NCEA marking to be closely monitored for fairer results

The Qualifications Authority yesterday announced steps to ensure the upcoming NCEA exam round runs successfully and is fair for all students.

This follows a briefing last week about changes to New Zealand Scholarship exams.

Acting chief executive Karen Sewell said the steps included closely monitoring the results daily from the start of marking.

"We have done extensive analysis to develop profiles of what we expect the distribution of results to look like in every externally assessed standard for NCEA levels 1, 2 and 3.

"We will be monitoring results so that very early on in the process we can identify any that differ from what we expect," she said.

"Results may vary from those expected for a number of reasons. In some cases the guidelines we give to markers may need to be adjusted. The emphasis is on making sure we have the best process in place to accurately recognise whether or not students have reached the required standards."

Ms Sewell said the authority was determined to continue to improve the system every year and to be open and transparent about the improvements.

"The interests of students are paramount, and they can have every confidence that their results will fairly represent their performance," she said.

NCEA levels 1, 2 and 3 exams start on Tuesday, November 15. Students can expect results by mail between January 26 and 28.

"Schools have been advised that the results will be out later next year. This gives us time to monitor the marking process closely and remark if necessary," Ms Sewell said.

"The focus is on getting the results right, not early".

- NZPA