September 2023 EmaiLink 8

1 September data file

All external standard candidate entries should be submitted to NZQA by 1 September to allow schools and NZQA to plan and prepare for the end of year examinations. Any files sent after 1 September may not be processed in time for candidates to receive personalised papers or for external entries to be withdrawn.

This data file needs to contain all confirmed entries and method (paper or digital) for externally assessed standards, including NZ Scholarship. This allows for:

• candidates to receive personalised exam materials
• completion of the attachment of Special Assessment Conditions
• timely management of examination clashes
• accurate billing for international candidates.

Check and adjust as necessary your student entries in the next assessment opportunity for the Literacy and Numeracy | Te Reo Matatini me te Pāngarau co-requisite.

1 September is also the final date for withdrawals from externally assessed standards including NZ Scholarship.

Schools will be invoiced for all international students who have internal and/or external entries and/or results submitted to NZQA in 1 September file. Schools will be sent information after 1 September about how to manage late entries.

MCAT Administration

MCAT assessment materials

Please note that assessment materials for MCAT on 12 and 14 September will be delivered to schools by 6 September.

Materials are addressed to the Principal’s Nominee and packed in plain brown A4 boxes or white courier bags. Packages must be signed for at reception by office staff and kept securely until the assessment is held. Couriers are aware that they must not under any circumstances leave materials without obtaining a signature.

Please alert your office staff and HOD Mathematics of the delivery timeframe. This may be a good opportunity to review your receipting processes.

Schools can print additional copies of the assessment booklet, if required, by downloading a password protected file from your Provider Login. You must contact NZQA on 0800 222 230 after 2pm the day before your nominated assessment day for the password.

If your school wishes to change your assessment day, complete the Alternative assessment day request form and email it to examinations@nzqa.govt.nz at least one day before the assessment is due to be held.

Alternative assessment day request form (external link)

If you have any concerns over the integrity of the delivery, or if materials have not arrived by 6 September, please contact NZQA’s Contact Centre on 0800 697 296 or email logistics@nzqa.govt.nz.

Remember: use your school’s missed assessment policy to manage student absence.

Further information, including the MCAT Administrative Guidelines, is available on the Mathematics subject resource page and in the Assessment Matters circular.

Mathematics subject resource page (external link)

Assessment Matters circular: NCEA Level 1 Mathematics and Statistics 91027 Common Assessment Task in 2023

Changes to external assessment resources available on NZQA’s website and school portal

Assessment evolves over time, and NZQA is committed to maintaining the accuracy of the materials it publishes to align with current practice. As part of this commitment, only the last three years of external assessment resources will be made available on NZQA's website.  

This decision was made in response to an external review of NZQA's provision of annotated exemplars of student work, which recommended that external assessment exemplars be kept online for no more than three years. This recommendation has been expanded to include all external assessment resources, including past examination papers, assessment schedules, and assessment reports.  

External review of NZQA's provision of annotated exemplars of student work (external link)

The process of removing older resources has been underway for some time. While some older external assessment resources are still available, they will gradually be removed as we transition webpages to our new website. This work is due to be completed by the end of September 2023. 

Exemplars

Exemplars for past examination papers are not currently published on an annual basis. As a result, we will keep the most recent three sets of exemplars published, which may be more than three years old. Each set will include the assessment schedule and examination paper for the exemplar.  

Going forward, we will be updating our external assessment exemplars to more recent content.

Important notice regarding Scholarship subject specifications on NZQA’s website

As part of NZQA's website refresh, the scholarship subject webpages have now been updated to the new layout. During the transfer process, some unintended changes were made to the previously published approved scholarship specifications. These updates were live on our website from 24 July to 7 August 2023.

Although most of the changes were minor stylistic tweaks, we would like to draw your attention to the following scholarship subject specifications which showed some other changes during this time: 

• Agricultural and Horticultural Science 
• Calculus 
• Dance 
• Design and Visual Communication 
• Drama 

The correct versions of the Scholarship subject specifications have now been restored, so please double-check that you have the correct versions which you can find on our website.

Level 3 Physics

We were made aware of some errors in equations within pdf material for Level 3 Physics standards 91524 and 91526 on the NZQA website. These have now been corrected and uploaded to the website.

Information regarding Kete Manarua (Digital Submissions)

Information regarding Kete Manarua submissions for Te Ao Haka and Te Reo Matatini, including instructions on how to upload ākonga responses for Kete Manarua, will be provided to all kura in mid-September. 

Kura will be able to submit all Kete Manarua for marking from 1 October, and on or before the deadline date set for 25 October 2023.

If you have ākonga files ready to submit, please continue to store these in your own Google Drive (or file system) until submissions open.

Te Arotake – Seeking your feedback

We are seeking feedback from kura regarding the Review of Achievement Standards for Te Marautanga o Aotearoa, NZC Te Reo Māori and Te Reo Matatini me te Pāngarau. As part of understanding the requirements and wants of our kaiako in delivering the new achievement standards, we have developed a questionnaire to help refine the supports available.

We would appreciate if you could take 2-3 minutes of your time to complete the questionnaire.

TAPA/Kete Manarua Assessment Questionnaire (external link)

Accessing NCEA material to support RAS implementation

The new NCEA materials consist of a range of resources to support teaching, learning and assessment and are available on the Ministry of Education NCEA website.

NCEA Education (external link) - ncea.education.govt.nz

The Explaining the New NCEA Materials page explains the new materials and how they are intended to be used as well as providing guidance on where to find them. The NZC NCEA Materials: Definitions and Purpose PDF provides a summary of the information, and this PowerPoint could be used to present the information to your staff.

Explaining the New NCEA Materials (external link)

NZC NCEA Materials: Definitions and Purpose PDF (external link)

Explaining the New NCEA Materials Powerpoint Presentation (external link)

Adverse Event(s) Framework to support students significantly impacted by adverse events

NZQA has created an Adverse Event(s) Framework to recognise the increasing frequency of prolonged disruptive events which schools are unable to mitigate through the flexibility of NCEA alone. This builds on the experience of NZQA, the Ministry of Education and schools/kura during previous adverse event(s) and puts in place a permanent framework, rather than considering changes to the NCEA qualification after each event.  

Adverse Event(s) Framework (external link)

The Framework includes the introduction of a new level of intervention (managed by NZQA) which includes the provision of up to five ‘unspecified credits’ which can be applied to qualification(s) for eligible school leavers.  

The information sheet provides an overview of how and why Unspecified Credits will be used and student eligibility criteria. Further guidelines are available online. Please contact your School Relationship Manager if you have any queries about this process, including how to apply. 

Information sheet regarding Unspecifed Credits available to school-leavers in response to an Adverse Event(s) (external link)

Guidelines for schools managing assessment after Adverse Event(s)