Albany Senior High School/Coursebook/NCEAs

The National Certificates of Educational Achievement (NCEAs) offer all students the opportunity to achieve to their potential.

NCEAs are recognised by employers and universities in New Zealand and overseas. A range of national certificates will also be available. You can study towards one or more specialist national certificates at the same time as NCEAs. All credits count towards your NCEA.

NCEAs are standard-based qualifications. This means that you are assessed against standards that measure what you know and can do. There are two types of standards: achievement standards and unit standards. Teachers will assess unit standards at school (internal assessment). You will either reach the required standard and achieve the standard (achieved) or, if you do not reach the standard, you will get a not achieved. Achievement standards are either assessed by teachers at school (internally assessed) or at the end of the year in national exams (externally assessed). You will get a not achieved grade if you do not meet the standard. If you achieve a satisfactory standard, you will gain an achieved grade. You will get merit for a very good performance or excellence for outstanding performance.

Changes to NCEA Level 1
Level one standards are currently being revised so that they are aligned with the New Zealand Curriculum. We will provide the new standard numbers as soon as they are available.

Literacy and Numeracy
Level 1 NCEA requires students to achieve literacy and numeracy standards as part of the qualification. Your tutor will let you know which achievement standards count towards literacy and numeracy. Some students may gain literacy and mumeracy through the new, specially focused unit standards. At Level 2 you should start thinking about what areas you need to focus on for your future study or career. Your level 2 results are important – these are sometimes used as part of the selection process by universities, polytechnics and employers. You need to choose your level 3 subjects carefully to ensure that you are exploiting your strengths while meeting course requirements for university, polytechnics and/or future employment.

Gateway and STAR

 * STAR (Secondary Tertiary Alignment Resourcing) funding allows us to provide you with a link into tertiary training, university and/or industry trade courses.
 * Gateway gives you an opportunity to apply to be part of a structured work based training. If you are selected, you will be given an individual training plan and will have the opportunity to earn unit standards towards your NCEA certificates.

Recognising High Achievement
You should be aiming to achieve to your potential.


 * You may achieve your certificate with excellence if you get 50 excellence credits.
 * If you get 50 credits at merit, or a mixture of merit and excellence, you will receive an NCEA certificate endorsed with merit.

In 2011, you will also have the opportunity to aim for a merit or excellence course endorsement. This means that if you receive 14 or more excellence credits in one of your courses, you will receive an excellence endorsement for that subject or course. If you receive 14 credits at merit or a mixture of merit and excellence, you will receive a merit endorsement.

Scholarship
If you achieve a significant number of excellence or merit and excellence results in a subject at level 2, you should consider entering scholarship. Scholarship is externally assessed and is designed to extend very able students. It provides successful candidates with financial assistance for tertiary study. If you demonstrate significant ability and interest in a particular subject, you may be eligible to enrol in a university paper.

University Entrance
University Entrance is the minimum requirement for entry to university. Many universities and other tertiary course providers in New Zealand have specific course requirements. You may need to achieve particular level 3 standards as an entry requirement for some tertiary courses. You should discuss these with the institution that you intend to study further with. Merit and Excellence grades will give you a greater chance of getting into your chosen course.

For further information on entry into New Zealand tertiary institutions please refer to the 'Making Your Choices' section of this coursebook.