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A fail mark may be reinstated to student records as part of a series of changes to the National Certificate of Educational Achievement set to be announced tomorrow.
Currently, it is not officially recorded if students "did not achieve" an internal standard.
One principal said bringing back the fail mark would make NCEA more transparent by clearly showing if a student had tried but not achieved.
Another said the change would correct a perception the system was "lopsided", caused by the not achieved marks being recorded in externally assessed standards but not the internally assessed ones.
Many principals contacted by the Herald had been confidentially briefed on the changes so could not speak about their expectations. But they largely welcomed the response to pressure for change and said the moves aimed to increase the robustness of the system.
A spokeswoman for Education Minister Steve Maharey said the "refinements" came out of three reviews held two years ago.
The changes were tipped to address issues around the motivation of students and the credibility of the way the qualification was moderated.
Other possible changes included updating unit standards so students could pass with achieved, merit or excellence grades and the scrapping of the first two levels of NCEA, turning the three years into a "grab-bag" of standards that students could take three years to collect.
Prime Minister Helen Clark previously said she thought many of the matters that had spurred criticism of the qualification this year were dealt with several years ago. She said the Government had agreed two years ago to return to the recording of "not achieved" on student records.
Mr Maharey said at the time that the Qualifications Authority addressed operational issues first then the design changes. He hoped to have most bedded in by the end of the year.
David Hodge, head of the country's biggest school, Rangitoto College in Mairangi Bay, called for top students to be better rewarded in NCEA.
"We have a lot of students who aspire to excellence and get it across a wide range of subjects," he said. "That collective excellence could be acknowledged."
Post Primary Teachers Association president Robin Duff said teachers needed more support and resources to continue to implement the system well.
