The soon-to-be-replaced national exam is sporting a new look, reports STACEY BODGER.
Boys are dealt a harsher hand by society than girls, says Auckland teenager Josh Budgen.
The reason is simple: girls can "act all innocent" and appear trustworthy.
This what the Mt Albert Grammar student used as the basis of his transactional writing essay in the School Certificate English exam.
In one section of the exam, students were required to choose one of a series of statements around which to build a written argument.
About 38,500 students nationwide sat School Certificate English yesterday morning, and 14,673 senior students tackled Bursary English in the afternoon.
For the first time, the School Certificate paper contained colour, in the form of an insert of photographs, posters and newspaper articles.
It was the second year that Josh, aged 16, had sat the English exam - and this time he gave it the thumbs-up.
"I had done heaps more study this year - I woke up and realised I'd have to work hard to pass.
"I think I did a good essay because I gave real-life examples, like how I get stopped and checked out by police when I'm just skateboarding but girls wouldn't be checked like that."
Fifth-former Hussain Hanif, 16, chose the statement "Television rots the mind" for his essay - and agreed with it.
"All I watch is sports and the news because I don't think there are many educational programmes," he said.
"I'm usually too busy playing sports and doing schoolwork."
Hussain slotted two weeks of study for the exam around a cricket tournament.
He found it challenging but suspects he will pass - "just."
English teachers spoken to by the Herald thought the exam paper was fair and clearly written.
Dianne Armstrong, acting head of English at Hamilton Girls' High, said students appeared satisfied with the questions and topics covered.
She thought the colour insert was great and hoped it would become standard in exam papers.
Patrick Spillane, Glendowie College's head of English, said the paper tested a good mix of students' abilities. One strength was that it followed a similar pattern to last year's paper, which most students had practised as study.
School Certificate and Bursary exams finish on December 5.
In January, students will be able to get their results by ringing an 0900 number, for a charge of $2 to $3.
Bursary has fewer entries - almost 27,000 nationwide.
The New Zealand Qualifications Authority says numbers are down a little on previous years because of changes in population patterns.
Both exams will soon be replaced with a new qualification.
The National Certificate in Educational Achievement, combining both internal and external assessment, will replace School Certificate in 2002 and Bursary in 2004.
Top marks for colourful exam
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