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
20 July
CAA results release:
- Writing 32405
- Numeracy 32406
- Pāngarau 32412
- Te Reo Matatini (Te Reo Torohū) 32413
- Te Reo Matatini (Te Reo Whakaputa) 32415.
23 July
Translated papers – check all external entries requiring translation or marking in Te Reo Māori are correctly flagged in submitted data by 3 August.
Te Reo Māori translation subjects
Check submitted data contains all external entries (including NZ Scholarship) for SAC learners by 3 August.
Portal open for all Kete Manarua.
24 July
Special Assessment Conditions (SAC) – include as many exam entries for SAC learners as possible and continue to attach SAC provisions to exams.
27 July
Past assessments available for all standards.
Assessment Schedules for all CAAs released.
Interim Assessment Reports for Reading, Writing, and Numeracy available.
3 August
Entries into Event 2 of Literacy and Numeracy and Te Reo Matatini me te Pāngarau.
Check timetable clashes and confirm learners' entries for externals.
Translated papers – deadline to request translation or marking in Te Reo Māori for external entries.
On this page
Term 3 webinars
Principal’s Nominee webinars
School Relationship Managers offer regular webinars for Principal’s Nominees and other assessment leaders. Below is the schedule for the July and August webinars.
The full schedule, along with all presentations and supporting materials, is also available here:
You will need to be logged into a Google account to access the Drive. The first session in each series is recorded and is available in the Drive.
There is no need to sign up, just log in to the session that suits you using the links in the table below. If there is more than one session for the content, the seminar is repeated. There is no need to attend more than one. You are welcome to share invitations with others on your staff.
PN priorities at the start of each term will cover the key dates and processes for each term. Kura PN priorities will be delivered in Te Reo Māori.
Term 3 PN priorities
- CAAs & TAPā results
- External entries
- Monitoring moderation
- Planning for school exams
Term 3 Kura Kaupapa PN priorities
- CAAs & TAPā results
- External entries
- Monitoring moderation
- Planning for school exams
Running school Derived Grade exams
Tues 11 Aug 3:30 – 4:15 (external link) (external link) (external link) (external link)
Thurs 13 Aug 3:30 – 4:15 (external link) (external link) (external link) (external link)
- Quality Assurance requirements
- Examination conditions
CAAs, TAPā, and Assessment Master
Tues 18 Aug 3:30 – 4:15 (external link) (external link) (external link) (external link)
Thurs 20 Aug 3:30 – 4:15 (external link) (external link) (external link) (external link)
- Common Assessment Activities/Tūmahi Aromatawai Pātahi
- For new PNs and curriculum leaders
- Key functions and any updated features
September 1 deadline – external entries
Tues 25 Aug 3:30 – 4:15 (external link) (external link)
- What to check for
- Dealing with errors and warnings
University Entrance – Numeracy reminder applicable for 2026
A change was announced in 2023 that from 2024, University Entrance Numeracy can only be gained through the Co-requisite Level 1 Numeracy Unit Standard 32406 or Te Pāngarau Unit Standard 32412, or the limited list of achievement standards.
Change to the numeracy requirement for University Entrance - A2023/17
2024 and 2025 were a transition period, meaning students who had met the University Entrance Numeracy requirement for 2023 before the end of the 2023 academic year had also met the University Entrance Numeracy requirement for the 2024 and 2025 academic years.
Please ensure any student who wishes to gain University Entrance from 2026 onwards meets the current requirements. Note that this does not include the 266 series of Unit Standards.
New Co-requisite report
The new Co-requisite Report is available on the Reports page in the Provider Login. It is a printable report showing progress towards gaining the NCEA Co-requisite for students enrolled in a given academic year. It covers all the current pathways and shows if the student has met the current requirements, gained some credits towards it, or gained no credits towards it. The report is available in Excel format.
Please note that between an assessment event and the publication of results there will be times when the overall achievement of the Co-requisite and the credit counts will be blank for individual students as we process the impact of their assessment results.
For information about the transition period and use of additional/restricted standards, please see:
Standards approved for NCEA Co-requisite during the transition period (2024-2027) (external link) (external link) (external link) (external link) - NCEA Education
Some methods that still count for the Numeracy Co-requisite no longer meet the University Entrance Numeracy requirements. See the reminder above this item for further details.
Marker and Verifier recruitment
NZQA invites suitably qualified teachers to apply for NCEA and NZ Scholarship external assessment marker and verifier roles.
Teachers who have previously registered with NZQA can apply on the NZQA website from Monday, 22 June 2026 at:
Login NZQA (external link) (external link)
Teachers who have not previously registered with NZQA must register at:
User Registration NZQA (external link) (external link)
A guide to the registration and application processes is available at Register and apply. Applicants are advised to save and read the guide before applying.
Role descriptions are available:
NZQA External Assessment Roles [PDF, 63 KB]
Applications close on Monday, 31 August 2026. Early applications have a significant advantage.
NZQA will send successful applicants an offer of a contract as soon as possible after their application is assessed.
For assistance with the application process, forgotten username, or password issues please phone 0800 697 296.
Annual Memorandum of Agreement between NZQA and Schools
The Memorandum of Agreement sets out how your school and NZQA work 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 2026. It can be found through your Provider Login under High Security > School’s Administration > Memorandum of Agreement.
This should have been completed by 12 June.
Please complete it as soon as possible if you have not already done so.
Exam Centre Memorandum of Understanding for NCEA and NZ Scholarship external exams
The Exam Centre Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is a partnership agreement between a kura teina (a school that does not have an exam centre) and a kura tuakana (a school that does have an exam centre).
The purpose of the agreement is to ensure that ākonga from the kura teina have access to a suitable environment in which to sit their NCEA and NZ Scholarship external exams.
Applications for MoUs close on 28 August 2026.
To request an MoU application form for a kura teina, please email the Assessment Delivery team at:
Identifying Exam Assistants for 2026 NCEA and NZ Scholarship exams
In advance of the initial meeting between the ECM and PN, we recommend gathering the information on SAC candidates’ and Exam Assistants’ availability as soon as possible.
Schools and kura are responsible for identifying and providing:
A list of school staff available to act as Exam Assistants (EAs)
EAs are typically teacher aides who assist during end of year exams as part of their existing school employment and within their contracted school hours.
School staff working within their contracted hours do not require NZQA onboarding (the NZQA employment set-up process). The PN is responsible for ensuring the staff member holds valid police vetting before supervising sessions. However, if staff work outside of their contracted hours, they must complete NZQA onboarding (including Police Vetting, unless they already hold a valid NZQA Police Vet) and will be paid by NZQA for those specific sessions.
School staff must complete an NZQA Engagement form which outlines their responsibilities while performing duties on behalf of NZQA. The form will be made available to the school staff once nominated by the ECM.
If required, teaching staff may be used as an exception. For further guidance refer to:
Who should not be an Assistant
A list of external Exam Assistants (non-school staff)
External EAs must complete NZQA onboarding (including Police Vetting, unless they already hold a valid NZQA Police Vet) and will be paid by NZQA.
Any additional Exam Assistants needed to support ākonga requiring Special Assessment Conditions (SACs), e.g. Reader/Writer/Typist
All EAs must be trained and matched to the candidate's approved SAC requirements (e.g. Reader/Writer/Typist).
Ensuring all exam entries (including NZ Scholarship) for SAC learners are made by 1 August will assist with this.
Further guidance
Working with the Examination Centre Manager
If you have questions, please email the Assessment Delivery team:
Authenticity Declarations for submission of external standards
Some submissions require an Authenticity Declaration to be submitted with the portfolio. Schools must use the provided 2026 versions of these forms. Using older versions may mean the candidate’s work is not accepted.
Please see below for the list of standards that require an Authenticity Declaration. The DVC Authenticity Declaration form will be included with the personalised folders sent to schools in October.
Scholarship Dance - 93311
Download the Scholarship Dance Authenticity Declaration form [PDF, 87 KB]
Scholarship Drama - 93304
Download the Scholarship Drama Authenticity Declaration form [PDF, 147 KB]
Scholarship Music - 93305
Download the Scholarship Music Authenticity Declaration form [PDF, 114 KB]
Scholarship Design & Visual Communication (DVC) - 93602
The attestation is on the Performance Summary Card.
NCEA Levels 1, 2, 3 DVC (physical submissions) - 92003, 91337, 91338, 91339, 91627, 91631
The attestation is on the physical folder.
Visual Arts
Scholarship:
- 93307 Design
- 93306 Painting
- 93310 Photography
- 93309 Printmaking
- 93308 Sculpture
NCEA Level 3:
- 91455 Design
- 91456 Painting
- 91457 Photography
- 91458 Printmaking
- 91459 Sculpture
Download the Authenticity Declaration form for NCEA and Scholarship Visual Arts [PDF, 109 KB]
If you are submitting digitally, the attestation is in the portal, prior to submitting the work to NZQA.
Visual Art Design Level 3 Design 91455
The location for the Design 91455 brief is to be situated on the top left-hand side (LHS) of folio panel 1.
Some earlier versions of the specifications have right hand side (RHS), this is incorrect.
See the correct specifications:
91455 assessment specifications 2026 (external link) (external link)
Submission of external moderation – reminder
A reminder that schools should submit material for external moderation for each standard in their moderation plan once the assessment process is complete. This means when internal moderation has been completed and results given to students.
We expect moderation to be submitted within 10 days of submitting results to NZQA. At all NCEA levels, the material submitted for external moderation must be from the current year.
To support you with the process, we will be emailing PNs a monthly summary showing:
- standards where results have been reported but materials have not yet been submitted for moderation, and
- standards where materials have been submitted for moderation, but results have not been reported.
The External Moderation page on the NZQA website provides full details and instructions. It’s important that the student work includes the key materials used by the assessor to make their judgement. This helps moderators understand the basis for the assessment and provide more useful feedback.
If you have large files to submit, sharing links is more effective. If links are sent, please ensure they are set to be accessible by someone outside your school, and that the expiry date of the link is set to 90 days or more. This is very important for SharePoint, which has a default expiry period of 30 days. Contact your own SharePoint administrator to change this setting.
Rejected external moderation submissions
If your moderation submission shows a submitted date on your moderation plan, but the status changes back to ‘Submission – Not Started’, it means the moderator has rejected the submission.
This rejection is most likely due to an inaccessible cloud storage link. However, other reasons could include incomplete student evidence or students not being identifiable, such as in a Dance performance. You should receive a system email that tells you the submission has been rejected and explains what is needed before the submission is made again.
If you have any queries about a specific standard, please contact ams@nzqa.govt.nz.
Special Assessment Conditions (SAC)
Previous SAC updates
Previously published SAC updates can be found via the EmaiLink link in Communications in your school’s MyNZQA portal, and alongside the EmaiLink on the NZQA website.
Attaching SAC provisions to exam sessions
The Special Assessment Exams Processing link on your SAC page is now available for attaching SAC provisions to examination sessions. For step-by-step guidance, please refer to page 38 of the:
SAC online tool guide [PDF, 1.9 MB]
You may also wish to review the previously published advice:
Further information about this process is provided in the June webinars. If you were unable to attend, you can access the webinar content:
Access resources from the 2026 online PN sessions (external link) (external link)
Students requiring Braille papers
Please consult the previously published update for detailed advice:
Braille papers for the end-of-year examinations need to be attached to student entries by 31 July.
Students requiring headphones
Please email the SAC mailbox at sac@nzqa.govt.nz if you have students who require headphones for external examinations.
You must ensure that they have Separate Accommodation and appropriate supporting evidence.
Support
Please email sac@nzqa.govt.nz if you have any questions or need support with SAC processes.
Planned school portal outage on 31 July to 3 August
As part of a planned upgrade to NZQA's internal systems, the school portal will be affected from 3:00pm Friday 31 July 2026 until the start of business Monday 3 August 2026.
During this time, you will be unable to submit any applications or cases.
Following the upgrade, you will notice improvements to how organisation and contact information is displayed within the new MyNZQA portal.
We encourage you to review this information and use the opportunity to confirm that it is still accurate and make any necessary updates.
Checklist
The following 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 check
Event 2 Literacy and Numeracy and Te Reo Matatini me te Pāngarau.
All external entries requiring translation or marking in Te Reo Māori have been flagged:
Te Reo Māori translation subjects
The accuracy of externally assessed entries ahead of the 1 September deadline for NZQA preparing personalised exam materials. Confirmation of entries and results for international students ahead of the calculation of the NCEA fee payment for international students.
Seminars
Calendar Term 3 seminar details.
SAC
Submit all external entries for SAC learners.
Attach SAC provisions to exams.