Criteria for inclusion of a subject

This page provides the criteria used in assessing the suitability of a subject to be included on the New Zealand Scholarship subject list. The criteria will determine whether a current or proposed subject has the capacity to permit students to exhibit the high-level cognitive abilities required to maintain the credibility of the New Zealand Scholarship awards. Any deletions to the current list of subjects for New Zealand Scholarship will need to be carefully considered before recommendations are made.

In making its decisions, the NZQA Board will be looking for evidence of the subject's suitability to be included on the subject list for New Zealand Scholarship.

The criteria for a subject to be included in New Zealand Scholarship are as follows:

Curriculum or government goals:

• Scholarship subjects build on and relate to level 3 achievement standards and are derived from Level 8 of the New Zealand Curriculum or the equivalent where a national curriculum does not exist
• Scholarship subjects recognise two of New Zealand's official languages (te reo Māori and English), with sign language being the third
• Scholarship subjects meet government goals about the future direction of the country.

Subject maturity:

• significant numbers of candidates have shown the ability to perform with excellence at level 3
• there are writers and markers available of sufficient calibre and experience in this subject to produce quality assessment for students at the appropriate level 
• there is an appropriate tertiary path for Scholarship students in this subject 
• the subject has the capacity to permit students to exhibit the high-level cognitive abilities for the credibility of the Scholarship examination

Practical aspects:

• there are sufficient candidates to make the most efficient and effective use of resources
• the proposed mode of assessment is logistically manageable
• running the external assessment is possible within the agreed cost parameters.