Gaining NCEA, Scholarship and UE
Outlined below is the fundamentals of NCEA that are important for you all to know.
Read each section carefully and ask your Kaiārahi or Kaiāko if you have any questions.
This guide covers:
Gaining NCEA Level 1, 2, or 3
Certificate Endorsement
Course Endorsement
University Entrance
Scholarship
GAINING NCEA LEVEL 1, 2 OR 3
The National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) is the main national qualification for secondary school students in New Zealand and is the one that we use at Rototuna Senior High School.
There are three levels of NCEA, depending on the difficulty of the standards achieved. At each level, you must achieve a certain number of credits to gain NCEA. Credits can be gained over more than one year and from internal and external assessments.
Requirements for Passing Each NCEA Level:
NCEA Level 1 (this is an optional certificate for RSHS students however, it is expected that all RSHS students will attain 10 credits in Literacy and 10 Credits in Numeracy)
80 credits are required at any NCEA Level (Level 1, 2 or 3)
Literacy - minimum of 10 credits in specified standards
Numeracy - minimum of 10 credits in specified standards
NCEA Level 2
80 credits at Level 2 are required, OR 60 credits in Level 2 or above plus 20 credits from Level 1
The Level 1 literacy and numeracy requirements must also be met
NCEA Level 3
80 credits at Level 3 are required, OR 60 credits at Level 3 plus 20 credits from Level 2 or above
The Level 1 literacy and numeracy requirements must also be met
CERTIFICATE ENDORSEMENTS
COURSE ENDORSEMENTS
A Certificate Endorsement recognises that you have performed constantly above Achieved in your current NCEA Level.
NCEA Endorsed with Excellence
When you gain 50 or more credits at Excellence at the level of the certificate or above, your NCEA certificate would have gained an endorsement with Excellence
NCEA Endorsed with Merit
When you gain 50 or more credits at Merit at the level of the certificate or above, OR if you gain 50 or more credits at a mix of Merit and Excellence, your NCEA certificate will be endorsed with Merit.
Credits for an endorsed NCEA certificate (Levels 1, 2, and 3) can be gained over more than one academic year.
A Course Endorsement recognises that, in a particular course, you have performed constantly above Achieved grade.
Courses are defined by our school and not all courses you take will be eligible for a course endorsement. Standards contributing to a course endorsement must be assessed within a single academic year and must come from both internal and external assessment.
Excellence Endorsement in a Course
When you gain 14 or more credits at Excellence in a course in a single academic year, you will be awarded an Excellence Endorsement in your course.
Merit Endorsement in a Course
When you gain 14 or more credits at Merit (or a mix of Merit and Excellence) in a course in a single academic year, you will be awarded a Merit Endorsement in your course.
Achieved Endorsement in a Course
When you gain 14 or more credits at Achieved (or a mix of Achieved and Merit) in a course in a single academic year, you will be awarded an Achieved Endorsement in your course.
To be awarded an endorsement at any level you need at least 3 credits from internal assessments and 3 credits from external assessments( excluding Physical Education, Religious Studies and Level 3 Visual Arts).
UNIVERSITY ENTRANCE
University Entrance (UE) is the minimum requirement to gain entry into a New Zealand university.
If you are aiming for UE through NCEA you need to ensure that your programme of learning meets not only the minimum requirements, but also the entry requirements for the particular institution you wish to go to.
Requirements for University Entrance:
Achievement or above in NCEA Level 3
Level 1 Numeracy
10 credits at Level 1 or above
UE Literacy
10 credits at Level 2 or above, made up of 5 credits from specific reading standards and 5 credits from specific writing standards
14 credits in each of three University approved subjects
SCHOLARSHIP
New Zealand Scholarship Examinations are the most challenging standards in each subject and is usually carried out by Year 13 students. Assessment is mainly through an extra examination that is undertaken during the end-of-year exam period, or through the submission of work in a portfolio.
There is a monetary award for gaining a scholarship in a subject and a greater award for gaining an outstanding result. The awards that are gained contribute towards tertiary study at a New Zealand university or a tertiary institution.
A scholarship can be achieved by a student in Year 12 and the money held over until the student attends a tertiary institution in the coming years.
To enrol in a scholarship examination or to find out more information about scholarship, you should speak to your subject teacher.