Exams add final piece to NCEA jigsaw

By STUART DYE

Secondary students sit exams around the country today knowing they will be the first to leave school with an entirely new set of qualifications.

Levels 1 and 2 of the National Certificate of Educational Achievement have been phased in over the past two years.

This year, level 3 and Scholarship are the final pieces in the jigsaw. Level 3 replaces the University Entrance Bursaries and Scholarships system, while the new Scholarship is a stand-alone qualification for the cream of the academic crop.

The exams are the biggest logistical operation in the New Zealand Qualifications Authority's history, with almost 130,000 students sitting more than three million papers.

"Despite the months of preparation, with an operation this size, there is bound to be the occasional glitch," warned Kate Colbert, the authority's group manager secondary. "But we expect to deal with any problems swiftly."

The timetable kicks off today with chemistry levels 1 and 3, art history level 2 and drama level 3.

It will be a fairly modest day with about 30,000 students sitting a paper. The biggest exams are, unsurprisingly, English with almost 102,000 students sitting one or more levels, and maths, with more than 92,000 candidates. All exams are three hours long, with the exception of information management, which is two hours.

Each student receives an individual package containing a separate examination booklet for each achievement standard.

"We need to ensure that every one of the 129,853 students finds their personalised exam papers in the right place, at the right time on the right day," said Ms Colbert.

Most students sitting exams have already been internally assessed by their schools. The authority's moderation system will check the quality of each school's assessment.

A small band of students from Auckland's Rangitoto College yesterday told the Herald the exams weren't so terrifying thanks to the constant assessment under NCEA.

"We have had tests all year so there's not so much cramming," said 17-year-old Lisa Wong.

The exams run until Wednesday, December 1. Answer booklets are then sent to some 2000 markers around the country for marking and checking before students get them back early next year.

Scholarship had been awarded to the top 3 or 4 per cent in University Bursaries, but under the new system students needed "to apply higher-level thinking", said Ms Colbert.

The assessment covers the same curriculum content as level 3 achievement standards, but the exams are "very challenging".

Thousands of students have also entered for unit standards up to level 5 in both curriculum and industry areas. There are no national examinations for these standards.

Nearly 5000 students will be sitting Cambridge International Exams instead of NCEA. More than 40 independent and state schools now offer the Cambridge qualification. The exams began on October 14 and run until November 23.

Although the qualification is not officially recognised by the Ministry of Education, it is recognised internationally by universities and employers.

The NCEA numbers

* 129,853 candidates

* 38 subjects

* 114 exam sessions

* 3 million papers

* 2000 markers

What parents need to know

* Exams run from today until December 1.

* They start at either 9.30am or 2pm and run for three hours (except Information Management, which is two hours).

* The full timetable is available at NZQA

* Level 3 and Scholarship are run for the first time this year.

* Results are released in January.

* Students need 42 credits at Level 3 or higher, and specific numeracy and literacy levels, for university entrance.