Check status of applications
Please check the status of any applications submitted using the Approvals Gateway.
- For applications with the status of a yellow P: Check whether all supporting evidence has been uploaded.
- For applications with the status of a yellow PR: Open the application by clicking on the NSN, navigate to the Notes & Messages section as the assessor is requesting further information.
- For applications with the yellow triangle visible: Open the application by clicking on the NSN, navigate to the Notes & Messages section as the assessor has posted a message or query.
On this page
Student access to SAC provisions
Students can log in to their MyNZQA learner portal to view their SAC provisions via the Special Assessment Conditions link. These can also be printed out via the PDF link.
Amending SAC requirements
Sometimes a change is needed to what has already been approved or notified.
Click on the student’s NSN and scroll down to the Notes & Messages section to make the request and state the reason for it. NZQA receives an alert flag and will respond.
Previous SAC updates
Previously published SAC updates can be found in EmaiLink and the Communications link on your school’s MyNZQA portal.
Literacy and Numeracy/Te Reo Matatini me te Pāngarau
Instructions on the provision of SAC for the assessment of the dedicated co-requisite standards can be found here.
Polly text-to-speech is available in the Writing and Numeracy assessments. Check the Co-requisite Hub/Resources link in your MyNZQA portal for further information.
Encourage students to practise using Polly with the past assessments available in their own logins.
Video: Using Polly, a guide for students
If any of your SAC students will be completing a co-requisite CAA or TAPā assessment on paper, please upload scanned PDFs to:
- The new portal:
- 32403 Reading
- 32405 Writing
- 32412 Te Reo Torohū
- 32415 Te Reo Whakaputa
- The old portal:
- 32406 Numeracy
- 32413 Pāngarau
Kete Manarua for 32412 or 32415 must be uploaded in the new portal by 28 October.
If a Reader is using a printed copy of the assessment to read to a student who is completing it on Assessment Master, they need to be careful. The order of multiple choice answers in the printed version may be different from what the student sees online. Online answer options are randomly ordered for each student as a security measure.
Separate Accommodation logistics
As the number of SAC applications continue to increase, so do the requests for Separate Accommodation that apply to about 80% of all applications. Besides Separate Accommodation for Readers, Writers or Computer Use, there are increasing requests for students with ADHD, Autism and Mental Health concerns.
Applications for Separate Accommodation are appropriate under these circumstances, but the logistics of providing this SAC can be challenging, both for assessments run by the school and during the end of year exams run by your Exam Centre Manager.
If this could be an issue for your school, we encourage you to consider how Separate Accommodation can best be provided for your students in ways that fit available resourcing whilst ensuring that their needs to be separately accommodated are met. Please consider the following:
- Whether a student should be in Isolated or Small Group Separate Accommodation is a professional decision made by the school based on the needs of, and in consultation with, the student. However, early discussion with the ECM about the logistical implications of these decisions is encouraged.
- Students with Readers or Writers in end of year exams must be in Isolated Separate Accommodation, as the student and Exam Assistant will be talking to each other.
- Without compromising the needs of the students, please consider grouping them in Small Group Separate Accommodation wherever possible and consider the best size and composition of these groups.
- Students with Computer Use (word processor) who are not sitting an online digital exam should be in a Small Group unless there are other reasons (e.g. Mental Health, Autism) for them to be Isolated.
- If the only reason that a student has Separate Accommodation is that they have a Reader, Writer or Computer Use AND the student opts not to use these SAC, they should not be provided with Separate Accommodation unless there are other reasons to provide this (e.g. Mental Health, Autism).
- For end of year exams, if a student has Computer Use (CU) or Computer Only (CO) and they are sitting an online digital exam, CU/CO should not be attached to the exam session as the digital exam provides this access by default. They should also not be provided with Separate Accommodation unless there are other reasons to provide this (e.g. Mental Health, Autism).
We appreciate that getting this balance right can be difficult. If you have any queries or concerns, please contact the SAC team.
Quality assurance update
Sincere thanks to all Principal’s Nominees, SENCOs and SAC Coordinators who compiled and submitted supporting evidence for notifications made in 2025, enabling the quality assurance process to proceed. We are anticipating its completion by the end of May. Participating schools will be advised of the outcomes in due course.