NCEA: The basics
What is NCEA?
NCEA stands for National Certificate of Educational Achievement. NCEAs are the most common qualifications you will be working towards in years 11 to 13.
Why should I get an NCEA?
NCEAs and other national certificates are recognised by employers and used for selection by universities and polytechnics. NCEAs are also accepted by most employers and universities overseas.
Independent research has shown that if you do well in NCEAs, you are likely to do well in your first year at university.
How do I get an NCEA?
NCEAs are gained by building up credits. Credits are awarded for each standard you achieve in the course or programme you are studying.
- Standards are skills or knowledge that you are expected to achieve or know in a subject. For example, a Mathematics standard could be: Use decimals and percentages to solve problems.
- Assessments measure how well you meet these standards. Assessments can be internal (like a test or assignment) or external (like an end-of-year exam).
- When you achieve a standard, you also achieve a number of credits for that standard. The Mathematics standard above is worth 2 credits.
- When you achieve a certain number of credits, you gain an NCEA. There are three different levels of NCEA you can get, depending on the difficulty of the standards you achieve.
Page updated: 18 August 2009