Principals point the finger at sneaky schools' NCEA tricks

By ALAN PERROTT

Annual NCEA results are being manipulated by secondary schools to boost their academic reputations and attract new students, some principals say.

They tell of schools not reporting students who fail, counsellors persuading students not to sit exams they are likely to fail and students being allowed to resit exams many times.

Dave Coldham, deputy principal of Waikohu College, 20km northwest of Gisborne, said his colleagues choked at the NCEA pass rates attributed to some schools.

He said manipulation of such results was common among urban schools competing for students.

"Many schools do it, I know they do," said Mr Coldham.

"I see some of those pass rates and laugh, because I know how they got them.

"Even back in the days of university accrediting you would make some students sit the exams to get some passes.

"I'm not going to name schools, but teachers talk about these things and the schools that do it."

At 99.5 per cent, Cambridge High School had the country's highest NCEA pass rate for last year.

Acting principal Warren Purdy said the school's guidance counsellors did offer different study options to struggling students, but they were directed to the most suitable level of learning rather than out of NCEA altogether.

He accepted this policy did improve the school's overall pass rate, but said it had no reason to fiddle the numbers as it was a rural school and did not have to compete with neighbouring state institutions.

He said criticism of its methods was the "classic tall poppy thing".

But Auckland Grammar School principal John Morris is adamant some schools do not advise the New Zealand Qualifications Authority of students who fail their internally assessed standards.

"You don't have to, and if they are failing then there is no point in entering them for the external exams."

Mr Morris said his school's NCEA Level 1 pass rate of 60.8 per cent was not a fair reflection, especially as his school's best students did not enter NCEA, opting instead for the Cambridge International exams.

"But we have integrity. Our students get one go at something and if they don't get it, tough bikkies. Then we hand all our results in."

Schools are also penalised for having advanced Year 10 students who enter NCEA standards a year early.

If they enter part of a full 80-credit course and pass everything they will still be logged as having failed because they did not reach the 80-credit threshold.

When they progress to Year 11 and mix courses with some from Year 12, they will again be officially failed.

Long Bay College deputy principal Mike Jackson said he understood schools wanting to present high pass rates to parents, but preventing students sitting exams was against the spirit of the NCEA system.

A spokeswoman for the Qualifications Authority said schools did not have to report students who failed internally assessed courses.

But all school assessment procedures were subject to "moderation" to ensure consistent standards were applied.

The Herald national top-10 list of schools published on Monday was based on achievement in NCEA Level 1, Sixth Form Certificate, Bursary and Scholarship.

NCEA results were ranked according to the percentage of eligible students who went on to gain the 80 points necessary to pass.

Only schools with a Year 11 class of 50 students or more were included.

The tables for Sixth Form Certificate and Bursary were restricted to schools where students in each year sat at least 100 papers. This equates to about 20 students.

The schools were also ranked on the percentage of 1s they gained in Sixth Form Certificate (1 being the highest grading), percentages for A and B bursaries combined, and the percentage of those results which reached scholarship standard.

Points were then awarded to each school in each list - 10 for first, nine for second, and so on down to one for tenth.


Final top 10 schools:


1. St Cuthbert's College, Auckland

2. Cambridge High School, Waikato

3. Diocesan School for Girls, Auckland

3. Rangi Ruru Girls' School, Christchurch

5. Samuel Marsden Collegiate School, Wellington

6. Senior College of New Zealand, Auckland

7. Chilton St James School, Lower Hutt

7. Columba College, Dunedin

9. Auckland Grammar School, Auckland

10. St Oran's College, Lower Hutt