NCEA

A Guide to the NCEA

  • NCEA stands for National Certificate in Educational Achievement. Students in Y11 usually work towards the Level 1 NCEA, those in Y12 study for the Level 2 NCEA, and most Y13 students study at Level 3.

    • Our top students are also able to enter the New Zealand Scholarship exams.

  • To be awarded the Level 1 NCEA a student has to accumulate 80 Level 1 credits (or points). To gain Level 2 NCEA you need 80 Level 2 credits, etc.

    • These credits are gained by passing Achievement Standards or Unit Standards.
    An Achievement Standard is similar to a unit of work. Each year long course of study (such as Y11 Physics or Y13 English) is divided into, and assessed by, typically 5 to 9 Achievement Standards.

    For instance Year 11 Maths covers the following Achievement Standards:


    1.1 Algebraic Equations 3 credits
    1.2 Graphs 3 credits
    1.3 Measurement 4 credits
    1.4 Geometric Techniques 2 credits
    1.5 Statistics 3 credits
    1.6 Probability 2 credits
    1.7 Number Problems 3 credits
    1.8 Right - angled Triangles 2 credits
    1.9 Geometric Reasoning 2 credits


    A student who passes all the Achievement Standards in the Year 11 Maths course will gain a total of 24 credits for Maths. Thus a typical Year 11 student studying 6 subjects might attempt 40 or more Achievement Standards, and will be able to gain a maximum of about 6 x 24 = 144 credits. Remember a student only needs to gain 80 credits to be awarded the Level 1 certificate.

  • Literacy and numeracy requirements: To be awarded Level 1 NCEA, students must have gained at least eight credits in Mathematics, and eight credits in English.

  • About half of the Achievement Standards are externally assessed and the remainder are internally assessed.
    Internal assessment is set and marked by King's College teachers, but is subject to annual sampling and moderation by NZQA.
    External assessment includes end-of-year exams: each exam may be used to assess up to 4 or 5 Achievement Standards.

  • Every Achievement Standard (including those assessed by exam) is graded using Standards Based Assessment (SBA).

    SBA does not use marks, percentages, or rankings. Instead the result for each Achievement Standard is given as one of four grades: Not Achieved, Achieved, Merit, or Excellence. Achieved, Merit, and Excellence are all "pass" grades, and gain the full credits.
    Students are awarded a particular grade if they have reached a predetermined standard. Thus they are not competing against each other but against the standard: if every student reaches the required standard, then every student will pass.

    For example, here are the Assessment Criteria for one of the Geography Achievement Standards:


    • 1.1 Examine Extreme Natural Events 3 credits Externally Assessed
    The student will have Achieved the Standard if the assessment shows that the student can examine extreme natural events.

    The student will be awarded Merit if the assessment shows that the student can examine, in detail, extreme natural events.

    The student will be awarded Excellence if the assessment shows that the student can comprehensively examine extreme natural events.


  • Unit Standards are similar to Achievement standards. The main differences are that all Unit Standards are internally assessed, and they have only two grades - Not Achieved and Achieved.

  • In January, students receive a Results Notice giving the grades gained in every Achievement or Unit Standard that the student attempted.
    This link to the NZQA website will show you an example of a results notice.

  • Each student will also receive an updated Record of Learning, which is a cumulative record including the results from previous years.

  • Every student who has gained 80 credits or more will be issued with their certificate:


    • This is to certify that
    JOHN SMITH
    has been awarded the
    Level 1 National Certificate in Educational Achievement


    Up to 20 credits can be carried over from one level to another (so that if you get 60 credits at Level 1 and 60 at Level 2 you will be awarded both certificates).

    Students who get 50 or more credits at Merit Level or better will be awarded their NCEA "with Merit"; those obtaining over 50 credits at Excellence Level will be awarded their certificate "with Excellence".

  • Use this link to the NZQA website to access more information about the NCEA.