Assessment and Examination Rules and Procedures for Secondary Schools - 2009

Definitions

In these Rules and Procedures, unless the context otherwise requires:

"Accreditation" means the status awarded under section 259 of the Education Act 1989 when an organisation has shown it is capable of delivering an approved course or assessing against standards on the National Qualifications Framework.

"Act" means the Education Act 1989.

"Assessment" means collecting and evaluating evidence to establish the level of an individual's performance, whether carried out by external methods, internal methods, or a combination of external and internal methods or any other approved method.

"Candidate" means a learner entering for standards on the National Qualifications Framework and New Zealand Scholarship.

"Certification" means the documentary evidence (including a diploma, certificate, or other documented recognition of attainment) that a qualification has been awarded.

"The Chairperson" means the Chairperson of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority.

"The Chief Executive" means the Chief Executive Officer of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority.

"A Credit" or "Credits" means a numerical value assigned to a standard on the National Qualifications Framework or a qualification on The Register that represents the estimated time needed for a typical learner to demonstrate that all specified outcomes have been met.

"Exclusions List" means the list maintained and published by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority of unit standards and achievement standards that have been identified as having the same learning outcomes, with the consequence that if a candidate enters for both standards, only one standard will count for the purposes of contributing credits to an NCEA qualification.

"Externally assessed performance-based" means an achievement or scholarship standard that involves the submission of materials (other than a written examination paper) to an external assessor.

"Further rules or provisions" means the further rules or provisions described in clause 4 General Assessment Rules and Procedures.

"the New Zealand Qualifications Authority" or "NZQA" means the New Zealand Qualifications Authority established under section 248 of the Education Act 1989.

"Managing National Assessment" means the processes or systems whereby a school is able to achieve valid, fair, accurate and consistent internal assessment to the national standard.

"The Minister" means the Minister of Education.

"Moderation" means the process used for assuring the consistency of assessment with the required standard across a number of assessors or assessing organisations.

"National Qualifications Framework" or "NQF" means collectively, all nationally registered qualifications, unit standards and achievement standards, together with the relationships among these.

"Principal's Nominee" means a staff member(s) nominated by the principal of a school under clause 3.3 of these Rules and Procedures.

"Publish" means to make available on the NZQA website.

"A Qualification" means the requirements for certification established by a recognised standards-setting body or an education provider. For the purposes of these Rules and Procedures a qualification is any of the National Certificates of Educational Achievement, and any other NQF qualification, and "Qualifications" means all of them.

"Record of Achievement" means an individual learner's transcript of standards credited and national qualifications completed, provided by NZQA.

"Result Notice" means the official document sent to learners advising them of the provisional outcomes of assessments entered in a specific year. Listed outcomes may be subject to correction, appeal and review processes. Finalised outcomes will be added to the Record of Achievement.

"Scholarship" means the New Zealand Scholarship awards and the external assessments associated with those awards.

"School" means any registered private school or any secondary or composite school established under section 145 of the Education Act 1989 classified by the Ministry of Education to provide secondary education that is accredited to deliver assessments for NQF qualifications.

"School Result Summary" means the separate summary of school results students receive when exiting school that includes all results "achieved" and "not achieved"

"Standard" means defined learning outcomes, together with performance or assessment criteria, and examples of their interpretation and application and associated quality assurance processes. For the purposes of these Rules and Procedures a standard is either a unit standard or an achievement standard, or both, or a New Zealand Scholarship standard.

"The Register" means the New Zealand Register of Quality Assured Qualifications; a list of all quality assured qualifications in New Zealand. The Register has ten levels and comprises qualifications that are registered in accordance with an agreed set of title definitions.

"University Entrance" means the common educational standard established under section 257 of the Education Act 1989 as a prerequisite for entrance to university for people who have not attained the age of 20 years.

Last updated: 27 January 2009