We run external assessments for:
- National Certificates of Educational Achievement (NCEA) Levels 1, 2 and 3
- New Zealand Scholarship.
Assessment by portfolio
For some NCEA subjects, students need to submit a portfolio of work that is assessed at the end of the school year.
On this page
End-of-year exams
Most NCEA exams happen in November and December each year.
A 3-hour session can assess up to 3 external achievement standards in a single NCEA subject.
Marking external assessments
NZQA will mark external assessments by:
We are moving from paper-based to digital exams
Assessment has traditionally been paper-based, but we are introducing digital assessment that students can sit using a computer.
This reflects that New Zealand schools are increasingly using digitally enabled teaching and learning.
How external assessment works
About digital external assessment
Some external assessments are available digitally, and some will only be digital.
Find more information at:
About digital external assessment
Student resources for digital external assessment
Find past digital external assessments (external link)
Rules and instructions
In term 4, students will get a copy of the ‘Rules and instructions for Candidates’, which they must agree to follow.
These rules ensure assessment conditions for all students are fair and that their work is original and authentic.
You can download a copy, in English or te reo Māori, from 18 October 2023.
Rules for students taking assessments
Candidate information sheet 2023 [PDF, 219 KB]
Puka Pārongo Kaitono 2023 [PDF, 283 KB]
What happens if you break these rules
NZQA has a process to investigate potential breaches of the external examination rules: