Visual Arts

The Arts|New Zealand Curriculum

About Visual Arts

Visual Arts students explore, refine, and communicate their own artistic ideas by responding to how art expresses identity, culture, ethnicity, ideas, feelings, moods, beliefs, political viewpoints, and personal perspectives.

This page contains resources and tools to help support: 

  • internal and external assessment
  • teachers delivering this subject
  • learners taking this subject.

Read more about this subject on NCEA.education (external link)

Assessor Support

See how our online resources and workshops can support and improve your assessment practice.

Assessor Support home

Visual Arts standards

Level 1 standards

Visual Arts achievement standards

Find Level 1 standards

Level 2 standards

Visual Arts achievement standards

Find Level 2 standards

Level 3 standards

Visual Arts achievement standards

Find Level 3 standards

NZ Scholarship standards

Find NZ Scholarship standards

Exemplars, reports, past exams and assessment schedules

Level 1

Past exams, exemplars, assessment schedules and reports

Level 1

Level 2

Past exams, exemplars, assessment schedule and reports

Level 2

Level 3

Past exams, exemplars, assessment schedule and reports

Level 3

New Zealand Scholarship

Past exams, exemplars and assessment schedule

NZ Scholarship

Top Art exhibition

NCEA Level 3 portfolios that achieved Excellence in Visual Arts

View portfolios

Assessment specifications

Level 1

Get the latest assessment specifications

Level 1

Level 2

Get the latest assessment specifications

Level 2

Level 3

Get the latest assessment specifications

Level 3

New Zealand Scholarship

Get the latest assessment specifications

NZ Scholarship

2025 assessment specifications

View next year's assessment specifications

Assessor support materials for internal assessment

Internal exemplars

See exemplars for internally assessed Visual Arts standards

Go to exemplars

National moderator's report

Annual reports on issues and trends in assessment

View moderator's report

Clarifications

Updates on assessment and moderations

Find Visual Arts clarifications

Request clarification form

Teachers can request clarification of a standard with this form

Open request clarification form

Remote assessment matrix

Guidance for teachers if learning and assessment needs to be completed remotely

Remote assessment matrix [PDF, 236KB]

Alternative evidence gathering templates

Templates for student results when direct assessment is not possible

Get templates

Visual Arts resources on Pūtake

Online learning modules available for this subject

Go to resources

More resources

Visual Arts glossary of terms

Visual Arts prompt questions

Visual Arts Level 2 art bag order

The deadline to order Level 2 submission bags has passed. Red bags are required when:

  • your school is new to teaching Visual Arts Level 2, or
  • your school lost the red bags to submit verification samples.

Please contact your School Relationship Manager if you missed the deadline and still need submission bags.

Tools

Level 1 assessment matrix

Use this Visual Arts matrix on NCEA.education with new standards in 2024

Go to the matrix

Level 2 and 3 assessment matrix (opens in a new window)

Use this Visual Arts matrix for Level 2 and 3 standards

Download matrix [DOCX, 45KB]

Career guidance

Career information and tools to help your students on careers.govt.nz

Go to careers.govt.nz

Log in to MyNZQA school portal