KEY POINTS:
Overworked teachers and schools want to axe separate levels of NCEA, leaving students three years to get enough credits for university - potentially without ever sitting an exam.
The recommendations, in a report collated by New Zealand Qualifications Authority and the Ministry of Education, have astonished experts already concerned about NCEA.
"It smacks of desperation," said Macleans College principal Byron Bentley, chair of the Education Forum. "It's far too loose - far too variable."
At the moment, students have to collect enough credits at one level before they can start the next.
They can choose between internally assessed unit standards or achievement standards, which also include a nationwide exam.
Many already lean towards unit standards, saying these are much easier than exams.
The recommendations, if introduced, could mean students dawdle through the first two years of NCEA without gaining credits and schools could choose to ditch exams entirely, handing out marks themselves.
The Report on Consistency Review of Achievement Standards was published last week and combines the feedback of thousands of teachers and principals, most of whom agreed the current system lead to over-assessment and timetable confusion.
Camilla Highfield, who led the Ministry's report team, said the most strongly supported ideas were compiled into 10 recommendations, now handed back for consideration.
She stressed there would be more consultation before anything changed.
They include:
* giving schools the option of testing students themselves, rather than putting them through national exams;
* turning the three-level system into a "grab-bag" of standards that students could take three years to collect;
* updating unit standards (which students currently pass or fail) so students can pass with achieved, merit or excellence grades;
* focusing attention on teaching and learning, rather than assessment.
The Herald on Sunday understands that in the wake of the report - being played down by the Ministry and the authority, but which has shocked many principals - at least one school has stepped up the process of introducing an alternative to NCEA.
The worry for most principals is the swing towards internal assessment. A Herald on Sunday investigation published in July revealed that teachers' marking is not consistent and NZQA's system for checking that work is "open to abuse" - teachers can give students whatever marks they choose without fear of being caught.
One teacher said he could get his cat through the internal assessment system because it was so full of loopholes. Students said they chose internal standards when possible because the system was "slack".
The authority was also slammed by a State Services Commission review last year, which said: "The current system of moderation cannot guarantee year to year consistency... there will be a growing rate of achievement, not all of which is attributable to improved student performance."
The NZQA repeatedly refused to comment on the report, saying it was "a Ministry thing" and was more of a "summary" than a report.
Highfield said the recommendations were "unadulterated" and only those with "substantial comment" had been included.
"We've gone 'this is what they're saying' and reflected that back."
Graham Young, head of the Secondary Principals Association, said it was easier to get credits internally and NZQA had made "a very clear commitment" when NCEA was introduced, that there would be a mix of internal and external assessment.
