NCEA

To achieve NCEA Level 1, students need:

60 credits at Level 1 or above, plus

Literacy: 10 credits from specified standards (these include CAA’s or tagged standards),Numeracy: 10 credits from specified standards (these include CAA’s or tagged standards).

Note: From 2024, changes are being progressively introduced that may affect the literacy and numeracy requirements for future students.

To achieve NCEA Level 1, students need:

60 credits at Level 1 or above, plus

Literacy: 10 credits from specified standards (these include CAA’s or tagged standards),Numeracy: 10 credits from specified standards (these include CAA’s or tagged standards).

Note: From 2024, changes are being progressively introduced that may affect the literacy and numeracy requirements for future students.

To achieve NCEA Level 2, students need:

60 credits at Level 2 or above, plus

20 credits from any level (these can be carried forward from Level 1),

Literacy and numeracy requirements must already be met (usually achieved at Level 1).

To achieve NCEA Level 3, students need:

60 credits at Level 3 or above, plus

20 credits from Level 2 or above,

Literacy and numeracy requirements must already be met.

University Entrance (UE) is the minimum requirement to enrol in a degree-level programme at a New Zealand university. To gain UE, a student must achieve all of the following:

1. NCEA Level 3, plus

2. Literacy: 10 credits (5 in reading, 5 in writing) from approved Level 2 (or above) standards,

3. Numeracy: 10 credits at Level 1 or above,

4. Approved Subjects:

At least 14 credits in each of three approved subjects at Level 3.

Approved subjects are specific subjects that are recognised by universities, such as English, Mathematics, Biology, History, etc. A full list is available on the NZQA website.

Please note: University Entrance does not guarantee a place in a specific course or university. Each institution may set its own entry criteria (such as higher grades or specific subjects) for competitive programmes.

Students who consistently perform at a high level can have their NCEA certificate endorsed to reflect this:

Merit Endorsement: 50 or more credits at Merit or Excellence

Excellence Endorsement: 50 or more credits at Excellence

These endorsements are applied to the certificate for that year and are a strong indicator of overall academic achievement.

In addition to certificate endorsements, students can also earn endorsements in individual subjects (courses):

To gain a course endorsement, students need 14 or more credits in a single subject at Merit or Excellence, including at least 3 credits from external assessment and 3 from internal assessment (where available) in the same year.