Nau mai, haere mai!
Welcome to the April 2021 newsletter EmaiLink 2.
On this page
Key dates
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1 April | Submit first monthly data file if you can do so (include as many candidate enrolments, courses and entries as possible) Entry and result data file processing begins |
| 1 May | Monthly data file submission due (include any additional or updated candidate enrolment and entry information) |
| 10 May | Exam Centre Manager nominations open online |
PN checklist
- Review ECM recruitment for 2021
- Update your results file in your SMS after the final statistics refresh
- Distribute candidate information sheets
- Advise teachers to check the March update of Assessment Specifications for NCEA and NZ Scholarship external exams
- Register your interest for a network assurance check
- Discuss participating in this year’s digital practice exams with teachers
- Help students to register with NZQA and create a Student Login
- Inform staff about the NZ Scholarship subject list review
- Update SAC contact information
- Consider hosting a SAC seminar at your school
School relationship manager vacancies
We are looking for new School Relationship Managers to join our team. One role will require expertise in te reo and tikanga Māori and to work productively with kura / wharekura communities.
The vacancies are advertised in the Education Gazette and on the Careers Centre of our website.
General administration and data
Candidate Information Sheets
Candidate information sheets should arrive at your school before the end of Term 1. If these do not arrive please contact your School Relationship Manager. A digital copy is also available on our web page:
Entry into NCEA (external link)
Exam Centre Manager (ECM) recruitment for 2021
On Monday 10 May, the Exam Centre Manager Recruitment link will be open for you to nominate your school’s ECM for this year. Schools recruit and nominate an ECM who will then be contracted and trained by NZQA.
Read our outline of the skills needed for the role, particularly the need for the ECM to have good computer skills and be able to competently manage digital exams:
Memo to PNs nominating your Exam Centre Manager [PDF, 96 KB]
If you are looking for a new person or planning to continue with your previous ECM, please check that they have the appropriate skills.
Here is a draft advertisement for you to adapt:
Example ad for ECM recruitment [DOCX, 22 KB]
Full details of the ECM nomination process will be available in the next EmaiLink in May.
Memorandum of Agreement for rebate
Please remember to digitally sign this memorandum for 2021 by 17 June. It can be found under High Security/School’s Administration/Memorandum of Agreement through your Provider Login.
The signing of this memorandum entitles your school to an Administrative Payment.
Registering students for their Student Login
Once your first data file submission has been processed by NZQA, you may wish to help students with using their Student Login.
To register, students need their NSN, date of birth, an email address and a 7-character password. NZQA will supply NSNs later in the year but, if you want to register students now, your Student Management System can generate a list or students may be able to view theirs through their student portal. The Student Login PowerPoint has been updated and may be a useful resource for helping your students to register.
Resources for Principal's Nominee (external link)
The Student Login enables students to check their entries and results held by NZQA. It also gives them access to range of processes not available elsewhere such as printing official copies of their Record of Achievement and ordering a copy of an NCEA Certificate.
Reporting results for students in the year they are assessed
With the removal of NCEA fees for domestic students there is no reason to hold over or ‘bank’ results for students not undertaking a full assessment programme.
For example, Year 10 students completing a couple of internal assessments should have their results reported in the year of assessment.
This should make it easier for schools to manage mark books and assign standards correctly to courses, minimise forwarding results if a student moves school, and remove concerns about standards expiring before results are reported.
NCEA online
Digital practice exams
Digital practice exams are being offered again this year and will be available on the NCEA Online platform from 2 August to 1 October.
They provide a useful opportunity for schools, students and teachers to find out how digital exams work before the end of year exams.
Subjects available for 2021
We’re working with subject associations to provide digital practice exams in English, Agricultural and Horticultural Science, Classical Studies, Media Studies, and with subject matter experts providing Te Reo Māori and Te Reo Rangatira.
See our website for more information about digital practice exams, and check the next EmaiLink for details about entering students in digital practice exams.
NZQA digital practice exams 2022 (external link)
Access to 2020 digital exams
Last year’s digital exams will be available to students from June onwards. Until then students and teachers can access the 2019 exams to familiarise themselves with how digital exams work.
Student Exam Hub (external link)
Network assurance checks
Contact your School Relationship Manager to register your interest in having a network assurance check on the suitability of your IT infrastructure for digital exams, later in the year.
Reminders
Read our Assessment Matters circulars
A2021/6 2021 National School Qualifications: Candidate Information Sheets - March
A2021/9 Changes to NCEA History Examinations 2021
A2021/10 Information for Scholarship Media Studies 2021
2020 NCEA Statistics
The last refresh of the Principal’s Report will be on 14 April (data cut date 3 April).
Assessment Specifications 2021
Notification for 2021 Assessment Specifications was published in January:
2021 Assessment Specifications for New Zealand Scholarship and NCEA External Assessment - A2021/2
Updates have been published in this circular:
Materials from Leading National Assessment Seminar
Materials used during the recent Leading National Assessment seminars, including the Effective Practice Guide, can be found on our resources for Principal's nominee page:
Resources for Principal's Nominee (external link)
Topics covered include:
Future assessment
- responding to change
- change management
Opportunities offered through
- the review of achievement standards
- NCEA Online
- changes to resubmission and course endorsement.
Information for staff
Approved calculators list for external assessments in 2021
Approved Calculator List (external link)
No National Moderator reports
There will be no National Moderator Reports based on 2020 External Moderation published by NZQA in March 2021.
This is due to the events of 2020 and the subsequent pressure related to assessment in schools.
Special Assessment Conditions (SAC)
Update contact information
We have noticed that the contact information for SENCOs is out of date for many schools. This information is used to email important updates that will be missed if email addresses are wrong.
You may also want to add the contact information of any other staff involved in the SAC process, e.g. Learning Support Coordinators. Contact information is found on your schools’ NZQA Provider Login page at School’s Administration/Profile.
SAC Seminars
SAC Seminars are being offered again this year following their suspension in 2020. This is particularly useful for staff who are new to the SAC process. If you are interested in hosting a seminar at your school, please contact sac@nzqa.govt.nz.