NZQA holds Leading National Assessment seminars for Principal's Nominees, usually in term 1 each year, to provide:
- opportunities for schools to share good practice in managing assessment for qualifications.
- updates on NZQA policy and processes.
Leading National Assessment seminar resources 2025
Download the 2025 Leading National Assessment presentation [PPTX, 4 MB]
Download the 2025 Leading National Assessment handbook [DOCX, 10 MB]
Principal's Nominee handbook and actions by month
Download the latest copy of the Principal's Nominee (PN) handbook:
Principal's Nominee handbook [DOCX, 3.6 MB]
See also:
On this page
Responsibilities of the Principal's Nominee
Background to Principal's Nominee responsibilities [PDF, 43 KB]
The Principal's Nominee role: Skills and attributes [PDF, 128 KB]
Resources for school assessment
Teachers new to NCEA handbook (2025) [DOCX, 1.6 MB]
Teachers new to NCEA presentation [PPTX, 3.1 MB]
Assessment in uncertain times (2022) [DOCX, 683 KB]
Effective assessment practice guide [PDF, 431 KB]
How to create a MyNZQA student account
Using your MyNZQA learner account [PPTX, 1.8 MB] [DOCX, 1.6 MB]
Derived grade quality assurance check appendix 1 [DOCX, 29 KB]
School third party consent – consented third party (MoU) application process [PDF, 350 KB]
Kaupapa Māori kura leaders seminar
This 2019 seminar was designed to meet the needs of senior managers in kaupapa Māori kura, based on feedback from the sector. It addresses:
- appropriate course design
- credible assessment outcomes
- equitable access to qualifications and
- evaluation of achievement outcomes.
It also offers examples of best practice from high-performing kura.
Kaupapa Māori kura leaders NCEA seminar presentation [PPTX, 1.5 MB]
Kaupapa Māori kura leaders NCEA seminar booklet [DOCX, 1.9 MB]
Examination centre management
The Examination management pages provide information about managing examination centres, including:
- applying to be an exam centre
- briefing students and staff
- recruiting and working with an Exam Centre Manager and their role
- requests to change exam centre
- handling clashes.
NCEA and Scholarship exams annual activity timeline as A3 wall chart [PDF, 155 KB]
Special Assessment Conditions
Special Assessment Conditions timeline
Special Assessment Conditions and exams
Assessment and exam assistants (Readers, Writers and Typists)
Derived grades
Exam centre quality assurance
NZQA conducts exam centre quality assurance visits to a selected number of schools each year.
The exam centre quality assurance form details school and Exam Centre Manager responsibilities during examinations.
Resources from previous years' seminars
Updated Strategic Selection Guide [DOCX, 21 KB]
2024 Leading National Assessment seminar handbook [DOCX, 2 MB]
2024 Leading National Assessment presentation [PPTX, 1.7 MB]
2023 Leading National Assessment (LNA) seminar handbook [DOCX, 3.5 MB]
2023 Leading National Assessment (LNA) seminar presentation [PPTX, 10 MB]
2022 Leading National Assessment seminar [PDF, 7.1 MB]
2022 Leading National Assessment handbook [DOCX, 9.2 MB]
2021 Leading National Assessment seminar handbook [PDF, 2.3 MB]
2021 Leading National Assessment seminar presentation [PPTX, 4 MB]
2020 Leading National Assessment seminar presentation [PPTX, 8 MB]
2020 Leading National Assessment seminar handbook [PDF, 5.9 MB]
Other resources and review materials:
NCEA Online Your Story example [PDF, 480 KB]
NCEA Online Your Story template [PDF, 88 KB]
Near Star Far Star Change Plan template [PDF, 212 KB]
Excellence - a competence to mastery model [DOCX, 283 KB]
How to Provide Access to NZQA's Learning Management System (LMS) [PDF, 843 KB]