UNDERSTANDING NCEA National Certificate of Educational Achievement Audience

UNDERSTANDING NCEA National Certificate of Educational Achievement Audience Background Understand for a normal year Understand for 2020 Looking ahead

NCEA IS FOR ALL STUDENTS Those planning to: • go to university • get an apprenticeship • get a job after leaving school

HISTORY • National Certificates of Educational Achievement (NCEA) were introduced as New Zealand’s main secondary school qualifications between 2002 and 2004. • They grew out of a long-term intention to establish standards for national qualifications and recognise a wider range of skills and knowledge. A new set of qualifications was needed to reflect the more flexible learning environments in our schools. • NCEA was designed to challenge all students, including the most able and highly motivated. It was also designed to give schools the flexibility to develop a range of programmes to suit the specific needs of their students. • NCEA has been reviewed and refined since its initial implementation in 2002. A realignment of standards took place between 2011 – 2013. Last year, there was a significant review with changes coming over the next few years. • NCEA results now show a rich and accurate picture of a students’ skills and knowledge.

“NCEA was set up as a flexible, standards-based, high-stakes assessment model that was inclusive of all students, including those who had previously been excluded from gaining qualifications and for whom the schooling process was typically an alienating, negative experience. In this regard NCEA has been an undoubted success. ” Source: Hipkins, R. , Johnston, M. , Sheehan, M. , (2016), NCEA in Context, NZCER Press, page 198.

Mathematics Pre- NCEA Joe sits one examination paper at the end of the year and gets 61% in School Certificate mathematics. Jane is assessed internally on statistics and gains a merit grade. In an examination she sits four What did we know about Joe’s separate papers and gains: ability in mathematics? • Achieved in algebra Did he get all of the questions • Merit in geometry on geometry correct and none of the questions on algebra and • Achieved in chance and data • Not Achieved in tables, graphing? equations and graphs. Did he know a little bit about all We know exactly what aspects three? of mathematics Jane understands and at what level.

FEATURES • It is flexible • It involves a mixture of both internal and external assessment • Internal assessment is marked by teachers throughout the year and a sample is sent for moderation every year • External assessment is carried out through national examinations at the end of each year

HOW TO GAIN NCEA Each level of NCEA requires 80 credits, made up of a certain number of credits at certain levels Credits gained at one level can count towards more than one NCEA level qualification, and this can happen over more than one school year Level 1 literacy and numeracy requirements must be met to achieve NCEA Level 1, 2 and 3 • This involves gaining a minimum of 10 credits in literacy and 10 credits in numeracy.

HOW TO GAIN NCEA (Normal Year) NCE Credits required Literacy and Numeracy credits required 80 credits at level 1 or above 10 literacy, 10 numeracy (the same credits from level 1) A Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 University Entrance 80 credits 60 credits at level 2 or above plus 20 at any level 80 credits 10 numeracy, 10 literacy 60 credits at level 3 or above plus 20 at (the same credits from level 1) level 2 or above NCEA Level 3 10 numeracy credits at level 1 Three approved subjects (at level 3 or or above) made up of 14 credits each (in other words what was required to achieve level 1) 10 literacy credits at level 2 or above (5 credits in writing and 5 credits in reading)

Changes to NCEA for 2020 • Students working towards an NCEA can gain additional credits • This will be 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 and 3 are eligible for up to a maximum of 8 additional credits. • These will be known as Learning Recognition (LR) credits

Changes to NCEA for 2020 • Students will be awarded a certificate endorsement • If a student achieves 46 credits at Merit or Excellence level, rather than the usual 50 they will be awarded a certificate endorsement. • Students achieving 12 credits at Merit or Excellence level in a course - rather than 14 - they will be awarded a course endorsement.

Changes to NCEA 2020 • Current UE requirements have been reduced to 12 credits in three UE-approved subjects, from 14 credits in three approved subjects. • Students still need to attain NCEA Level 3 and meet the literacy and numeracy requirement to be awarded University Entrance

Changes to NCEA 2020 • NCEA External Exams now start on Monday 16 th November and go through to Wednesday 9 th December • This allows for one more week of teaching, learning and internal assessment in term 4 • Portfolio subjects (DVC & Art) submission dates have been extended from Wednesday 28 th October to 12 th November

HOW TO ACHIEVE STANDARDS When a student studies a subject like English for example, their work is assessed against a set of standards. Each standard is worth a number of credits – usually between three and six.

There are two types of standards: • Achievement Standards – these can be assessed by internal assessment AND external assessment. These standards are based on the New Zealand Curriculum • Unit Standards – these can only be assessed internally. They usually assess a vocationally based skill, for example, US 56 Attend to customer enquiries face-to-face and on the telephone

LITERACY AND NUMERACY Literacy and numeracy requirements must be met to achieve NCEA. At Level One the requirement is 10 literacy and 10 numeracy credits. These can be achieved through English and Mathematics but they can also be achieved through other subjects. For example, Accounting, Music, Geography, Science etc.

ENDORSEMENT Students can gain: • NCEA at Level 1, 2 or 3 endorsed with Merit or Excellence - this means they have gained 50 (46 in 2020) or more credits at Level 1 (or 2 or 3) at merit or excellence • Course endorsement - in a single school year a student can gain, for example, History endorsed with excellence because they gained 14 (12 in 2020) or more credits at excellence. At least three of those credits must be from internal assessment and three from external assessment. The exception is Physical Education (which is entirely internally assessed)

HOW WORK IS ASSESSED Assessment measures student performance against standards. If the student’s work meets the requirements of the standard then the standard is achieved and credits awarded. Grades awarded can be either: N = Not Achieved A = Achieved M = Achieved with Merit E = Achieved with Excellence

NCEA RESULTS Students can access their results by logging in to the learner home page on the NZQA website. In late June they will get a personalised card which will state their national student number and how to register on that learner page. This registration is important because this is how students can get their results in January of the following year.

Things to be aware of • Attend parent teacher interviews • Note Yr 11 for 2020, is on Wednesday 1 st July from 4: 00 – 6: 30 pm • Know the internal assessment calendar and examination timetable. • Yr 11 – 13 students have the opportunity to take up peer tutoring for term 3 • Teachers will advertise tutorials on schoology Note: the individual subject assessment statements for students were emailed home in

Practice and Benchmark Examinations Week 6 Term Three (24 th – 28 th August) For students this week is a focus on practice external assessments

Benchmark Examinations Week 6 Term Three These are practices for the end of year examinations. They involve a two to three hour examination which will, as closely as possible, replicate the end year examination. It is important that students understand that the grades awarded for these examinations may well be used for the awarding of a derived grade if the student is unable to sit the end of year examination due to illness, accident etc and will also be used in the case of an unexpected event, for example, pandemic, earthquake, tsunami warning

Planning and tracking NCEA progress - NCEA Student App • NZQA has developed a mobile App called ‘My. Mahi’ to help students plan their NCEA study programme, set goals and track their progress.

My. Mahi • Perhaps most exciting is the ease with which My. Mahi can be accessed by students either through the webpage or using the My. Mahi app. Student Log In - Webpage 1. Students access their My. Mahi account by visiting https: //mymahi. co. nz/ 2. Scroll down and click on "Login" 3. Select "student" login 4. Select the option to login using Google 3. Enter school email address and password The My. Mahi app can be downloaded from the App Store or through Google Play. Login details are the same as those listed above. My. Mahi will be used more extensively by the year 10 Encompass classes in 2020 and additional functions will be introduced to the whole students body as the year progresses. In the meantime, we hope that the portal is helpful to our seniors as they monitor their progress with NCEA.

My. Mahi

App functionality enables the student to: • Select and set their NCEA credit goals and targets • See how they are tracking towards NCEA Levels one, two and three, including Literacy, Numeracy and University Entrance (UE) • Set reminders for each standard such as when assignments are due • Capture results as they are achieved and cross check with the school or NZQA • Personalise with information such as NSN number or details about a course or standard (such as the teacher’s name or timetabled classroom) • Customise with different colour coding options and the ability to add photos

Parent Portal • Parents can access the parent portal either through the school website (link at the bottom of the page

Parent Portal • Or parents can access the parent portal as follows (please note the absence of www): http: //pp. hnhs. school. nz

Looking Ahead • Digital Assessment is on the increase • At present this involves subjects which are mainly essay based • In 2020, at HNHS, students taking L 1 Media Studies and L 2 Home Economics have the option of sitting their external exams in digital format • Moving from sitting in computer room to doing on their own device

Looking Ahead • Review of Achievement Standards • Level 1 is optional. Level 1 is broad in approach – foundational skills. Levels 2 & 3 are more specialised. • Numeracy (10 credits) and Literacy (10 credits) are corequistes for Level 1 and can be gained from year 9 • 60 credits will be needed to gain NCEA Level 1 (or 2 or 3). There will be no carry over of credits. • Each subject (e. g. Level 2 Biology) will have 4 standards worth 20 credits • The 4 standards will be made up of 2 internal standards and 2 external standards • These new standards are currently being written and will be trialled over the next few years.

Jargon NCEA Credits NAME ROA Standards Subject Endorsement Course Endorsement Numeracy Literacy University Entrance Internals Externals Digital Assessment LRC