Student NCEA contract

NCEA Assessment Procedures 2022

    General

    Students should have from each subject teacher:

    Course outline - areas to be covered within the course and assessment dates.

Details of external and internal assessments for NCEA and credits available through Schoolpoint.

To Gain the NCEA Qualification

•    To gain NCEA Level 1, 80 credits at Level 1 (or higher) must be obtained. Ten of these must be from the numeracy standards and ten from the literacy standards (which can be assessed in English or Te Reo Māori).

•    NCEA Level 2 requires a minimum of 60 credits at Level 2 (or higher) and a further 20 credits at any level (those obtained for Level 1 can be counted).

•    NCEA Level 3 requires a minimum of 60 credits at Level 3 (or higher) and a further 20 credits at Level 2 or above, (those obtained for Level 2 can be counted).

Certificate Endorsement

If a student gains 50 credits at Excellence, their NCEA will be endorsed with Excellence. 

Likewise, if a student gains 50 credits at Merit (or Merit and Excellence), their NCEA will be endorsed with Merit. The Record of Achievement shows endorsement awards.

Credits earned can count towards an endorsement over more than one year and more than one level. However, they must be gained at the level of the certificate or above. For example, Level 2 credits will count towards endorsement of a Level 1 NCEA, but Level 1 credits will not count towards endorsement of a Level 2 NCEA.

Course Endorsement

Course endorsement provides recognition for students who perform well in individual courses.

Students will gain an endorsement for a course if, in a single school year, they achieve:

14 or more credits at Achieved or Merit or Excellence, where at least 3 of these credits from externally assessed standards and 3 credits from internally assessed standards. Note, this does not apply to Physical Education, Religious Studies and level 3 Visual Arts.

Opportunities for Assessment under NCEA

1. There have been major changes to resubmission in 2021:

• A student has access to an Achieved grade only  from a resubmission.

• A resubmission can be offered to individually identified students to correct a minor error and gain the grade of

Achieved, not Merit or Excellence

Does not allow students to gain Merit or Excellence grades

-Should take place as soon as possible after the assessment has been completed

Can be offered where the teacher judges the student should be capable of discovering an

    2. For Unit Standards students will be assessed as Achieved or Not Achieved.

    3. For Achievement Standards students will be assessed as Not Achieved, Achieved, Achieved with Merit, Achieved with Excellence.

4. Note that Not Achieved results for internally assessed standards will be reported on students’ Result Notices and on their School Result Summary but not on their Record of Achievement.

Assignments, Quality and Deadlines

1. Deadlines (Place and Time) will be clearly stated by subject teachers when the assessment is issued.  If a student is absent on the deadline day he/she must ensure that the assessment is delivered to the subject teacher on the deadline day.

2. Assessments are to be handed to the subject teacher as per the instructions given by the teacher or the Head of Faculty. 

Missing Deadlines

Internal assessment tasks for Achievement Standards and/or Unit Standards must be handed in on the due date.  No allowance will be made for work which is handed in late without prior arrangements being made with the subject teacher or without an acceptable reason. 

Planned Absences

If a student can foresee an absence, e.g. sport, school trip, Spirit of Adventure, a family commitment, etc. then the student must communicate with the subject teacher. The granting of an extension is at the discretion of the Head of the Subject.

Illness/Unplanned Absences

1. If a student is absent due to illness on the day of an assessment a medical certificate may be required.  An extension of time may be given.

2. In the case of an unplanned absence for reasons other than illness students must communicate with the subject teacher prior to the absence.

3. In the case of absence from an external assessment such as the NCEA examinations the student needs to apply to the Deputy Principal in charge of external examinations for a Derived Grade if this is applicable.

4. Students should be aware that if they are absent from a Derived Grade Exam in Term 3 they may not have evidence to apply for a Derived Grade if they are absent from the final external assessment/examination.

Authenticity

    1. All assessed work must be the individual’s own work. It must also have not been previously submitted.

2. Students will be informed through subject teachers and year level assemblies about plagiarism to ensure the authenticity of assessed work within each faculty.

3. Students are required to sign the statement at the end of this document to acknowledge their understanding of the information it contains and to assure that assessed work will be their own.

    4. Parents are also asked to read the information.

5. If a student’s work is found to have been substantially copied from another source, the student will receive no credits for that standard. Where a teacher feels that a piece of work is not that of the student this will be referred to the HOF and the relevant Senior Management person who will make the final judgement. Contact will be made with whanau.

If a student’s work is found to have been in part copied from another source, the student’s assessment will be based on the portion of the work that is their own.

6. To ensure that a student is not suspected of plagiarism or fabricating work all student work must be referenced according to the school policy. 

7. Student work which has been handed in for assessment will be held on file by the faculty/teacher.

8. Other breaches of authenticity may include impersonation, collusion and false declaration.

Signposting

Subject teachers will keep students posted during the year on their level of achievement. They will be given a result for each assessment. If a subject teacher feels that a student’s work is not meeting the required standard or if s/he has missed deadlines, then contact will be made with the parents or noted on the Engagement Report.   

Appeal System

If a student believes that the mark or result they have received for an assessment is unfair they have the opportunity to appeal the decision.  

    1. Students should make an initial response in the first instance to their subject teacher.

2. If the issue remains unresolved between the student and teacher then an appeal should be made within three days of the return of the assessment to the HOF. 

3. If the student is still dissatisfied with the outcome, the appeal should be taken to the Deputy Principal Mr. Nicholson.

Students’ Responsibility

    *    Meeting of deadlines

    *    Explanation of absences

    *    Meeting checkpoints and deadlines

    *    Authenticity of work