Education Minister Trevor Mallard said grade average would be included on the end of year notices for students taking the National Certificate of Educational Achievement.

A grade average tells the candidate what proportion of the maximum score they receive.

Trevor Mallard made the announcement to secondary principals meeting in Wellington today and circulated a sample result notice which would be used as a base for developing a final design.

He said decisions about the end of year results notice were among the many that were left hanging by the previous Government.

"Not long after I became Minister of Education, I made the decision to delay the implementation to give adequate time to make decisions and prepare for this major change.

"Since then I have made changes which I think will increase public confidence in the system. For example -

„h There will be exams at year 11, 12 and 13, not just at year 11 and 13
„h The proportion of assessment to be carried out by external as opposed to internal assessment has been raised from 50 to 60%
„h A literacy and numeracy 'benchmark' has been introduced to ensure no student can obtain a senior school qualification without foundation skills in both these areas
„h Moderation has been strengthened by the inclusion of site visits as part of the verification process.
„h $2m extra per year and two days time has been put aside for teacher professional development.

"Today I am also confirming that the end of year reporting of the certificate will include a grade average. Personally, I think that the information that will sit behind that mark will be more useful ¡V especially to employers and to determine access into restricted tertiary courses.

"I know many purists of the assessment based model will see the information as useless. However, the feedback from parents is that they would also like a number to indicate their child's overall performance in each subject.

"In the early stages, it is important to help people feel comfortable with the new system. It shouldn't look too different and that is why I think the number should be expressed out of 100. It is something that I would want to review in about five years time to see if it is still wanted," Trevor Mallard said.

Trevor Mallard also told principals that he had confidence in their ability to deliver the new system well.

"The success of NCEA will largely depend on the teaching profession understanding standards and assessing against them. It is a matter of teachers having faith in their own ability to make professional judgements. I know that as professional leaders you will ensure that happens," Trevor Mallard said.

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