COVID-19 Updates and resources
As you will know, last week the dates for end of year exams and most portfolio submissions were shifted back by 2 weeks, along with changes for other NCEA assessments. Since then your Principals’ Nominees will have been advised of the new key dates, including a 2-week extension to the DigiCAT period and a 1-week extension for the Level 3 Visual Arts submission date.
Today, the Government has also announced that if schools and kura are disrupted by Alert Levels 3 or 4 for a total of 20 or more school days in 2021, the following additional changes would apply at the same rates and levels as originally announced in June 2020.
Details of these additional changes follow. Additionally, please find attached a Q&A about these changes for your school leadership team, and a draft communication which you may like to provide to students and whānau.
Learning Recognition Credits
For every 5 credits a student earns towards their NCEA through assessment, they would be entitled to one extra Learning Recognition Credit to acknowledge the disruption to their learning. Students undertaking NCEA Level 1 would be eligible for up to a maximum of 10 additional credits, while those at Levels 2 or 3 would be eligible for up to a maximum of 8 additional credits.
Certificate and Course Endorsements
For Certificate Endorsements, this would mean achieving 46 credits at Merit or Excellence level, instead of the usual 50. Course Endorsements would require 12 credits at Achieved or Merit or Excellence level in a course, rather than 14 – though students would still need to achieve at least 3 credits from external assessment and 3 from internal assessment (where these requirements usually apply).
University Entrance
To be awarded University Entrance, students would need to achieve 12 - rather than 14 - credits in each of 3 University Entrance Approved Subjects. Students would still need to attain NCEA Level 3 and meet literacy and numeracy requirements.
Threshold for measures
The threshold of 20 school days (a lower threshold than in 2020) has been used as we know Term 3 is a very busy period for schools and kura, with students completing internal assessments and preparing for external assessments. Disruption at this time of the year is likely to have a different impact from disruption earlier in the year; and there is less time for students to “catch up”.
The 20 school day threshold also reflects the challenges of dealing with the Delta variant – including the suddenness of the recent lockdown, and the possibility that transitions between Alert Levels 4/3 and 2 may be more complex than last year.
Schools in Auckland, including those which had to close as a direct result of COVID earlier this year, will meet the threshold at different times from schools in other parts of New Zealand. NZQA will monitor individual schools’ situation with respect to applying the Learning Recognition Credits and other measures.
NCEA as a qualification in 2020 and 2021
The adjustments that were made in 2020, and are able to be made this year, ensure that disruption to teaching, learning and assessment can be addressed consistently and equitably for all students. We know that teachers will assess against the standards with the confidence that these interventions appropriately recognise the disrupted environment we are working in. These two factors combined will ensure the integrity of the qualification and will enable students to achieve a valid and valued credential. We greatly appreciate your support in this regard.
Like last year, we want to make sure that students have the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned both in and outside of class, and that an NCEA qualification received this year will open doors to study and work the same as an NCEA earned in any other year.
Finally, we would again like to recognise the work you and your teams are doing to support students in these challenging times.