National external moderation
National external moderation provides an assurance that assessment decisions, in relation to assessment standards, are consistent nationally.
External moderation of internally assessed standards in schools and kura ensures that assessment judgements (marking of students' work) are consistent with the standard and provide feedback for future assessment decisions.
Where issues are identified with assessor judgements, the assessment materials used (tasks, activities or tests) may be moderated to check that they are at the national standard.
Schools and kura can access the report for each standard, including moderation outcomes, through the external moderation application.
An Annual Subject Report, which will include national moderator feedback, will be published in February.
On this page
Submission of moderation
Schools should submit moderation for each standard in their moderation plan once they have completed the assessment process (when internal moderation has been completed and results given to students for that standard).
- 20 October is the final date for submissions so moderation can be completed in time for schools to receive feedback before the following assessment year. Schools should contact their School Relationship Manager for standards where this final date may be an issue.
- Mātauranga Māori and Pacific knowledge subjects should also be submitted as assessment is completed, but they will continue to be moderated at a Kāhui or Fono.
Using the external moderation app, schools need to submit the following:
- a copy of the task and/or supporting resources
- a copy of the assessment schedule
- selected samples of student work consisting of the key materials that the assessor has used to make an assessment judgement.
Selection of student samples for external moderation
- Six samples of student work for standards where Not Achieved, Achieved, Merit or Excellence grades are available. Samples should include:
- one sample each at N, A, M, E (if a sample at a grade is not available, replace with one at the nearest grade available, but only send a maximum of 2 samples at N). Where possible, these should be typical for the grade, not borderline.
- two more from A, M, E. These could be borderline or particular pieces of work you wish to have moderated.
- Four samples of student work for standards where only Not Achieved or Achieved results are available.
Where the total number of students assessed for the standard means there are insufficient samples of learner evidence available, all student work must be submitted, but only a maximum of 2 samples at N.
NZQA Assessment Rules for Schools, TEOs assessing against Achievement Standards, and Candidates 2024
Response to external moderation
Schools must follow up each external moderation report. Teachers may query or appeal the moderation decision within the external moderation application.
Annual summary
Once all moderation reports for your school or kura are final, we summarise the results in an annual summary.
The summary reflects the overall level of consistency of teacher judgements to the standard for the school or kura and provides advice regarding next steps.
Your school relationship manager will notify you when your annual summary is available to access through the external moderation app.