University Entrance

To qualify for entrance to a New Zealand university and some other tertiary course providers using NCEA you will need at least:

Level 3 or higher - 42 credits, including a minimum of 14 credits in each of two subjects from the "approved subjects" list; with a further 14 credits from not more than two additional domains on the National Qualifications Framework or "approved subjects"

AND
Level 2 or higher - 8 credits in English or Te Reo Māori; 4 credits must be in reading and 4 in writing. These are selected from a list of Standards fulfilling the literacy (the Reading & Writing) requirement.

AND
Level 1 or higher - 14 credits in Mathematics or Statistics and Probability or Pāngarau.

Summary

Credits can be accumulated over more than one year.

If a unit and an achievement standard assess the same learning outcome only the credits for ONE standard can be counted. (In other words they are 'mutually exclusive'.) A list of such 'exclusions' is published each year.

Approved subjects

The Board of NZQA has a list of approved subjects for university entrance. See University Entrance approved subjects list.

Discretionary entrance

For information about discretionary entrance to New Zealand universities, see the website of the New Zealand Vice-Chancellors' Committee.

Page updated: 18 August 2009