Secondary schools in New Zealand
Overview
New Zealand offers quality schooling at the secondary level. Typically, secondary study lasts five years and begins when students are 12 or 13 years old. New Zealand students must attend school until they are 16 years old.
Most secondary schools in New Zealand are state-owned. They teach a nationally set curriculum. There are also privately owned secondary schools, most of which are based on specific philosophic or religious traditions. New Zealand's secondary schools offer national qualifications that are recognised by tertiary institutions in New Zealand and internationally.
Additionally, in New Zealand, all national secondary qualifications are monitored and checked by government and sector agencies.In the New Zealand system, children start school in Year 1 when they are 5 years old. The first year of secondary study is Year 9, and the last year is Year 13.
NCEA (National Certificates of Educational Achievement)
The main secondary school qualifications in New Zealand are the National Certificates of Educational Achievement (NCEA).
NCEA is awarded at three levels. These are known as level 1, 2 and 3. Students usually begin studying for their level 1 NCEA in year 11 (third year at secondary school) and continue through years 12 and 13. Some students study at more than one level, depending on their abilities in different subjects.
The process by which NCEA is awarded is distinctive. Students do not pass or fail traditional subjects. Instead, they are assessed against what are called 'standards', which are subsets of subjects. The benefit of this is that schools can select a mix of standards for their students, to meet their particular needs and interests. The mix of standards may vary from school to school. Students' academic records describe all the standards achieved, providing a great deal of detail about what individual students know and can do.
For most standards, successful students are awarded 'achieved', 'merit', or 'excellence', depending on how well they did, with 'achieved' being a pass and 'excellence' being the highest possible grade/category. Depending on the standard, assessment is either internal (where the school awards grades) or external (through end-of-year national examinations).The NCEA section of the website contains more information about secondary qualifications.
Page updated: 28 November 2005