KEY POINTS:
High school students are going to have to wave goodbye to a few more weekends each year with more exams tipped to be scheduled on Saturdays as the growing number of courses pushes the timetable to its limit.
The Qualifications Authority has told principals a proposal to extend the exam period for a week in 2008 had been rejected because schools told them they didn't want teaching time cut.
But the NZQA said alternative measures were needed to ensure all the exams could run properly and minimise clashes.
"At this stage we would envisage the possibility of using Saturdays more effectively," it wrote.
While the number of courses being assessed had already boomed under the National Certificate of Educational Achievement, the NZQA said it expected to timetable two new subjects for exams next year, with more set to be made available in 2009.
Under NCEA, scholarship exams are run separately and Year 12s - internally assessed under the previous system - also sit exams.
Secondary Principals Association president Peter Gall said students had little choice but to accept the move.
"The NCEA scholarship exams are currently held on a Saturday, but they don't involve quite so many," said Mr Gall. "It would be new ground."
He said it was unlikely to interrupt weekend school sports badly, as it was largely confined to junior competitions at that time.
He said many people did not realise the exam season was such a squeeze.
