136,000 Prepare For Exams

16 November, 2006

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.

A total of 7,700 candidates will sit 27 different Scholarship examinations.

The exams run until 9 December.

The New Zealand Qualifications Authority, which manages secondary school exams, has distributed exam papers to secure locations around the country, with a further 400,000 papers on hand for distribution in the event candidates must sit exams away from their normal exam centres.

"The exam season is a logistically huge job," the Qualifications Authority's Deputy Chief Executive Qualifications Bali Haque said. "But we are certainly well prepared - I can only hope candidates have done as much planning.

"We are building on the success of the 2005 exam process to ensure candidates in 2006 have the opportunity to perform to the best of their abilities.

"Exam papers have been prepared using proven quality assurance procedures and the Profiles of Expected Performance will continue to enhance quality assurance of marking processes."

Before an exam paper reaches candidates, it goes through at least five stages of preparation:

The paper is written by an expert in the subject.
It is critiqued by another education professional.
It is evaluated and 'sat' by an independent expert.
The wording of questions is checked by NZQA staff to ensure they are appropriately framed (i.e. that a history question assesses understanding of historical principles rather than essay-writing ability).
The layout of the paper is designed by NZQA editors to be as clear as possible to candidates.

Management of the marking process is similarly robust:

Markers, all qualified teachers, are grouped into panels headed by panel leaders.
Before marking begins, the panel leader 'benchmarks' the exam papers to be marked, further developing a marking schedule as a guide for markers.
Markers then meet as a panel to discuss each question to establish broad standards for assessment for each question.
When marking begins, the first 100 papers from each marker are checked for marking accuracy.
Typically, throughout an exam season, 8-10 percent of each marker's papers are checked. This can be increased if closer scrutiny is deemed necessary.

During marking, the actual performance of candidates is compared daily with the Profile of Expected Performance - this is based on historical results and advice from markers and teachers. If a variance is identified, marking can be halted temporarily to allow an investigation.

If required, the marking schedule can be adjusted to ensure marked assessments accurately reflect the achievement of candidates.

"The Profile of Expected Performance is designed to ensure exams and portfolio assessments fairly test and measure candidates' performance," Mr Haque said. "It cannot be used to turn wrong answers into correct answers, and is not a 'target' for results."

Contingencies are in place to handle a range of unscheduled events during the exams, Mr Haque said.

"With 136,000 people sitting exams at 405 exam centres, there will always be some anomalies and unforeseen events, such as the traffic jams and floods of 2005," he said. "We are confident that we are prepared for such eventualities."

The Qualifications Authority will issue weekly updates on the progress of exams.

For more information contact:

Steve Rendle,
Senior Media Adviser,
04 463 4240
0274 57 57 83