Response To NCEA Changes

Universities New Zealand broadly supports the direction of the changes signalled to the NCEA qualification announced this morning but looks forward to seeing more detail.

Chief Executive Chris Whelan says: “We have previously raised concerns that the flexibility of NCEA has led to a focus on simply gaining credits rather than developing deep knowledge and critical thinking needed for students to succeed at a university level. This proposal appears to address those concerns.

“However, while the proposal will introduce subjects to replace the mix of credits and achievement standards that have made NCEA so hard to understand, we don’t yet know what those subjects will be, or how they will relate to letting students know they are ready for entry into university studies.”

The current requirements for University Entrance, which is administered by the NZQA, are: 

• NCEA Level 3

• A minimum of 14 credits at Level 3 in each of three approved subjects

• A literacy requirement of 10 credits at Level 2 or above (5 in reading and 5 in writing) • A numeracy requirement of 10 credits at Level 1 or above

“We have previously highlighted the importance of University Entrance’s three subject requirement at Level 3 as an indicator of a student’s breadth and depth of learning in academic subjects, which matters in the transition to university. The proposed system increases that minimum to four subjects to pass, but it is not yet clear what subjects these will be in, which will be one of the things we consider.

“University Entrance is a robust indicator of a student’s readiness for degree-level standards, and we would expect that to continue under a new system.

“We are pleased that the new system is being phased in over a longer time period, which will allow those decisions to be made with careful thought.

“We look forward to working with the Ministry of Education and Government to ensure the transition to a new system is smooth and sets up university students of 2031 and beyond for success in their chosen academic field.”

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