NATIONAL CERTIFICATE OF EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT (NCEA) LEVEL THREE

NCEA Level 3

NCEA Level 3 requires a minimum of 60 credits at Level 3 or above and 20 credits at Level 2 or above.

A student’s year-end NCEA slip will reflect the subjects studied, which achievement standards they sat and the ranking for each one.  Some students could also sit Unit Standards Assessments.  These will also be recorded on the year-end NCEA slip.  (Please read the requirements for University Entrance on page 52 VERY CAREFULLY.  Gaining a Level 3 Certificate doesn’t necessarily qualify a student for university).

Achievement Standards (A/S) and Unit Standards (U/S)

These are the two types of standards that can be used to assess students in senior courses.  Both are assigned credits that contribute towards a student’s overall achievement in NCEA.  Some subjects use all achievement standards or all unit standards.  Some subjects use a combination depending on the work to be assessed.

Achievement Standards (A/S) – Achievement Standards give students a ranking for their work:

Unit Standards (U/S) – Unit Standards do not give a ranking, but the criteria tend to be very specific.  They are either:

Not Achieved        Has not achieved the standard required.  (No credits awarded)

Achieved               Has achieved the required standard         (The credits are awarded)

Endorsement of National Certificates at All Levels:

In July 2007 The New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) announced details for the endorsement of National Certificates in Educational Achievement (NCEA).  Students require 50 credits at excellence to gain an NCEA Certificate endorsed with excellence, and 50 credits at merit or merit and excellence to gain an NCEA Certificate endorsed with merit.  Credits counting towards endorsement may be gained at the level of the certificate or above.

Further improvements to NCEA include endorsing single subjects for merit or excellence.  This is currently under consideration.  The details are still to be released.

The purpose of endorsements is to encourage students to strive to produce work of a high quality and to recognise high levels of achievement.

Scholarships:

Scholarship is externally assessed.  It is designed to extend TOP LEVEL students and to financially assist very able students to attend university.

Scholarship examinations will continue to focus on the content of Level 8 of the curriculum.  Assessments within each subject are based on the learning outcomes expressed in the Level 3 Achievement Standards for each subject.

The Scholarship exams enable students to be assessed against challenging standards, and are demanding for the most able students in each subject.  Scholarship students are expected to demonstrate high-level critical thinking, abstraction and generalization, and to integrate, synthesize and apply knowledge, skills, understanding and ideas to complex situations.

Scholarship candidates need to be enrolled full-time in a secondary school or wharekura.  In order to receive a monetary award, a student must be a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident and enrolled in tertiary study in New Zealand in the years they receive monetary awards.

Scholarship is a monetary award to recognise top students.  It does not award credits nor contribute towards a qualification but the fact that a student has gained a Scholarship appears on the Record of Learning.

The Scholarship Awards are:

Single Subject Award

♣For students who get Scholarship in up to two subjects

♣A ‘one-off’ award of $500 per subject (Maximum payment $1,000)

Top Subject Scholar Award

♣For students who are top in one of the 28 Scholarship subjects

♣$2,000 each year for three years as long as students maintain a ‘B’ grade average in tertiary study

Scholarship Award

♣For students who get three or more Scholarship subjects

♣$2,000 each year for three years as long as students maintain a ‘B’ grade average in tertiary study

Outstanding Scholar Award

♣For the top 40-60 students who get three Scholarship subjects with at least two outstanding performances

♣$5,000 each year for three years as long as students maintain a ‘B’ grade average in tertiary studies

Premier Award

♣For the very top 5 to 110 students who get three Scholarships with outstanding performances

♣$10,000 each year for three years as long as students maintain at least a ‘B’ grade average in tertiary studies

Accumulating Awards

Where a candidate meets the criteria for more than one award, he or she will receive only the award of the highest monetary value in most circumstances.  However, if a candidate receives a Top Subject Scholar Award, and also gets Scholarship in other subjects he or she will also receive one $500 Single Subject Award.

NATIONAL CERTIFICATE IN EMPLOYMENT SKILLS (NCES)

The NCES qualification will show employers that students have achieved a range of skills which are important in the work place and are ready for the workforce.

What areas are covered by the NCES?

To complete the NCES, Unit Standards in the following are required:

        

           

Year 12 students may take:

Level 2 NCEA Achievement and Unit Standards

National Certificate Units (refer to page 71 of this booklet)

Year 11 Subjects – Level 1 NCEA Achievement and Unit Standards

All Year 12 students must study five subjects from the Level 2 list or from other lower levels.

They must study English -

Plus 4 other subjects chosen from the Level 2 list below (or Level 1):

These subjects below are arranged in “Lines” on the Course Choice Form

according to the draft timetable for 2009.

            Accounting/Economics

            Art - Painting

                   - Photography

            Biology

            Chemistry

            Design Technology

            Dramatic Arts

            Early Childhood Education

            ESOL 1

            ESOL 2

            French

            Gateway

            Geography

            Graphics and Design

            History

            Hospitality and Tourism

            Independent Living / Career Search

            Information and Communication Technology

            Maori

            Mathematics 1, 2 and 3

            Music – Sound Arts

            Outdoor Education

            Physical Education

            Physics

            Rural Pathways

            Tourism and Travel

UNIVERSITY ENTRANCE:

•A minimum of 42 credits at level 3 or higher on the National Qualifications Framework, including a minimum of 14 credits at level 3 or higher in each of two subjects from the approved subject list (see previous page) with a further 14 credits at level 3 or higher taken from no more than two additional domains on the National Qualifications Framework or approved subjects.

•A minimum of 14 credits at level 1 or higher in Mathematics on the National Qualifications Framework.

•A minimum of 8 credits at level 2 or higher in English or Te Reo Maori; 4 credits must be in Reading and 4 credits must be in Writing. The literacy credits must be from a schedule of approved Achievement Standards and Unit Standards.  See below:

For detailed lists of approved subjects and literacy standards see

http:// www.nzqa.govt.nz/publications/circulars S2003/079

Possible scenarios include:

1.English (14) + Statistics (14) + photography (14) Literacy and Numeracy not an issue.

2.English (14) + French (14) + Biology (6) + Graphics (8)

3.Chemistry (14) + History (14) + Economics (14) + L2 English 8 (4 Reading/4Writing) + L1 Maths (14)

Approved Literacy Credits

Level 3 Achievement Standards include:

English written language (90722, 90723, 90724, 90726, 90375, 90376, 90377, 90378, 90379, 90380, 90381, 90720, 90721)

Level 2 Unit Standards include:

English written language (8823, 8825, 12905, 12419, 12420)

English oral language (12421, 12422)

Level 3 Unit Standards include:

English written language (8834, 8835, 12427, 12428, 12429)

English oral language (12430)

Level 4 Unit Standards include:

English written language (8841, 8842)

ENTRY TO VARIOUS OTHER TERTIARY COURSES / APPRENTICESHIPS / WORK SCHEMES:

Check on the Internet, with tertiary providers or with Mrs Thom on the requirements for entry into various tertiary courses and even apprenticeships / work schemes.  Sometimes students are surprised by the entry of requirements.