Introducing NCEA

NCEA stands for the National Certificate of Educational Achievement, and is part of the National Qualification Framework.

NCEA Guide

How do students gain an NCEA?

The NCEA will be awarded at Levels 1, 2 and 3.  Level 1 is normally done in Year 11, Level 2 in Year 12 and Level 3 in Year 13.  High achieving Year 13 students will also be able to enter the Scholarship examinations.

Each subject is divided into standards, each standard being worth a number of credits with most subjects offering about 18- 20 credits.  The standards may be achievement standards or unit standards.

The results for achievement standards are given as:

• Excellence
• Merit
• Achieved
• Not Achieved

[Please note:  The number of credits available for an achievement standard is fixed.  Students are encouraged to strive for Excellence and Merit results even though these do not earn students extra credit.]

All unit standards are internally assessed. The results for unit standards are given as:

• Achieved 
• Not achieved

Tawa College NCEA Level 1 Requirements

NCEA Level 1 is an optional qualification. Many schools are not doing any Level 1 standards.

Your MOST IMPORTANT assessment milestone is  Level 1 Literacy and Numeracy
This can be achieved through either:

• Reading/Writing/Numeracy digital exams (some of you passed these last year) OR
• English, Te Reo and Maths standards (alongside Science 91920 and a few standards in other subjects - please check with your teacher).

Tawa College is not offering NCEA Level 1 as an exit qualification. We want all of our students to work towards attaining a minimum of NCEA Level 2. You will have the opportunity however, to complete ONE NCEA Level 1 assessment in each course so that you gain important experiences in a range of different assessment styles.

Tawa College NCEA Level 2 Requirements

60 credits at NCEA Level 2 or above

To be awarded NCEA Level 2 you MUST have attained Level 1 Literacy and Numeracy
This can be achieved through either:

• Reading/Writing/Numeracy digital exams (May/September 2024)
• OR some English, Te Reo and Maths standards

AND you should ensure you can achieve UE Literacy:

• 5 credits at Level 2 or higher in reading 
• 5 credits at Level 2 or higher in writing

These are available in a range of subjects - check with your teachers

NCEA Level 2 is a very important exit qualification that opens the door to a range of different tertiary and career pathways.

Tawa College NCEA Level 3 Requirements

60 credits at NCEA Level 3 or above

To be awarded NCEA Level 3 you MUST have attained Level 1 Literacy and Numeracy
This can be achieved through either:

• Reading/Writing/Numeracy digital exams (May/September 2024)
• OR some English, Te Reo and Maths standards

AND you should ensure you can achieve UE Literacy:

• 5 credits at Level 2 or higher in reading 
• 5 credits at Level 2 or higher in writing

These are available in a range of subjects - check with your teachers

NCEA Level 3 is a very important University Entrance exit qualification that opens the door to a range of different tertiary and career pathways.

ENDORSED CERTIFICATES 
An NCEA certificate will be endorsed with Merit if the student gains 50 credits at Merit or Excellence at the Level they are studying or higher.  An NCEA certificate will be endorsed with Excellence if the student gains 50 credits at Excellence.

ENDORSED COURSE CERTIFICATES

At all three NCEA levels, students will be able to gain a Merit or Excellence Endorsement in a course.  A student must gain 14 credits or more in a course, in the school year, to get the endorsement.  A Merit Endorsement can be made up of Excellence credits, e.g. 8 Excellence credits and 6 Merit credits will equal a Merit Endorsement.
At least 3 of the 14 credits must be from internally assessed standards and 3 from externally assessed standards (national exams). PE, and Level 3 Visual Arts will be exempt from this rule.
Students can study at different year levels in a course, but the standards being used towards an endorsement can only be used once, and will be awarded at the lower level course