A Whangārei student sitting NCEA exams for the first time says while the nationwide lockdown made learning challenging and increased worry, it also helped strengthen her study skills.
NCEA exams kicked off this week for 4000 students in Northland, and 140,000 nationally, marking the culmination of what has been a massively disrupted year for students, with schools closed nationally for seven weeks when the country went into level 4 lockdown in late March to stop the spread of Covid-19.
Whangārei Girls' High School Year 12 student Sophia Soljak sat her very first NCEA exam on Tuesday and said Covid-19 had made learning "a lot more difficult".
"Just having that part of the year not learning as well as you are in the classroom. You can email the teacher but not being able to work with them and be able to ask a question in person was hard."