What The Act normally says about offshore provision of NCEA
State and state integrated schools are normally unable to provide education to students outside New Zealand (there is currently no restriction on the ability for private schools to provide education offshore).
The Education and Training Act 2020 also generally prohibits the provision of NCEA outside New Zealand with two exceptions under Section 455:
- to allow for the continued provision of NCEA to domestic students through distance school enrolment gateways
- to allow for NCEA qualifications to continue to be provided in jurisdictions where the Government has enabled this through government-to-government agreements.
Section 455 (external link) - Education and Training Act 2020
Why NCEA is normally not allowed to be provided offshore
NCEA was developed for students living and studying in New Zealand and is not intended to be an international qualification. The assessment of achievement standards requires teacher understanding of the New Zealand Curriculum and competence in delivering the learning outcomes. This cannot be guaranteed in an offshore setting.
The widespread provision of NCEA outside New Zealand would create significant risks to the international reputation and credibility of New Zealand’s national qualifications and wider education system.
However, the limited exceptions that allow NCEA to be provided outside New Zealand include measures to assure quality and mitigate these risks.
On this page
Providing certainty during the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic created considerable uncertainty about the continuation of New Zealand study pathways for international fee-paying students studying in New Zealand in 2020, as well as for the New Zealand schools that host and educate them.
To provide more certainty for these students and schools, the Act temporarily allowed the Minister of Education to approve state and state integrated schools to provide education to their eligible students while they were offshore.
A temporary exception to the Rules
This temporary exception allowed NZQA to approve registered schools (state, state integrated and private) to provide NCEA to eligible students who were overseas due to pandemic-related border restrictions (Schedule 1, Part 1, subpart 3, clause 12).
NZQA also had the authority to specify the standards against which a school may or may not assess students based offshore. NZQA, schools and students had to focus on those standards that were more suitable for quality teaching, learning and assessment by distance.
All registered schools (state, state-integrated and private) wishing to offer NCEA to their students during this time needed NZQA’s approval to do so.
Time-limited until December 2022
This exception was time-limited and expired at the end of 31 December 2022.
This was to allow affected students studying towards Level 1 in 2020 to continue their NCEA pathway through to Level 3. It was not intended to allow for any new provision of NCEA offshore.
Outside of this response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the basic policy principles relating to the provision of education and NCEA to students based offshore have not changed.
Eligibility requirements
This temporary exception was only available to students already enrolled in a New Zealand school for 2020 on or before 3 July.
Eligible students include those enrolled students who were overseas due to border restrictions, and those who were present and may have wished to go back to their home countries but were unsure if they would be able to re-enter New Zealand.
Criteria for approval of applications
Under the Education and Training Act 2020, NZQA has the authority under clause 12 of Schedule 1, and section 452(4) - (7) to establish rules for the delivery of NCEA offshore.
Clause 12 of Schedule 1 (external link) - Education and Training Act 2020
Section 452 (external link) - Education and Training Act 2020
The rules outline the criteria used for the approval of applications which require:
- the school to be a signatory to the Education (Pastoral Care of Tertiary and International Learners) Code of Practice 2021
- standards the schools will use to assess students offshore - which must be suitable for the remote learning environment
- details of each student being assessed as outlined in the application
- the learning programme must reflect a coherent pathway and meet the needs of the students
- the school to have NZQA Course Approval under section 524 of the Education and Training Act 2020, where the learning course or programme is established exclusively or mainly for international students
- assessment processes that are fair, valid, consistent and appropriate with results being authentic and credible
- that students receive adequate and appropriate information and support
- for the assessment of external standards, that the school must follow the Overseas External Result process.
The application form and guidance document on the Ministry of Education website further details the rules and criteria the school must meet for approval.