New Zealand Scholarship

New Zealand Scholarship provides recognition and monetary reward to top students in their last year of schooling. New Zealand Scholarship examinations enable candidates to be assessed against challenging standards, and are demanding for the most able candidates in each subject.

Scholarship candidates are expected to demonstrate high-level critical thinking, abstraction and generalisation, and to integrate, synthesise and apply knowledge, skills, understanding and ideas to complex situations.

Entry to New Zealand Scholarship

In Year 12 or 13 you should discuss with the HOF, Mr Meade and/or Mr Nicholson about entering Scholarship exams.

Eligibility to receive a monetary award

To be eligible to receive a scholarship award, the student must be enrolled in tertiary study in New Zealand for the years in which they receive monetary awards. For awards with second or subsequent year payments recipients must maintain a 'B' grade average each year of their tertiary study in New Zealand. For further information seeMonetary Awards.

For full details of the eligibility requirements, see NCEA Rules and Procedures - Secondary Schools.

How many candidates are awarded New Zealand Scholarship?

Approximately 3 per cent of Year 13 students studying each subject at Level 3 are awarded Scholarship, if they reach the standard that has been set. There is some tolerance around the 3 per cent, mainly for those subjects with few candidates. See Scholarship subjects for a list of this year's scholarship subjects.

How is New Zealand Scholarship marked?

Markers allocate a score of 0-8 for each component in the New Zealand Scholarship assessment using subject specific schedules. These are based on a Generic Marking Guide, as follows:

• An answer given a score of 8 is an Outstanding answer in all respects. Strong evidence of integration and synthesis. As good as could be expected under examination conditions. Accurate, comprehensive, coherent, lucid, perceptive.
• A score of 1 shows Meagre understanding relevant to the question.
• A score of 0 is awarded for answers that are blank or irrelevant.

The work of the highest scoring candidates is reviewed by marking panels, to identify the top candidates in each subject. Exam booklets for candidates whose scores are close to either the Scholarship or Outstanding cut-offs are also re-marked, to ensure their results are correct.