Key dates and information

Key dates for secondary assessment

16 October

Candidate examination admission slips sent to schools

14-18 October

DCAT Level 2 & 3 assessment period

20 October

External moderation deadline

23 October

Visual Arts Level 1 submissions and provisional results due

24 October

Confirm with your SRM all 3 & 4-way exam clash arrangements

30 October

Submissions and Kete Manarua due

Visual Arts Level 2 submissions and provisional results due

31 October

School payment due for NCEA and NZ Scholarship international fee-paying students

1 November

Data file submission due – include all student derived grades

Pre-approval applications for National Representation close

5 November

NCEA and NZ Scholarship exams begin

7 November

Visual Arts Level 3 submissions due

1 December

Final data file submission due

5 December

Release of Co-requisite Assessment Event 2 Results for Literacy Reading, Writing and Numeracy and Candidate Assessment Feedback Reports (for those who did not achieve)

PN online support sessions

Termly top-up

School Relationship Managers are leading three online sessions during week 1 of Term 4 to go over the ‘What's on Top’ for this term.

No need to register, just attend a meeting by selecting a session below.

Tuesday 15 October – 3.30pm (external link)

Wednesday 16 October - 3.30pm (external link)

Thursday 17 October – 3.30pm (external link) 

Digital Submission

This is a repeat of information shared in the session held in the last week of Term 3. It provides a forum to ask questions relating to the digital submission process.

Tuesday 22 October – 3.30pm (external link)

End of Year wrap up

The final online support sessions will give you reminders for finishing off the year and answer questions to cover you over the summer holiday period.

Tuesday 19 November - 3.30pm (external link)

Thursday 21 November - 3.30pm (external link)

External submissions

Level 1 Visual Arts 91914 and 91915 additional submission instructions

The last day to submit Level 1 Visual Arts work for verification is 5pm Wednesday 23 October. Please follow the:

Administrative and Submission Instructions for Level 1 and Level 2 Visual Arts [PDF, 1.5 MB]

For Level 1, upload and submit selected portfolios for verification through the new portal as per the instructions.

For candidates who are not selected for verification, please change their status in the new portal to Not Submitting. (This will not affect the provisional results entered in the old portal.)

Additional information when Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu (Te Kura #498) is the Assessing School

If you have students entered into Level 1 standards requiring digital submissions where Te Kura is the assessing school, please ensure you have used 498 as the external Provider code in your SMS or Web entries.

Te Kura has previously provided you with instructions on how they will upload, review, and submit student work to NZQA. On Monday 7 October, a feature will be deployed into the digital submission platform so that both the school of enrolment and the assessing school Te Kura will have visibility of the Level 1 submission.

Please continue to follow Te Kura’s instructions for administering these submissions.

Kete Manarua submissions

The Te Ao Haka and Te Marautanga o Aotearoa standards that were submitted via the previous digital submissions system in Terms 2 and 3 have now been switched to the new digital submissions tool in the MyNZQA portal for the assessments due on 30 October 2024. 

Digital exam entries

Please check the accuracy of your digital entries through the Digital Exams link in the Key Indicators in your Provider Login.

If they are not accurate, please send an updated data file and let your ECM know so they can plan accordingly.

Digital exam clashes

For 2024, to allow students to access the digital exam at an alternative time, we will be able to make special provisions for candidates with 2-way clashes that include NZ Scholarship or Level 3, or 3-way digital clashes.

At the end of October, we will provide identified schools a list with digital clashes that fit in the above category with proposed alternative times for the digital exam to be sat. These follow the normal principles for managing clashes so should align with the arrangements you have made with your students.

If not, please inform your students of the changed timing.

Your ECM will receive a copy of the list along with further instructions on how to access the alternative session.

Level 3 Te Reo Māori 91652 and 91653

Updated tautuhinga

Tautuhinga Aromatawai | Assessment Specifications for Level 3 Te Reo Māori 91652 and 91653 have been updated:

Te Reo Māori assessment specifications

Level 3 Te Reo Māori 91652

The updated version of the assessment specifications states that the ākonga can respond in either te reo Māori or English.

Level 3 Te Reo Māori 91652 - Tautuhinga [PDF, 128 KB]

Level 3 Te Reo Māori 91653

The updated version of the assessment specifications is a minor formatting change.

Level 3 Te Reo Māori 91653 - Tautuhinga [PDF, 128 KB]

Level 1 examination stimulus material

Reminder for History 92026 and Geography 91935

Students need to be given a copy of the stimulus material for History 92026 and Geography 91935 before their exam.

The History material is available in the Provider Login from 21 October and Geography was from the start of term 3.

See the assessment specifications for further details.

Exam Centre Management resources

For your reference, the 2024 Exam Centre Manager Instructions and Audiovisual Assessment Instructions are now available on:

Resources for Principal’s Nominees

You will also find links to other resources there to assist you with examination processes, including tips for briefing staff and students.  

External examinations - use of Polly

The text-to-speech functionality (Polly) will not be available in any of the 2024 digital examinations in November.

While Polly is enabled in some past digital examinations, and students may utilise this functionality as part of their preparation for their end-of-year examinations, they need to be aware that it will not be turned on in the November assessments.

We continue to work with our vendor to ensure that this functionality is fit for purpose for students who need it and will work at the scale required for larger volume examinations.

Due date for derived grades

A reminder that schools are to send results from practice assessments through their Student Management System before exams start on 5 November.

All students with an entry in a NCEA exam should have a result reported from a practice assessment in case it is required for an event that initiates the derived grade at scale process.

Derived grades at scale

Special Assessment Conditions (SAC)

Special assessment conditions timeline

Attaching SAC entitlements to exam sessions

It is now urgent to complete this process. Please inform your ECM if this is not yet completed.

Guidelines on how to complete this process can be found on page 38 of the SAC Online Tool Guide.

SAC online tool guide [PDF, 1.9 MB]

SAC exam timetables

You can access and print these exam timetables to assist with your planning. Use the Special Assessment Candidate Exam Timetables link via your school’s SAC webpage or via Key Indicators.

You can print these out in various formats – many schools find that format 2 is the most useful.

Submitting applications for 2024

The deadline for submitting 2024 applications using the trial Notifications Gateway (including Computer Only Notifications) and for all Learning category applications (dyslexia, dysgraphia, etc.) using either the Trial Notifications Gateway or the Approvals Gateway closed at the end of Term 3. 

Applications under the Sensory, Medical or Physical categories can still be made using the Approvals Gateway until the end of the examination period. Please submit these as early as possible. 

Submitting applications for 2025

Applications for 2025 can only be submitted using the Approvals Gateway at this stage. The Notifications Gateway will be open from January 2025.

Further information will be available in an Assessment Matters circular soon.

Support

Please contact NZQA’s SAC team sac@nzqa.govt.nz or your School Relationship Manager if you have any questions or would like advice and guidance on SAC processes.

Te Marautanga o Aotearoa (TMoA) University Entrance

English-medium school requirements

English-medium schools with students studying in a Kaupapa Māori context (such as through an immersion unit) must notify your School Relationship Manager of the students undertaking any of the TMoA subjects below for University Entrance by 1 December:

  • Hauora
  • Ngā Mahi a te Rēhia
  • Ngā Toi Ataata
  • Ngā Toi Puoro

Find out more about Te Marautanga o Aotearoa University Entrance subjects and notification process

Support for kaiako/teachers

Embedding videos into presentations

Videos on NZQAs website, such as the digital submissions videos in Te Reo or English, are available on Vimeo if you wish to use them within your own school documents and presentations such as PowerPoint.

Te Reo video (external link)

English video (external link)

NZQA's Vimeo channel (external link)

You can embed these by using the embed code for each video. To access the embed codes on Vimeo click the share (arrow icon), then embed, then copy embed code.

Updates to NCEA requirements

The Ministry of Education website pages have been updated to reflect recent changes to the NCEA requirements for 2025.

Understanding how NCEA requirements are changing - MoE (external link)

External moderation

Consistency statements

Consistency statements form part of your External Moderation feedback.

A reminder of the explanation associated with each consistency statement can be found at:

External moderation outcomes

School stories - case study

Case study – supporting students in NZ Scholarship

A new case study looking at how St Peter’s College in Auckland supports students to achieve NZ Scholarship has been published on the NZQA website.

St Peter's case study

This case study is a follow-up from a 2023 Insights paper on supporting equitable opportunities for Māori and Pacific students in NZ Scholarship.

Supporting Equity for Māori and Pacific students in New Zealand Scholarship

NZQA implementation support for changes to Level 1 standards and assessment methods

For the externally assessed standards, the 2025 external assessment specifications for all Level 1-3 standards and NZ Scholarship, were published on our website on 14 October 2024.

This is to align with the Ministry updating and republishing on their website the revised Levels 1-3 achievement standards available for use in 2025 and sector planning documentation.

Where there has been a change to the assessment method, or a change of mode from internal to external, sample assessment material will be published on our website on 18 November 2024.

We will provide:

  • Sample Assessment Item(s) including resource material, where required
  • Assessment Schedules, and
  • Expected Student Responses for all levels of achievement.

Feedback on draft NZ Scholarship Digital Technologies and Psychology

NZQA invites feedback on the draft performance standards for NZ Scholarship Digital Technologies and Psychology.

You can find the draft performance standards and feedback surveys through these links:

Consultation on NZ Scholarship Digital Technologies draft performance standard

Consultation on NZ Scholarship Psychology draft performance standard

Please provide feedback by 15 November 2024.

NZQA National Qualifications Services review and registration of standards

Review of English Language and English for Academic Purposes (EAP)

Read details in the change reports: 

Review of English Language unit standards (external link) 

Review of English for Academic Purposes assessment standards (external link)

The reviewed standards can be viewed in the relevant subject pages:

English Language

English for Academic Purposes

The next review of these standards is scheduled to be completed by December 2029.

Review of Vagahau Niue unit standards

Read more details about the Review of Vagahau Niue unit standards (external link)

Refer to the reviewed standards in Domain - Vagahau Niue (external link)

The next review of these standards is scheduled to be completed by December 2029.

Registration of Gagana Tokelau assessment standards

Read more details about the Registration of Gagana Tokelau unit standards (external link)

Refer to the registered standards in Domain - Gagana Tokelau (external link)

The next review of these standards is scheduled to be completed by December 2029.

PN checklist - Nga māhi

Action items for Principal’s Nominee by calendar month

PN support

Note dates and times for PN online support sessions

Derived grades

Ensure results from school practice assessments are submitted to NZQA

Communicate the process for applying for derived grades

External portfolios and reports

Ensure all material for portfolios and reports has been submitted by the required dates as listed:

Final dates for submitting portfolios and reports to NZQA (external link)

External examinations

Meet with your Exam Centre Manager to:

  • arrange student exam briefing
  • confirm accommodation arrangements including clash students
  • finalise SAC accommodation and allocations.

Meet with students to confirm arrangements for any 2,3 or 4-way exam clashes

Confirm with NZQA 3- and 4-way exam clash arrangements

Check accuracy of your digital entries for exams

SAC

Confirm SAC attachments for exams with students

Check any late entries for SAC students and update allocations

External moderation

Complete the submission of material for external moderation before 20 October

Inform your School Relationship Manager if material for external moderation will not be submitted before 20 October or if you need to update your moderation plan to reflect changes from your planned assessment