How derived grade applications work
Students complete derived grade applications and give these to their schools.
Applications must include a completed application form and supporting evidence that shows why, for circumstances beyond their control, a student:
- couldn’t attend an examination or assessment
- submitted an incomplete portfolio
- attended an examination but their performance was significantly impaired.
A school’s Principal’s Nominee handles derived grade applications. They lodge applications on students’ behalf in the MyNZQA school portal.
We review all applications and approve or decline them based on the eligibility criteria.
Download a derived grade application form [DOCX, 103 KB]
Students, try to take your exams whenever possible. If we approve your application for a derived grade but you still take the exam, you will receive the higher of the 2 grades.
On this page
When derived grade applications are due
Derived grade applications are due no more than 2 weeks after the student’s last affected exam or assessment.
Students selected for national representations must apply for pre-approval. Pre-approval applications close a week before the start of exams.
Make sure an application meets the eligibility criteria
Supporting evidence
To apply for a derived grade, students need to provide credible evidence. This could be:
- a certificate or report from a registered professional like a doctor, psychologist, or social worker
- a report from the school nurse or guidance counsellor
- a hospital admission or discharge notice
- a police or traffic report
- a funeral service order or death notice
- a statement from the school’s Principal’s Nominee or Exam Centre Manager confirming the student fell ill during an exam
- confirmation from the school’s Principal’s Nominee that the student experienced a significant event that negatively affected them
- a newspaper report about an event that directly impacted the student, such as a house fire or major traffic accident
- a letter from a national registered body confirming the student’s selection on a national team.
Derived grades can’t be used to compensate for missed study or preparation time
The supporting documents provided by students must:
- be relevant to the date of the affected external assessment
- come from an independent and qualified individual, like a doctor
- show that the student was significantly negatively affected and specify the duration of this impact.
The supporting evidence must confirm a medical diagnosis from a consultation at the time of the exam or assessment or confirm that a significant event occurred and how it affected the student.
If an event happened before an exam or assessment, the student’s evidence must show that they couldn’t prepare effectively and were under continuous care from a registered professional.
Principal’s Nominees, if you’re not sure if supporting evidence meets the eligibility criteria, please contact us for advice:
What schools need to do
When lodging an application for a student, schools need to:
- consider the information in the student’s application against the derived grade criteria
- decide if the provided information meets the criteria
- use the student’s application form to tell us if you support or do not support the application based on the eligibility criteria
- make sure enough information is included in a student’s application so we can evaluate it against the eligibility criteria
- make sure the student’s application only covers the affected dates (identified by the medical practitioner or professional)
- give us additional information promptly if we ask for it.
Successful applications
If a student’s derived grade application is approved, the derived grade or grades will appear on their results notice when it’s released in January. They won't be labelled as derived grades.
Unsuccessful applications
If a student’s derived grade application doesn’t meet the eligibility criteria, we can’t approve it. Declined applications are carefully checked by 2 members of our derived grades team.
We tell the student and their school’s Principal’s Nominee in writing when an application is denied.
Students can appeal an unsuccessful application.
Appealing an unsuccessful application
A student can appeal an unsuccessful application no more than 15 days after hearing from us by:
- telling us in writing they want to appeal the decision
- providing additional information or evidence to support their original application.
Our reply to your application tells you how to appeal.
Unsuccessful appeals
If an appeal is declined and a student doesn’t agree with the outcome, they can write to our Chief Executive and ask for a review of the appeal decision
Students must do this no more than 15 days after hearing that an appeal was declined.
The Chief Executive’s decision is final.