Year 11–13
NCEA curriculum

NCEA Qualifications Framework

The National Certificate of Educational Achievement is the national qualification for Year 11, Year 12 and Year 13 courses.

NCEA uses achievement standards. To indicate how well a student has performed, each standard has three levels: achieve, merit and excellence. Each standard is worth a set number of credits. Some credits derive from internal assessment, some from external assessment.

NCEA also uses unit standards. Some courses are organised in conjunction with providers outside the school and these courses offer industry-based unit standards. Each standard is worth a set number of credits and all assessments are conducted internally.

Level Certificates are achieved as follows:

  • Level 1: 80 credits, including numeracy and literacy co-requisites.
  • Level 2: 80 credits, 60 of which must be at Level 2 or higher.
  • Level 3: 80 credits, 60 of which must be at Level 3.

Level certificates will be endorsed according to the following criteria:

  • Endorsement with achieved: 50 credits at achieved or higher, required at the same level (or higher) as the certificate being awarded.
  • Endorsement with merit: 50 credits at merit or excellence, required at the same level (or higher) as the certificate being awarded.
  • Endorsement with excellence: 50 credits at excellence, required at the same level (or higher) as the certificate being awarded.

Students will gain an endorsement for a course where they achieve:

  • 14 or more credits at Achieved, Merit or Excellence (Excellence credits can be substituted to gain a Merit endorsement and Excellence and Merit credits can be substituted to gain an Achieved endorsement).
  • At least 3 credits from externally assessed standards and 3 credits from internally assessed standards (Note: physical education and visual arts are exempt from this requirement)
  • Sufficient credits in a single school year.

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University entrance

Students will need all of the following to be awarded UE:

  • Attain Level 3 NCEA
  • Achieve 14 credits at Level 3 in each of three subjects from the list of approved subjects. The list of approved subjects will consist of subjects derived from the New Zealand Curriculum with achievement standards at Level 3.
  • Achieve UE numeracy – 10 credits at Level 1 or above from specific achievement standards, or three specific numeracy unit standards.
  • Achieve UE literacy – 10 credits (five in reading and five in writing) at Level 2 or above from specific standards.

Most students select 5 subjects with English and Mathematics compulsory at Level 1. English is the only compulsory subject in Level 2.