NCEA Report: Level 2 seen as minimum for success in today's world

Anne Tolley. Photo / Supplied

NCEA Level 2 - today's equivalent of the old sixth form certificate - is now regarded as the minimum qualification needed to succeed in the modern world.

But, according to the latest NCEA results not all of our students are reaching that level. And at least half of the ones who are, are taking three years to do it, rather than the two it was originally meant to take.

Last year, nearly 37,500 Year 12 students passed Level 2 - 80 per cent of those who tried - an improvement from the 76 per cent who passed in 2009.

A further 38,200 gained the qualification in Year 13, their final year of secondary school.

At the same time, just over 40,000 Year 13 students were only just getting Level 1 - raising concerns that many of those students were unlikely to have achieved the desired Level 2 qualification by the time they finished high school.

Education Minister Anne Tolley told the Herald the aim these days was to get students to at least Level 2.

"NCEA Level 2 is widely accepted now as the minimum qualification to succeed in today's modern world, and it's our aim to get students to at least that level."

"Overall we are seeing steady gains, which is encouraging, but we must remain focused on lifting achievement for all students."

Ms Tolley said the percentage of students achieving a minimum of Level 2 was still higher in high decile schools, but there was evidence that the gap was now closing.

There was also a "huge variance within schools" across the deciles but policies that have been recently introduced to lift achievement, such as the controversial National Standards, have been designed to do so "regardless of decile, gender or ethnicity."

Secondary Principals' Association president Patrick Walsh said the statistics for students gaining Level 2 had been improving year on year, despite differences in decile rankings.

"An increasing number of students are gaining Level 2 NCEA and also their literacy and numeracy requirements.

"So in our view the bulk of students who get Level 2 NCEA are being well prepared for the workforce or further tertiary education."

He said multilevel study had become more common these days, meaning it did not matter as much when students achieved their qualifications, as long as they did.

"The fact is for students that struggle academically, it's now becoming more acceptable for those students to complete Level 2 NCEA over two years. The important point is what qualifications they leave school with."

Mr Walsh said it was concerning that 40,000 students were taking until Year 13 to achieve Level 1.

While some of them may have also been working on Level 2 at the same time or moved into a bridging programme to finish it after school, many would have not reached the minimum desired qualification. Work needed to be done to change that.

"It is of a concern and we still have a large number of Maori and Pasifika who are not reaching the required standard and that is something principals and boards of trustees and the Government need to have a look at closely."

Ms Tolley said an integral part of lifting achievement was identifying students who need extra help, and also identifying those students who are doing well but who could do better.

She said the newly introduced National Standards in primary schools was an important tool for doing that.

The standards have been designed to link through to Level 2, meaning primary students who achieve the standards should be on course to reach NCEA Level 2.

"We want students to start secondary school with the literacy and numeracy skills they need, rather than spending time having to try and catch up," said Ms Tolley.