Certificate Endorsements
When a learner achieves 50 or more of their credits towards a level of NCEA at a higher level they are awarded a certificate endorsement. A Merit endorsement requires 50 or more credits to be graded at Merit or above and an Excellence endorsement requires 50 or more credits to be graded at Excellence. The achievement for a certificate endorsement must take place in a single academic year.
