Literacy and Numeracy are foundational skills. Other learning is based on literacy and numeracy, and we use these skills in our daily lives. They're also an important part of NCEA.
Literacy or te reo matatini is the ability to read, write and speak. Numeracy or pāngarau is the ability to use mathematics in daily life.
NCEA Literacy and Numeracy requirements
To gain an NCEA qualification at any level, students need to achieve a 20-credit co-requisite using:
- the new Literacy and Numeracy standards
- Te Reo Matatini and Pāngarau standards.
How to achieve NCEA Levels 1, 2 and 3
Students only need to meet the 20-credit Literacy and Numeracy or Te Reo Matatini and Te Pāngarau requirement once. After they have met the requirement, it counts for every level of NCEA.
Students achieve the co-requisite by sitting external Common Assessment Activities (CAAs).
Some approved literacy and numeracy-rich standards can also be used to achieve the co-requisite.
Approved standards and use restrictions (external link) - NCEA.education
On this page
Literacy and Numeracy assessments
External Literacy and Numeracy CAAs are digital-first, which means students complete the assessments on a computer.
Students have a minimum of 60 minutes to complete each assessment. But they can take as long as they need provided the assessment is delivered in a single session.
Education providers manage the delivery of Literacy and Numeracy CAAs. They decide when to deliver an assessment, but it must be during the 2-week assessment periods we set.
You can find this year's Literacy and Numeracy assessment periods on the key dates page:
Key dates for secondary assessment
Marking for Literacy, Numeracy, Te Reo Matatini me te Pāngarau
Find out how we mark Literacy, Numeracy, Te Reo Matatini me te Pāngarau assessments and calculate student grades:
Marking for Literacy and Numeracy assessments
Processes for schools and tertiary providers
Education providers can find information about preparing for and delivering CAAs online:
Literacy and Numeracy assessment information
Literacy and Numeracy administrative and submission instructions 2025 [PDF, 1.2 MB]
Tertiary providers follow the same deadlines as schools for entering students for the co-requisite assessments.
What's allowed in a co-requisite assessment?
Allowed
- rulers
- headphones
- power banks
- blank paper provided by the school, for workings
- standard (non-scientific or non-graphing) calculators or approved calculators.
Not allowed
- phones, notes and watches
- web browser extensions
- leaving the Assessment Master platform
- communicating with others.
Planning and preparation for schools
The Co-requisite hub is a dedicated resource for Principals’ Nominees and kaiako. It helps schools and staff manage and deliver co-requisite assessments.
Everything you need to know and prepare for the assessments is linked in one place, in an easy-to-understand format.
You'll find the Co-requisite hub in the MyNZQA school portal.
Past papers and assessment resources
Find past Literacy and Numeracy assessment papers, exemplars, and assessment specifications and reports.
Past assessment papers and exemplars on our public site may be redacted for copyright reasons. Unredacted versions of these resources are available to schools and students in MyNZQA.
Results from assessment events
We have collated data on previous Literacy and Numeracy assessment events. This data focuses on student participation and achievement.
The aggregated data is on:
Using unit standards 26622 to 26627 for the co-requisite
A limited number of providers can use the internally assessed unit standards 26622 to 26627 for the Literacy and Numeracy co-requistie:
- tertiary education organisations (TEOs)
- alternative education providers
- activity centres
- specialist schools
- teen-parent units
- health schools
- youth justice facilities.
Resources for unit standards 26622 to 26627
Important information about using these standards (external link) - NCEA.education
Text-to-speech for co-requisite assessments
Text-to-speech supports students with low vision, learning differences or reading difficulties by reading text aloud to students.
Students can use text-to-speech tools in the digital assessments for 32405 Literacy Writing and 32406 Numeracy.
Supplementary payments to schools
Schools and kura that delivered the new dedicated co-requisite standards in 2024 may be eligible for a supplementary payment:
