Past media releases

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2000

2008	TOP
Exam focus moves to marking The 2008 examination focus has turned to marking nearly 1.9 million answer booklets covering 322 NCEA standards and 28 Scholarship subjects. Examinations ended on Wednesday (3 December). More ...	December 2008
Examination Update With four days of NCEA and NZ Scholarship examinations remaining (from tomorrow) more than 230 NCEA standards and 18 Scholarship subjects have been sat in more than 80 examination sessions. More ...	November 2008
Examination Update - 21 November The first week of NCEA and NZ Scholarship exams has covered 132 NCEA standards and nine Scholarship subjects, sat in more than 40 examination sessions. More ...	November 2008
Examination Update Two errors in examination questions have been identified among the 43 examination papers sat to date (up to and including Tuesday morning, 18 November). Candidates' results will not be affected by the errors, which will be taken into account during marking. More ...	November 2008
139,000 prepare for examinations Last-minute study is underway for more than 139,000 senior secondary school students preparing for NCEA and NZ Scholarship examinations, starting on Saturday (November 15). Assessment of Visual Arts, Graphics and Technology portfolios is already underway. More ...	November 2008
Changes to New Zealand Scholarship subject list for 2009 Top secondary students of Agricultural and Horticultural Science will be able to tackle NZ Scholarship exams from next year (2009). Also from 2009, Scholarship Visual Arts will be assessed as five separate subjects: Design, Painting, Photography, Printmaking and Sculpture. More ...	October 2008
Credit Fee Increase After consultation with the tertiary education sector, the Board of NZQA has decided to proceed with a proposal to introduce a single fee for registering credits on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF). More ...	June 2008
Breaches of Examination Rules Exam candidates appear to be getting the message that cell phones have no place in exam rooms. Statistics on breaches of examination rules released today (June 26) by NZQA show misconduct involving cellphones in the 2007 examinations season dropped by almost a third on the previous year. More ...	June 2008
Progress on standards review The Ministry of Education (MoE) and NZQA are reviewing achievement and unit standards, as part of the joint programme of improvements to NCEA. More ...	June 2008
Changes to moderation finalised NZQA has finalised details for the introduction of random sampling of internally assessed student work for external moderation. This will replace the current self-selection of samples by schools. More ...	May 2008
Endorsed NCEA Certificates delivered Nearly 110,000 NCEA certificates have now been delivered to students gaining the qualification at one of the three levels last year. More ...	May 2008
Top Art tours the country Visual art from New Zealand's top secondary school art students features in a touring exhibition, taking in around 30 venues from Kerikeri to Invercargill over the next four months. More ...	May, 2008
Statistics reflect ongoing improvement in achievement National statistics for the 2007 NCEA are now available online, after being launched at a NZQA Board stakeholder function in Auckland last night. The statistics and support material to assist in understanding the data is online. More ...	March 2008
NQF credit registration fee simplified NZQA has begun consulting the tertiary education sector on a proposed new way of funding National Qualifications Framework (NQF) credit registration. More ...	March 2008
New Monitoring Process: Comparison of internal and external assessment data for NCEA This work is part of a suite of measures put in place by NZQA as part of its key responsibility to continually improve its understanding of school-based assessment. The comprehensive package includes the appointment of 33 fulltime moderators, reporting Not Achieved results for internal assessment, the random sampling of internally assessed work, and the comparison of results for internal and external assessment data for NCEA. More ...	March 2008
NZQA notifies Scholarship's top achievers Results have been posted to more than 8000 students who sat the 2007 Scholarship examinations. Letters were also sent to the country's top scholars - the 'best of the best' - who will receive a monetary award, ranging from a one-off $500 payment to $10,000 over three years. More ...	February 2008
Scholarship Results available from today The wait is nearly over for more than 8000 students who entered 2007 Scholarship examinations, with results available online from today (Monday 18). Candidates can access their results via a secure login page on the NZQA website. Scholarship results notices have also been mailed to candidates and will be delivered over the next few days. More ...	February 2008
Changes to the reporting of NCEA results The New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) has finalised details on the reporting of Not Achieved (N) results for NCEA internal assessment carried out by schools. More ...	February 2008
NCEA results available tomorrow The wait is almost over for the 139,000 secondary school candidates who sat National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) examinations in 2007, with the results expected to be delivered to the majority of candidates tomorrow (17 January) More ...	January 2008
NCEA examination results available soon Examination results will be available from the end of next week for the 139,000 candidates who sat NCEA examinations in November and December. NCEA candidates will receive their national qualifications results notices between 17 and 25 January. Scholarship results are due to be released in February. More ...	January 2008
2007	TOP
2007 Exam marking draws to a close Marking of the 1.9 million NCEA examination papers is more than 95% complete, and will finish by Christmas, as scheduled. Results are now being verified and collated and are expected to be available to students in the last week of January. Examination booklets will be sent back to the candidates in the second half of January. More ...	December 2007
2007 examination round due to start Nearly 140,000 secondary school students will be sitting NCEA and scholarship examinations this year. The exams start on Monday 19 November and finish on Wednesday 5 December. More ...	November 2007
Managing National Assessment reports go online Parents now have easier access to information on school performance with Managing National Assessment (MNA) reports available on the New Zealand Qualifications Authority website. NZQA produces the reports for every secondary school in New Zealand. The reports assess how well schools are managing their internal assessment processes and are completed at least every three years. More ...	November 2007
Call goes out for internal assessment moderators NZQA is seeking 31 full-time and four part-time moderators to be employed as part of plans to increase moderation of internal assessment for NCEA from 3 percent of student work to 10 percent. More ...	August 2007
Breaches of Examination Rules Detailed data on breaches of examination rules in 2006 was released on 10 August 2007 by NZQA, under the Official Information Act. More ...	August 2007
Details of NCEA certificate endorsement announced NZQA has announced details of endorsement of National Certificates in Educational Achievement (NCEA). Students will require 50 credits at Excellence to gain an NCEA endorsed with Excellence, and 50 credits at Merit (or Merit and Excellence), to gain an NCEA endorsed with Merit, NZQA Deputy Chief Executive, Qualifications, Bali Haque said. More ...	July 2007
November deadline for reimbursement of domestic student fees following closure of a private training establishment Last year the Government decided that in certain circumstances it will reimburse the unused fees and associated student loan interest of domestic students following the closure of private training establishments. Students who think they may be eligible for a partial reimbursement are urged to lodge an application as soon as possible. More ...	June 2007
Māori Strategic and Implementation Plan launched The New Zealand Qualifications Authority has launched Te Rautaki Māori me Te Mahere Whakatinana a Te Mana Tohu Mātauranga o Aotearoa, (2007-2012) - its first Māori Strategic and Implementation Plan. The plan was officially launched in a ceremony at Parliament, hosted by the Hon Parekura Horomia, Minister of Māori Affairs and Associate Minister of Education. More ...	May 2007
Breaches of Examination Rules Statistics on breaches of examination rules for the 2006 exams were released by NZQA today. A total of 336 breaches of the examination rules were investigated in 2006, from a total of 138,260 candidates. For the 2005 exams, there were 208 breaches reported from 134,800 candidates. More ...	May 2007
Statistics online earlier National statistics for the 2006 NCEA and Scholarship are now available online, a month earlier than last year. More ...	March 2007
Random Sampling Pilot By NZQA NZQA will conduct a pilot study into the use of random sampling in moderation of internal assessment in secondary schools in September. More ...	March 2007
Scholarships To Be Awarded To More Than 1900 Students Results have been posted out to more than 7700 students who entered Scholarship examinations, with 1906 set to receive scholarship awards worth a total of nearly $3.2 million over the next three years. More ...	February 2007
Returned papers will be marked NZQA is making arrangements to have papers that were sent back unmarked to a small number of Avondale College students returned to the Qualifications Authority so the papers can be marked. More ...	February 2007
Assessment of schools continues as normal There has been no change in the Qualifications Authority's procedures for managing assessment in secondary schools through Managing National Assessment reports. These are carried out at all schools on a two-three year cycle. More ...	February 2007
Investigation Into Comments On Exam Papers The Qualifications Authority is continuing to work with New Zealand Post to establish how inappropriate comments came to be written on some exam papers returned to exam candidates in Christchurch. More ...	January 2007
Business As Usual In Results Process The Qualifications Authority is assuring exam candidates that the normal process of checking NCEA results marked "Result Not Yet Available" (RNA) is being carried out. More ...	January 2007
Most Exam Candidates Have NCEA Results The majority of the 136,000 senior secondary school exam candidates will have received their NCEA results by post today (17 January). More ...	January 2007
Wait Nearly Over For Exam Candidates Exam results are just over a week away for the more than 136,000 candidates who sat NCEA examinations in November and December. More ...	January 2007
2006	TOP
Marking Nears Completion Marking of around 1.9 million NCEA and Scholarship examination papers is on track for completion by Christmas. More ...	December 2006
Marking passes halfway point Marking of senior secondary school NCEA and Scholarship examinations has passed the halfway point, with 53 percent of around 1.9 million papers from 136,000 candidates marked to date. More ...	December 2006
Focus moves to marking The focus of secondary school examinations is now firmly on marking, with the final examination - Scholarship German - due to be sat tomorrow morning (Saturday). More ...	December 2006
Pressure Eases For Most NCEA Candidates Most of the 136,000 NCEA candidates have now completed the majority of their exams, but there are 14 Scholarship examinations remaining in the next week, including two tomorrow (Saturday). More ...	December 2006
Candidates Will Not Be Disadvantaged By Exam Error An error has been identified in one of today's Level 2 Mathematics examination papers (90286 - Find and use straightforward derivatives and integrals), affecting one of eight questions. More ...	November 2006
Business as usual during busy first week of exams More than 125,000 exam candidates have tackled a total of 31 NCEA examinations and four Scholarship papers in the first five days of secondary school exams, which began on Monday. More ...	November 2006
136,000 Prepare For Exams Senior secondary school pupils are making their final preparations for the 2006 exam season, with around 136,000 exam candidates due to sit a total of 1.9 million externally-assessed NCEA standards, beginning on Monday, 20 November. More ...	November 2006
Use of Abbreviations in Exams The Qualifications Authority is actively discouraging candidates in NCEA exams from using abbreviations, including text-style abbreviations. Deputy Chief Executive, Qualifications, Bali Haque said there had been no change in the Authority's policy in regard to use of abbreviations in examinations. More ...	November 2006
New-look Record of Learning and Result Notice A new-look Record of Learning has been designed by NZQA to make learners' achievements more readily understandable to employers, tertiary education providers, and other key readers. More ...	November 2006
Internally Assessed Results Online Internally assessed results for national secondary qualifications are now available online to senior secondary school students - more than a month earlier than last year. Earlier access to the results gives students longer to check their own results before final confirmation by schools on 7 December. More ...	September 2006
Reimbursement of domestic student fees following failure of a tertiary education provider The Government has decided that in certain circumstances it will reimburse the unused fees of domestic students following the failure of private training establishments. More ...	September 2006
New Qualifications Authority Management Structure In Place The NZ Qualifications Authority's new management structure is now in place with Bali Haque taking up the role of Deputy Chief Executive Qualifications today (4 September 2006). More ...	September 2006
Employers - Have Your Say! The New Zealand Qualifications Authority wants more feedback from employers and industry groups about proposed changes to the Record of Learning. More ...	September 2006
Schools embrace flexibility of National Qualifications Framework Schools are using the flexibility of the National Qualifications Framework and NCEA to be increasingly creative in the courses they offer to students, research shows. More ...	August 2006
Enhancements to Record of Learning An initial draft of possible enhancements to NZQA's Record of Learning was presented by NZQA Chief Executive Karen Poutasi today (27 July) at the New Zealand Secondary Principals' Council Conference in Christchurch. More ...	July 2006
Senior Management Appointments at NZQA Appointments to three new senior management roles at the New Zealand Qualifications Authority have been announced. More...	July 2006
NZQA Considers Students' Views of NCEA and NQF The Qualifications Authority has released a survey that suggests most students understand the NCEA assessment system. More ...	July 2006
Changes to the 'approved subjects' list for university entrance The Qualifications Authority is extending the 'approved subjects' list for university entrance, following consultation with universities and the New Zealand Vice-Chancellors' Committee. More ...	June 2006
Statistics updated to include students with unpaid exam fees The statistics relating to national achievement on the NZQA database have been updated to include all achievement, including that of students who have still not paid their examination fees. In the past, unpaid students' results did not appear in this data. More ...	May 2006
Some National Certificates May Have Printing Flaw The New Zealand Qualifications Authority has advised that a printing flaw has been found on a small number of National Certificates. More ...	May 2006
New organisational design and structure for NZQA A new organisational design and structure for the Qualifications Authority is to be implemented over the next few months. The changes address organisational matters raised in external reviews carried out last year. Agreement on the new structure has been reached in consultation with the incoming Chief Executive, Dr Karen Poutasi and the new Board Chair, Sue Suckling. More ...	April 2006
What students and teachers thought of the 2005 exams The New Zealand Qualifications Authority today released findings of surveys relating to the 2005 exams. The surveys were conducted by an independent research agency. Each year, the Qualifications Authority asks students and teachers for feedback which is then passed on to the examiners and used by the Authority in its own review of the 2005 assessment process. More ...	April 2006
Individual school information now available The 2005 NCEA results for all secondary schools are now available on the New Zealand Qualifications Authority website. Schools have had access to their individual provisional results since February, and from today schools and the public will have access to the details for all 441 secondary schools across the country. More ...	April 2006
National secondary school statistics show some encouraging trends The latest statistics on the performance of students in secondary school shows an overall increase in the percentage achieving NCEA qualifications. Qualifications Authority Acting Chief Executive Karen Sewell says the percentage of students gaining NCEA level 1 numeracy and literacy requirements has also increased since 2003. More ...	April 2006
Independent experts give 'thumbs up' to Scholarship exams The two independent advisory groups set up to assist the Qualifications Authority on the 2005 Scholarship exams believe people can now have confidence in the country's top examinations. More ...	March 2006
NZQA clarifies criteria for Premier Scholarship Award The New Zealand Qualifications Authority has moved to clarify the criteria for students eligible for the country's top Scholarship award - the Premier Award. More ...	March 2006
NZQA staff consulted about proposed structural change The Qualifications Authority has started consulting with staff on a proposal to implement some structural change. The proposal, if implemented, would address organisational issues raised in external reviews carried out last year by the State Services Commission. More ...	March 2006
More than 1,800 students awarded Scholarships in 2005 The New Zealand Qualifications Authority today announced that 1,805 secondary school students would receive 2005 Scholarship awards worth more than $3 million in total over the next three years. More ...	February 2006
NZQA announces consultation on foundation learning The New Zealand Qualifications Authority today announced that it is consulting with tertiary education organisations about proposed new quality assurance requirements for adult literacy, numeracy and language, described together as 'foundation learning'. More ...	February 2006
Qualifications Authority computer glitch corrected The Qualifications Authority says a computer glitch with its website has resulted in a small number of students being able to see that they have been awarded Scholarship. More ...	February 2006
Majority of students now have exam results The Qualifications Authority's Acting Chief Executive Karen Sewell is pleased that the delivery of results for 144,000 secondary school students went smoothly yesterday. More...	January 2006
More checking of exam marking than ever before The New Zealand Qualifications Authority's Acting Chief Executive Karen Sewell says never before has there been such a high level of checking and double-checking during the marking of secondary school exams in this country. More...	January 2006
Scholarship results fair and trustworthy, say external experts The group of assessment experts appointed to oversee the awarding of Scholarship say students can be confident that the results are fair and trustworthy. More ...	January 2006
Release of NCEA results next week Nearly 145,000 secondary school students can expect to receive their NCEA results next week. More ...	January 2006
School students' results sent to Universities Results for nearly 60,000 thousand secondary school students have been sent to the country's Universities this week to help them prepare for advising students about courses for study for 2006. More...	January 2006
NCEA results update The New Zealand Qualifications Authority is on track to release NCEA results to 144,000 students in about a fortnight (26-28 January). More ...	January 2006
Marking of Scholarship exams proceeding as expected Marking of the 27 Scholarship examinations is nearing completion. Qualifications Authority acting Chief Executive Karen Sewell says marking is expected to be finished next week and the results will be sent to students in February, as planned. More ...	January 2006
Qualifications Authority Chief Executive announced The new Chief Executive of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority is Dr Karen Poutasi, the current Director-General of Health. She will take up her new role at the beginning of May. More ...	January 2006
2005	TOP
Precautionary measure for 2005 exams worked well The New Zealand Qualifications Authority today released details of the checks carried out to ensure the secondary school exams didn't contain any material perceived as stereotyping or inappropriate in areas such as gender, ethnicity, religion and politics. More ...	December 2005
Qualifications Authority exam wrap up Marking of nearly two million exam papers for NCEA levels 1, 2 and 3 is nearing completion. The past month has seen 2000 teachers and former teachers mark the work of 135,000 secondary school students for the 335 externally assessed standards. More ...	December 2005
Monitoring and Marking Update - 16/12/05 More than 70 percent of the papers have been marked. To date, 16 of the 335 standards have been remarked. More ...	December 2005
Nothing secret or unofficial about marking The Qualifications Authority Acting Chief Executive Karen Sewell has again emphasised that there is no secret or unofficial marking taking place and that only students who reach the standard will be awarded the credits. More ...	December 2005
Monitoring and Marking Update - 11/12/05 The exams are over. The final exams, Scholarship Mathematics with Calculus, German and Media Studies, were held on Saturday. More ...	December 2005
Monitoring and Marking Update - 8/12/05 The Qualifications Authority has advised that some questions in two more standards have been remarked. More ...	December 2005
Monitoring and Marking Update - 7/12/05 The Qualifications Authority has issued an update on monitoring and marking of this year's NCEA Levels 1, 2 and 3 exams. More...	December 2005
NZQA open and transparent about marking process The Qualifications Authority's Acting Chief Executive is pleased that the intensive tracking and monitoring processes in place this year, are working according to plan. More ...	December 2005
Marking and monitoring well under way for NCEA exams NCEA exams are over for more than 144,000 secondary school students and Scholarship exams will finish next Saturday for the rest. More ...	December 2005
Report on the second week of the secondary school exams The end of the second week of national secondary school exams has seen more than a hundred thousand students sit two Scholarship exams, and 60 NCEA levels 1, 2 and 3 exams which cover more than 200 separate standards. More ...	November 2005
No students disadvantaged by West Auckland traffic jam The Qualifications Authority is assuring students enrolled to sit exams this morning that they will not be disadvantaged by the crash which caused big traffic delays in West Auckland. More...	November 2005
Proposal for the common entrance standard to university The Qualifications Authority is consulting formally with university councils and the New Zealand Vice-Chancellors' Committee on proposed minor modifications to how the literacy requirement of the common standard for school leaver entry into university can be met. More...	November 2005
Report on the first week of the secondary school exams The first week of national secondary school exams has seen more than 100,000 students sit two Scholarship exams, and 24 NCEA levels 1, 2 and 3 exams. More ...	November 2005
Plans in place provide confidence in NCEA results The Qualifications Authority today announced steps to ensure the upcoming NCEA exam round runs successfully and is fair for all students. This follows a briefing last week about changes to New Zealand Scholarship. More ...	November 2005
Scholarship 2005 will reward New Zealand's best students The Qualifications Authority has released details of how changes to New Zealand Scholarship will affect students sitting the country's top exams this year. More ...	November 2005
Review of the common entrance standard to university The Qualifications Authority has published a summary of consultation feedback on the common standard for school leaver entry into university. More ...	November 2005
Qualifications Authority modifies result notice Students will see a new code on the result notice they receive from the Qualifications Authority when their exams results are released late January next year. More...	October 2005
NZQA Reviews Fees for Quality Audits The Board of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority has approved changes to the fees it charges Private Training Establishments (PTEs), Government Training Establishments, Wānanga and Unitec New Zealand for quality audits. More...	October 2005
Increase in Scholarship enrolments More students are expected to sit Scholarship this year than last year. When Scholarship enrolments officially closed last Friday (Sept 16), more than 6,500 students had entered across the 27 Scholarship subjects. More ...	September 2005
Review of common entrance standard to university A Qualifications Authority working group reviewing the common standard for school leaver entry into university has released a consultation document. More ...	August 2005
NZQA commits to culture change Acting Chief Executive of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority Karen Sewell has agreed that significant change is required within the organisation. More ...	August 2005
Education chief executives welcome leadership challenge The chief executives of the Ministry of Education, Tertiary Education Commission and New Zealand Qualifications Authority have welcomed the recommendations of the government's Education Sector Review released today. More ...	July 2005
Independent Scholarship Advisors Appointed The Board of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority has announced the membership of two groups set up as part of an overall plan so that everyone is well prepared for Scholarship 2005. More ...	July 2005
Best Of The Best Student Art On Tour The top art produced by New Zealand's secondary students is about to take to the road for a travelling exhibition. More ...	June 2005
Respected educator and public servant appointed to NZQA The Chief Executive and Chief Review Officer of the Education Review Office, Karen Sewell, has been appointed Acting Chief Executive of the Qualifications Authority. More ...	June 2005
NZQA Chief Executive steps aside The Chief Executive of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority, Karen Van Rooyen today announced her resignation. More ...	May 2005
Board Report into Scholarship The NZQA Board has issued a Report regarding Scholarship 2004 issues. More ... The Report itself	May 2005
NZQA Board Chair resigns The Chair of the Board of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority, Professor Graeme Fraser, last night advised the Government of his decision to resign as Chair. More ...	May 2005
New Zealand Scholarship 2004 Top Scholars Announced The New Zealand Qualifications Authority is pleased to announce the Top Scholar Awards from the 2004 New Zealand Scholarship examinations. More ...	April 2005
Exam setters are experts in their fields The New Zealand Qualifications Authority has reassured Opposition Education spokesman Bill English that the exams setting process is robust and rigorous. More ...	April 2005
Quality Assurance Arrangements Set Up For Providers Of Adult And Community Education Quality assurance arrangements have been set up for the providers of adult and community education in New Zealand, the New Zealand Qualifications Authority announced today. More ...	April 2005
What some teachers and students thought of the exams Feedback from teachers and candidates about last year's exams was generally positive with most teachers commenting that the exams were set appropriately, except for a few standards. More ...	April 2005
NZQA enters final stage of top scholar process The New Zealand Qualifications Authority says more than 400 scholars have been notified that they will receive substantial monetary awards for their success at school last year. More ...	March 2005
Rumours of conflict of interest rejected by NZQA chief The New Zealand Qualifications Authority chief executive Karen Van Rooyen says she rejected absolutely allegations of a conflict of interest between herself and a recruitment firm. More ...	March 2005
NCEA variability about the same as under School Certificate The New Zealand Qualifications Authority today said much of the current criticism of NCEA reflects confusion about the difference between a Ministry of Education "Achievement Standard" for NCEA and a "Subject" under the old School Certificate and Bursary exams. More ...	March 2005
Qualifications Authority welcomes feedback from teachers The New Zealand Qualifications Authority has welcomed a report released today on what teachers think of NCEA, saying the feedback from teachers is incredibly valuable. More ...	March 2005
NZQA Board Review The Board of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority today confirmed its intention to undertake an internal review of processes relating to 2004 New Zealand Scholarship. More ...	March 2005
Student apologises to NZQA A secondary school student who claimed on TV One News (Friday 18 February) that he had passed exams without writing anything on his NCEA exam papers has apologised to the New Zealand Qualifications Authority. More ...	February 2005
NCEA variability in line with expectations The New Zealand Qualifications Authority has moved to allay concerns, expressed by the Employers and Manufacturers Association (Northern), that excessive variability occurred in 2004 levels 1 and 2 NCEA. More ...	February 2005
NZQA answers claims of excessive variability in levels 1, 2 and 3 NCEA The New Zealand Qualifications Authority today moved to allay concerns that excessive variability has occurred in levels 1, 2 and 3 NCEA. More ...	February 2005
NZQA releases UE results The New Zealand Qualifications Authority today released interim statistics as to the numbers of students who achieved University Entrance in 2004, as per the table below. More...	February 2005
NZQA answers brainwashing charge The New Zealand Qualifications Authority today said claims that the 2004 Level 1 NCEA history exam was biased were unfounded. More...	January 2005
Qualifications Authority moves to cancel Institute registration The New Zealand Qualifications Authority has moved to cancel the registration of the Institute of Animation and Technology, which has sites in Wellington, Christchurch and Kaikohe. More...	January 2005
Employers' concerns misplaced, says NZQA The New Zealand Qualifications Authority says employers' concerns about the standard of NCEA between schools are misplaced. More...	January 2005
Matching skills and jobs much easier with NCEA Employers taking on school leavers this year will have much better information than before about what students know and can do. More...	January 2005
Release of results marks full implementation of NCEA NCEA results will be sent to students tomorrow - completing implementation of one of the biggest changes ever seen in New Zealand's secondary school system. More...	January 2005

2004	TOP
NCEA and scholarship examinations start this week NCEA levels 1, 2, and 3 and Scholarship examinations start for 129,853 candidates on Wednesday 10 November. This is the first year for NCEA level 3 and New Zealand Scholarship. More ...	November 2004
NZQA releases Cambridge High School report The New Zealand Qualifications Authority is confident the issues identified in its report on Cambridge High School, will be resolved quickly by the school's new management team. More ...	August 2004
Cambridge High School Accreditation At Risk The New Zealand Qualifications Authority, NZQA, has told Cambridge High School it must stop assessing students in its Achievement Recovery room or else the school will lose its accreditation. More ...	August 2004
Guidelines released for providers of courses and qualifications leading to teacher registration Guidelines for providers of courses that lead to teacher registration are now available. More .... Read the full Guidelines	July 2004
Qualifications Authority announces policy on reporting results The New Zealand Qualifications Authority has announced its position on the reporting of NCEA results, following several months' consultation. More ...	July 2004
Qualifications Authority Chief Executive welcomes Review Office NCEA Report New Zealand Qualifications Authority, Karen Van Rooyen, has welcomed the Education Review Office's report on the implementation of the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA), released today. More ... Read the full ERO Report.	March 2004
NCEA students urged to register now for web results next week NCEA results will be available from Wednesday 21 January and the Qualifications Authority is urging students to register on the NZQA website well in advance. More ...	January 2004
Bursaries results released 2003 University Bursaries results are now available on the Qualifications Authority website. More than 28,000 Bursaries candidates will receive result notices in the mail later this week. More ...	January 2004
Bursaries results out next week The Qualifications Authority expects to release 2003 University Bursaries results early next week. More ...	January 2004

2003	TOP
High-level cultural skills and knowledge for Te Ngutu Awa graduates Eighty graduates of Te Ngutu Awa, the new national qualification for people wanting to develop and attain recognition for high-level Māori skills, are being presented with certificates at an inaugural ceremony in Wairoa. More	December 2003
NCEA and Bursaries examinations end NCEA levels 1 and 2, and University Bursaries examinations end on Tuesday, 2 December with level 1 Dance and Samoan, and level 2 Dance and Art History. More	December 2003
NCEA and Bursaries examinations start on Wednesday NCEA levels 1 and 2, and University Bursaries examinations start for 123,492 candidates on Wednesday 12 November. This is the first year for NCEA level 2 and the last year for Bursaries. See media information that includes background and latest media releases. More ...	November 2003
Update on arrangements for students from Carich Computer Training (This update is in addition to the information posted on the NZQA website on 29 October.) The Qualifications Authority expects to start placing former Carich Computer Training students in alternative courses next week. Most students are studying towards National Certificates so their results will be automatically cross-credited. More	October 2003
New Qualifications Authority Chief Executive Karen Van Rooyen is the new Chief Executive of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority. See media statement	May 2003
NQF/NCEA statistics online School-by-school statistics from 2002 National Qualifications Framework assessments (including National Certificate of Educational Achievement) are now available. A Commentary on 2002 statistics provides an overview of the statistics and advice on their interpretation. See statistics.	May 2003
Secondary students get online access to qualifications records This year's NCEA and Bursaries candidates can now check their personal records on the NZQA website. See media release or go to Learner log in.	May 2003
Bursaries school-by-school statistics online School-by-school statistics from 2002 University Bursaries assessments will be published on this website for the first time today. See media statement or access statistics.	May 2003
Bursaries Top Scholars announced Top Scholars in the 2002 University Bursaries examinations were announced today. Awards are made to top overall candidates, male and female, the top Māori and Pacific Island scholars, and the top candidate in each Bursaries subject. More...	March 2003
Top Commonwealth education officials meet in Wellington In the lead up to the 15th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers due to be held in Edinburgh later this year, top education officials from the Commonwealth Secretariat are in Wellington this week to discuss Qualification Frameworks. More...	February 2003
First ever NCEA results released NCEA results are now available by internet and telephone. Results notices will be in the mail this week. See media release and NCEA results information page.	January 2003
Bursaries results released early University Bursaries results are now available by telephone and Internet. More...	January 2003

2002	TOP
Final NCEA examinations today. NCEA examinations ended today with Social Studies, Chinese and Cook Islands Māori . University Bursaries examinations finished last week. Sample NCEA results notice released. Results will be available in late January. For NCEA there will be a detailed profile of each student. View sample result notice as Adobe PDF Schools make decisions on 2003 qualifications. So far about two thirds of schools have told the Qualifications Authority which qualifications they will be offering to year 12 students in 2003.	December 2002
Passionate advocate for Māori qualifications gone Backgrounder on Anaru "Skip" Paenga. More...	November 2002
Reo Māori examinations start The first generation of students to sit their external examinations for Reo Māori for NCEA level 1 begins 20 November. More...	November 2002
NCEA and Bursaries examinations start Monday NCEA level 1 and University Bursaries examinations start for 87,748 candidates on Monday 18 November. More...	November 2002
National Diploma in Public Sector (Māori) wins innovation award The training organisation that developed a new qualification in Public Sector Māori has won this year's Bearing Point Innovation Award for services to Māori . More...	October 2002
NZQA chief welcomes university endorsement of NCEA Acting CEO for NZQA, Karen Van Rooyen says she welcomes the recent statement of support for NCEA from New Zealand Universities. More...	October 2002
Statement on assessment of kapa haka for national qualifications NZQA has produced a response to the media debate on the assessment of Māori performing arts subjects for national qualifications, including NCEA. More...	September 2002
NZQA clarifies status of kapa haka standards Criticism of the inclusion of Māori performing arts and other subjects in national qualifications is misinformed, says NZQA. More...	September 2002
Students assessed at kapa haka festival Students competing at the National Secondary School Kapa Haka Festival in Christchurch can be assessed in live performance for Māori performing arts qualifications. More...	September 2002
Videos to help teachers assess kapa haka NZQA and renowned kapa haka tutor, Donna Grant, have produced 10 video tapes to support the assessment of Māori Performing Arts. More... Also see Ao Kawe Kupu for stories about the development of the videos and the resurgence in kapa haka.	September 2002
Education briefing papers released Education Minister Trevor Mallard today released briefing papers provided to him by the Ministry of Education, the Education Review Office, the New Zealand Qualifications Authority, and Career Services. See Minister's media statement View NZQA's briefing paper in MS Word or Adobe PDF .	September 2002
NZQA improves its services to Māori The New Zealand Qualifications Authority has moved to improve its services to Māori . Acting Chief Executive Karen Van Rooyen said the Qualifications Authority was taking immediate steps to enhance its performance in consulting with and providing services to Māori . More...	August 2002
Update on NCEA workload reporting Education Minister Trevor Mallard today confirmed that level 2 of the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) would be introduced next year. See media statement and report.	August 2002
Report on reducing NCEA workload released Education Minister Trevor Mallard has received a report that shows there are practical and realistic ways to reduce workload associated with the implementation of the National Certificate of Educational Achievement. See media statement and report.	July 2002
New awards showcase tertiary teaching excellence Fourteen tertiary educators have been honoured in the inaugural tertiary teaching excellence awards announced on 24 June. More...	April 2002
School statistics School statistics for the 2001 School Certificate and University Bursaries are now available. More...	April 2002
Results online More than 750,000 students registered on the National Qualifications Framework can now access their results on the internet. More...	March 2002
Top Scholars Top Scholars in the 2001 University Bursaries examinations were announced today by the Qualifications Authority. More...	February 2002
NCEA samples NCEA sample assessments and sample exam papers in almost any subject can be viewed online. More...	January 2002
University Bursaries results are now available by telephone and Internet. Result notices will be in the mail early next week to 26,204 Bursaries candidates. School Certificate results will be out early next week. More...	January 2002
Tertiary teaching excellence to be rewarded Up to ten outstanding tertiary teachers will be awarded New Zealand's first Tertiary Teaching Excellence Awards this year. More ...	January 2002
School Certificate results are now available by telephone and Internet. Result notices will be in the mail this week. More...	January 2002

2001	TOP
New Zealand is to have a national secondary school scholarship examination from 2004, Education Minister Trevor Mallard announced on 18 December. More....	December 2001
Sixth Form Certificate results are now available by telephone and Internet. Certificates will be in the mail later this week This year results from all secondary and tertiary qualifications run by the Qualifications Authority will be available by Internet and telephone. This is the first year that School Certificate and Sixth Form Certificate results have been on the Internet. More...	December 2001
Secondary school examinations are looming for thousands of students facing this year's examination round starting Monday 19 November with School Certificate English and Bursaries Science. See media release for more details and the full examination timetable.	November 2001
Celebrating a milestone for tertiary qualifications. View The Associate Minister of Education (Tertiary Education), Steve Maharey's speech at the launch of New Zealand Register of Quality Assured Qualifications. Beehive Foyer, Parliament Buildings	August 2001
The new Register of Qualifications places New Zealand at the forefront of international qualifications recognition, according to Qualifications Authority chairperson Frank Wood. The New Zealand Register of Quality Assured Qualifications was launched by Associate Minister of Education Steve Maharey on 17 August. See media statement.	August 2001
The Associate Minister of Education (Tertiary Education), Steve Maharey, has announced the appointment of Dr Andrew West, Chief Executive of NZQA, as Chair of the Transition Tertiary Education Commission. View the media statement.	August 2001
A new website describing the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) has been launched. According to NZQA Communications Manager Bill Lennox, the new site is designed to meet the needs of two distinct groups: parents, students, employers and the general public, and educational professionals, mainly secondary school teachers. View media statement.	July 2001
Next year School Certificate will be replaced by NCEA. Why do we need a new qualifications system? View media statement.	June 2001
The Qualifications Authority says its survey of internal assessment for School Certificate shows that schools are well set to assess for NCEA. View the media statement.	June 2001
An exhibition of the top practical art folios from the 2000 University Bursaries examinations opened in Wellington on 14 June. The collection is touring the country, demonstrating the standard of work needed to score 90 plus in Bursaries Art. View the media statement.	June 2001
Education Minister Trevor Mallard today announced the commencement of the NCEA information campaign. Mr Mallard met students at Wellington Girls' College to show them advance copies of the NCEA booklet and explain main features of the new qualification, to replace School Certificate in 2002. Click here for the Minister's media statement.	May 2001
The best of New Zealand's young academic talent was honoured at the Top Scholar Awards at Government House in April. Click here to read the media release.	April 2001
The Qualifications Authority has imposed penalties for misconduct in the 2000 national schools examinations. Hearings completed recently looked into 14 incidents in School Certificate, 9 in University Bursaries and 4 in tertiary examinations.	April 2001
Top Scholars in the 2000 University Bursaries examinations were announced by the Qualifications Authority. Awards are made to top overall candidates, male and female, the top Māori and Pacific Island scholars, and the top candidate in each Bursaries subject.	March 2001
The Qualifications Authority has named its next chief executive. Dr Andrew West, who currently heads a crown research institute, will take up the position early in March. Click here to read the media release.	February 2001
The Chief Executive of the Qualifications Authority issued a statement on January 15 in response to misleading media reports regarding payments made last year to Authority staff last year. Click here to read the media release.	January 2001
Results from the 2000 School Certificate and Bursaries examinations are now available by telephone. Students can call NZQA's 0900 service (0900 611 11) to get their results a few days before result notices arrive in the mail. Bursaries results are available by telephone and Internet. More than 10,000 students have accessed results on the NZQA web site (www.nzqa.govt.nz). All results will be in the mail next week. Click here to read the media release.	January 2001
University Bursaries results will be available for the first time on the Internet on Wednesday 10 January and by telephone on the same day. School Certificate results should be available on the 0900 telephone service on Friday 12 January. Click here to read the latest media update on the release of results. Candidates sitting Bursaries Mathematics with Calculus will be sent letters explaining measures taken to adjust marks following an unusually difficult examination. This letter will be released to the media after it has been received by candidates.	January 2001
Sixth Form Certificate results were available on the 0900 telephone service (0900 611 11) from 3 January. In the first 24 hours more than one quarter of candidates called for their results. Click here to read the media release.	January 2001

2000	TOP
The Government has appointed Trevor Moeke, Te Mangai Paho chief executive, and reappointed Massey University educationalist Judith Carter to the Board of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority. Click here to read the media release.	November 2000
School Certificate examinations start on Wednesday 22 November and University Bursaries on Thursday 23 November. This year, mobile telephones are banned from examination rooms, largely because of the potential for candidates to use text messaging. Click here for the media release outlining highlights of this year's examinations.	November 2000
The Ministry of Education and the New Zealand Qualifications Authority are conducting a provider survey as part of the National Student Index (NSI) Project. When implemented, the National Student Index will provide each tertiary student with an identifier (unique identification number). The identifier will stay with a student for life and be used for all reporting to the Ministry and to the Qualifications Authority (for the National Qualifications Framework). The purpose of the survey is to ensure that the design of the NSI takes into account the systems and processes that providers already have in place to collect student information. The survey has now closed.	November 2000
Two new General Managers Māori have recently been appointed by the Qualifications Authority. Patsy Karauria, a current employee with NZQA, has been appointed to the role of General Manager, Māori Qualifications Development. Carl Ross has accepted the position of General Manager, Māori Provider Development and Support. Carl joins the Authority from the University of Auckland and has previously worked for Unitec where he managed the Māori Community Development area. Click here to read the media release.	October 2000
NZQA has responded to comments made in an NZ Herald editorial when it said of the NCEA that "mere attendance seems capable of receiving an award". Click here to read the response.	October 2000
NZQA has responded to comments written in the Herald by Lydia Austin. Click here to read the response.	July 2000
The first ever exhibition of art from the Bursaries examinations is touring the country.	1 May 2000
The New Zealand Qualifications Authority has extended its delegation to the Association of Polytechnics in New Zealand (APNZ) to allow academic audit.	17 April 2000
University Bursaries Top Scholars received their awards at a Government House ceremony on 7 April. Top Scholars were announced in January.	7 April 2000
The Qualifications Authority is undertaking extensive consultation on a draft document entitled Registering Qualifications in New Zealand. This will set the parameters for qualifications on a national Register of all quality assured qualifications. The closing date for submissions is 1 August 2000.	9 March 2000
University Bursaries Top Scholars received their awards at a Government House ceremony on 7 April. Top Scholars were announced in January.	7 April 2000
The Minister of Education, Hon Trevor Mallard, has announced in a media release that the timetable for implementing the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) will be extended for one year.	1 March 2000
The Associate Minister of Education (Tertiary Education), Hon Steve Maharey has clarified the future role of the Qualifications Authority. In a media release he announced that the Government sees the Authority as 'the sole guardian of the National Qualifications Framework and the registration body which enables tertiary providers to gain access to public funding'.	2 February 2000
	TOP
1999
Dr Kingsbury commenced his one year appointment as chief executive of the Qualifications Authority on 20 October. Click here to read the media release.	23 September 1999
In a joint media release the Qualifications Authority and the Teacher Registration Board announced that they have reached an accord on approvals for teacher training courses. Under a new memorandum of understanding, courses and qualifications that lead to teacher registration will be approved jointly by the two agencies.	7 July 1999

Page updated: 06 October 2009