NZQA NEWS

As advised, when examinations concluded last year, NZQA released 2013 NCEA results online on Tuesday 15 January and deputy chief executive Richard Thornton says the day was a success, with no web-access issues reported.

“Results release is a big event for everyone – we plan well and carefully manage it to ensure students can access their results throughout the day.

“We also extended the opening hours in our call centre and had extra staff on hand to answer specific queries from students 

“On average, between 15,000 and 20,000 students were logging in every hour on the first day of results release.”

Examination papers have been returned to students, who have until 21 February to apply for reviews and reconsiderations of their NCEA results. Information about the process is on the NZQA website.

New Zealand Scholarship results for 2013 will be available on the NZQA website from 11 February 2014.

Code of Practice – schools contact

Responsibility for the administration of the Code of Practice for the Pastoral Care of International Students has transferred from the Ministry of Education to NZQA.

For signatories to the code, including primary and secondary schools, there is relatively little change. A high-level of service in relation to the code is provided by NZQA in processing applications for code signatory status, and in responses to queries about the code and complaints alleging provider non-compliance. Complaints from international students against providers will continue to be considered by an independent body.

All matters relating to administration of the code should be directed to NZQA. This includes applications, notification of changes, attestation returns, and any concerns around compliance with the code.

The contact for school enquiries is Elizabeth Douch, school relationship manager, email: schoolcode.enquiries@nzqa.govt.nz.

The NZQA website includes information for signatories about the code and processes under the “Providers & Partners” tab of the homepage. Please ensure any documents you produce that include information about the Code refer to the current NZQA website.

Please also be reminded that:

• Students in Year 1–6 must be living with their parents
• Students in Year 7–8 must live with their parents unless the school has applied for additional approval
• School contacts (person responsible for international students) are held on file by NZQA. Please contact schoolcode.enquiries@nzqa.govt.nz if you need to update your details.

Vocational Pathways Internal Assessment Resources

To support educators assess components of their Vocational Pathway programmes, 325 NCEA Level 1 and Level 2 Vocational Pathways assessment resources have been developed for the five vocational pathways.

These resources were facilitated by NZQA under contract to the Ministry of Education in a collaborative effort to better meet the needs of the sector.

Brent Logan, manager assessment moderation services, said “to ensure that the resources provided real-world contexts, NZQA contracted industry advisers to provide authentic ideas. Working closely with these organisations also gave us an opportunity to note the skills and competencies that industry values”.

Vocational Pathways provide a framework to help learners, and their families and whānau, develop a clearer sense of direction when thinking about which courses learners could take in secondary school and where these might lead to beyond school. The framework will support secondary schools and tertiary providers with educational planning for learners to achieve NCEA Level 2 or equivalent.

Vocational Pathways support learners to identify the links between education and employment. Using the Vocational Pathways ensures that deliberate steps are made towards equipping all learners with the knowledge, skills and competencies that will enable them to succeed. The five Vocational Pathways comprise Manufacturing and Technology, Primary Industries, Services Industries, Social and Community Services, and Construction and Infrastructure.

The Ministry is planning for more assessment resources to be developed for the sixth pathway, Creative Industries, which is currently under development.

The resources will be used by schools and tertiary education providers that have NZQA consent to assess in the relevant achievement standards. Educators can then use these examples to help adapt other existing internal assessment resources to best meet the needs of their students.

The internal assessment resources(external link) can be found on TKI and are listed by each pathway. These resources have been developed for all achievement standards aligned with NCEA. Here you will find the resources that have also been contextualised for Vocational Pathways.

Find out more about Vocational Pathways(external link)

NZQA is also offering additional best practice workshops in 2014 to support the introduction of these assessment resources. These new workshops, called “Connecting with Contexts”, are aimed at teachers who wish to change existing assessment resources to better meet the needs of their learners while still ensuring authenticity. The response to trials of these new workshops(external link) in 2013 has been very positive.