Key dates and information
Please refer to the online version of the Key dates to ensure you have access to the most up to date information.
Key dates for secondary assessment
1 May
May data file submission due
2 May
Final date to submit applications to establish a new exam centre
5 May
- Exam Centre Manager nominations open online
- Acceptance of Exam Centre Memorandum of Understanding opens
20 May
Exam Centre Manager nominations close online
19 - 30 May
Literacy and Numeracy, Te Reo Matatini me te Pāngarau Assessment event 1
On this page
Latest circulars
A2025/5 - Updates to 2025 Assessment Specifications for NCEA and NZ Scholarship
A2025/6 - Information on May co-requisite results release 2025
A2025/7 - Changes to the Te Ao Haka and Ngā Toi TAPā external assessment dates
Find NZQA publications, including past circulars here:
Support for Principals' Nominees
Online workshops
Term 2 PN priorities
This workshop is for all PNs and will cover key areas of focus for Term 2, including data files, monitoring moderation, and CAAs and TAPā.
Tuesday 29 April, 3.30 – 4.15 pm (external link)
Wednesday 30 April, 3.30 – 4.15 pm (external link)
Thursday 1 May, 10 – 10.45 am (external link)
Assessment Master basics
This workshop is for the administrator of CAAs and TAPā within your school and will demonstrate the key functions and new features of Assessment Master.
Assessor Support
List of resources published in the last quarter
The downloadable list linked below shows new resources published on the NZQA website, resources updated to reflect recent changes to the standard, new standards that have been added to the Assessor Practice Tool, and new modules available on the NZQA Learning Management System, Pūtake.
New resources are published every month on Pūtake and the subject pages on the NZQA website.
List of new resources January - March 2025 [XLSX, 13 KB]
Recontextualising Assessment module
There is a new online learning module on Recontextualising Assessment available on Pūtake, the NZQA Learning Management System.
Co-requisite assessment event 1
With the recent enhancements to improve the handling of entries for standards with more than one assessment event, the standard displayed on the digital assessment platform will appear differently to both schools and learners, where the assessment event number is appended to the standard. For example, 324051 = entry for standard 32405 and assessment event 1.
We are working on further enhancements to hide the assessment event number from being displayed, but this will not be fixed in time for the Term 2 assessment window.
An example of how this will be displayed on the supervisor’s dashboard:
Examples of how these are displayed to the learners within the digital assessment:
Co-requisite hub
A reminder of the Co-requisite hub which is a dedicated resource for Principals’ Nominees and kaiako. The Co-requisite hub helps schools manage the dedicated co-requisite assessments, i.e. the Common Assessment Activities (CAAs), Tūmahi Aromatawai Pātahi (TAPā) and Kete Manarua. Everything you need to know and prepare for these assessments is linked in one place, in an easy-to-understand format.
You’ll find the Co-requisite hub in the MyNZQA school portal:
Log in to MyNZQA (external link)
Date nomination tool
A reminder for schools to advise NZQA of their nominated dates and estimated numbers before 16 May, using the date nomination tool under the Key Indicators.
Changes to the format of the Numeracy assessment
The format of the Numeracy assessment has been changed for 2025 to enable machine marking of most questions (e.g. marking multiple choice questions or questions expecting a limited response, such as a number). For machine marking to work effectively, we have had to restrict the types of answers that can be accepted in the ‘single-entry’ boxes. For example, if a question asks for a number, the learner will only be able to enter a number. Previously students were able to respond in the field without any character restrictions.
Literacy and Numeracy guide available
The Literacy and Numeracy administrative and submission instructions are now available on the Co-Requisite hub in the Provider Login and the subject page:
Aromatawai Māori - NZQA
Te Marautanga o Aotearoa (TMoA) | NZC kaupapa ako Māori – Te Reo Māori, Te Ao Haka | Te Reo Matatini me te Pāngarau
To view the 2025 Tautuhinga Assessment Specifications for TAPā (Tūmahi Aromatawai Pātahi) and Kete Manarua assessments, Kete Manarua Tūmahi (Task), and Tauaromahi (Exemplars), and other assessment material for the above subjects/wāhanga ako, please visit Te Pā Mātauranga and navigate to the subject page(s) you require.
Te Reo Matatini me te Pāngarau – upcoming TAPā and Kete Manarua in May
The following TAPā and Kete Manarua assessments will be held in May:
| Wāhanga ako | Paerewa | Wāhanga 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Te Reo Pāngarau | 32412 |
TAPā 1 19-30 o Mei |
| Te Reo Matatini (Te Reo Torohū) | 32413 |
TAPā 1 19-30 o Mei |
| Te Reo Matatini, (Te Reo Whakaputa) | 32415 |
Kete Manarua rā aukati 30 o Mei |
Preparing for TAPā assessments (Te Reo Pāngarau 32412, Te Reo Matatini 32413)
To prepare for the upcoming TAPā assessments, visit the Te Reo Matatini me te Pāngarau TAPā page to view:
- Tautuhinga (Assessment Specifications)
- Ngā Tauira Aromatawai (TAPā sample assessments)
- Te Puka Aratohu mō TAPā – this guide contains a list of the important information and support available for ākonga and kaiako in preparation for TAPā assessments.
Go to the TAPā page for Te Reo Matatini me te Pāngarau
Preparing to submit Kete Manarua for Te Reo Matatini 32415
Kete Manarua for Te Reo Matatini (Te Reo Whakaputa) 32415 must be submitted to NZQA for marking by 30 May. Visit the Kete Manarua page to view:
- Tautuhinga (Assessment Specifications)
- Tūmahi – Te Pukapuka Pouako (Assessment Task and guidance booklet for kaiako).
Go to the TAPā page for Te Reo Matatini me te Pāngarau
Changes to the External Assessment opportunities – Te Reo Matatini 2025
A reminder that changes have been made to the External Assessment opportunities being offered for Te Reo Matatini Unit Standards 32413 and 32415 in 2025. You can view the updated information on the subject page. There is NO change to the External Assessment opportunities for Pāngarau US32412.
Go to the subject page for Te Reo Matatini me te Pāngarau
If you have any questions in the meantime, please email us at:
Reminder: 2025 Wānanga Aromatawai – upcoming drop-in sessions
Following the online workshops held during Term 1, NZQA is hosting online drop-in sessions in the lead-up to assessments to support kura and kaiako delivering the new TMoA and NZC kaupapa Māori Level 1 achievement standards and field Māori unit standards for assessment. These will cover both internal and external assessment. The drop-in sessions will be open for an hour and give kaiako a chance to discuss any assessment-related questions with a subject-matter expert.
To sign up for a drop-in session, or to view the workshop recordings, please visit the events page:
Term 3 TAPā assessment date change – Te Ao Haka, Toi Puoro, Toi Ataata
Changes have been made to the TAPā external assessment dates for Te Ao Haka and Ngā Toi standards scheduled in Term 3, 2025. Te Ao Haka and Ngā Toi TAPā external assessments, originally scheduled for Week 8 of Term 3 (2-4 September 2025), have been brought forward to Week 6 (19-21 August 2025).
For more information and to see the full list of standards affected, view the circular released online:
A2025/7 - Changes to the Te Ao Haka and Ngā Toi TAPā external assessment dates
Updates to 2025 assessment specifications
Assessment specifications provide the annual assessment parameters for each externally assessed achievement standard and New Zealand Scholarship performance standard. They must be read alongside the applicable standards.
Some assessment specifications have been updated to provide further clarification of the requirements and conditions of the assessment.
See the full details in the circular:
A2025/5 - Updates to 2025 Assessment Specifications for NCEA and NZ Scholarship
Level 1 Physical Education assessment tasks
The L1 Physical Education Assessment tasks for 92018 and 92019 are now both available for download on the secure portal through the Download other external assessments and resources link. Teachers can access the materials directly via their Principal’s Nominee.
Submission instructions and digital submission tool
Early release of submission instructions and opening of submission tools
Submission instructions for Kete Manarua, NCEA and NZ Scholarship will be released on 19 May, to allow learners and schools to submit learner work using digital submission tools when they are ready to be submitted.
The instructions cover the following subjects:
- NCEA and Scholarship Dance
- NCEA and Scholarship Design and Visual Communication
- Scholarship Languages (Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Samoan, Spanish, Te Reo Māori and Te Reo Rangatira)
- Scholarship Music
- NCEA and Scholarship Visual Arts.
The submission instructions will be available on the relevant subject pages.
Changes to the learner portal
‘Find Past Digital Exams’ is now called ‘Find Past Assessments’
- The current learner portal provides the ability for learners to select their subject and level to find past digital assessments for them to navigate to Assessment Master.
- On the new 'Find Past Assessments' page, learners can look up last year's digital assessments to practise. They will also have a link to the public website to find past paper assessments, as well as booklets they might need to practise the digital assessments.
Digital submissions showing multiple events
- Learners will see the event they are making the digital submission for.
- Only Te Reo Matatini (Te Reo Whakaputa - 32415) will have multiple digital submissions this year
‘My Account Details’ is now ‘Learner Profile Page’
- Learners will be able to access their profile details with the help of a profile icon at the top.
Memorandum of Agreement
The Memorandum sets out how your school and NZQA works together to ensure timely and accurate management of candidate data, collection and submission of international fee-paying candidate fees, and the smooth conduct of examinations for the benefit of the candidates.
Please remember to read and digitally sign this memorandum for 2025 by 14 June. It can be found under High Security > School’s Administration > Memorandum of Agreement through your Provider Login.
2025 Schools and Kura Pulse Check - Feedback report
The first annual School and Kura Pulse Check survey was open for Principals’ Nominees (PNs) to complete between 5 February and 10 March 2025. We received 237 responses to the survey. Thank you to all those who completed the survey. The feedback you provided gives us a clear steer on areas of focus for 2025 and beyond in relation to the services we provide and how we work with you. A report on the results and NZQA’s preliminary response to the feedback received is available
Updated reports for learner logins
Key Indicator reports that identify if a student has a registered account with NZQA have been updated. These reports will now provide better information for schools to identify those students that are not registered. Previously, the reports identified students who had logged into either the new or old portal. These reports were inaccurate, as a registered student may not have logged into one of the portals. Registered students can log into their account and access digital assessments, as they have a username and password.
Affected reports include:
- Key Indicators - Learner Login
- Key indicators - Digital Assessments with Multiple Opportunities
- Key Indicators - Digital Exams
- Key Indicators - Digital Submissions
- Reports - Candidate Account Register Report (found in the Reports section)
These reports are updated daily and show when they were last updated.
Checklist
The checklist provides a quick reference of the actions associated with information in this email link. Also refer to:
Action items for Principal's Nominee by calendar month
Data file submission
- Check Batch Information after File Submission
- Check Key Indicators from provider login
- Check assessment opportunity and entries for LIT NUM | TRM TP
Co-requisite
- Check assessment opportunity and entries for LIT NUM | TRM TP
- Confirm plans including assessment rooms, tech and infrastructure support, key staff and supervisors
- Check learners have created an account for MyNZQA
- Ensure students have logged on and are ready for the first assessment opportunity
How to create a new learner account
Exam centre management
- Nominate your Examination Centre Manager