Scholarship Drama - examination requirements

Information for:

• Heads of Drama
• Exam Centre Managers
• Examination Supervisors.

1. Personnel required

For each examination centre, NZQA will provide a Supervisor to conduct the examination.

For each waiting-room, the school must provide a teacher as waiting-room supervisor. The drama teacher may not be the waiting-room supervisor. Where a school has a single candidate, no waiting-room supervisor is required.

A school-supplied technician may be present to set up and advise on the use of the camera and recording equipment. That person may be a teacher other than the Drama teacher, but is not to be a current student, a friend or a relation of the candidate. The technician may also undertake the copying of performances on to DVD for submission to NZQA.

2. The Performance Space(s)

The school will provide appropriate Performance Space(s), prepared as detailed below.

Note : No more than four candidates can be examined in any one Performance Space because of time constraints. Therefore, for every additional four candidates, the school must prepare another Performance Space with the appropriate equipment.

No teacher may be present in the Performance Space(s) at any time during the examination.

The Performance Space is to contain:

• a performing area approximately 4m by 4m, preferably marked with tape on the floor
• stage dressing of no more than two plain chairs or stools, and one plain table
• artificial lighting or natural light with flat, even coverage of the space - no coloured gels are to be used
• a neutral background - not high contrast, patterned, ornamented, pink or red
• no enhanced sound or effects such as smoke
• no costuming or props
• blank paper and pens which candidates may use to prepare for their Impromptu Performance
• a static camera in a frontal position able to capture the whole area without repositioning or refocusing
• the camera will have an appropriate data storage device (such as an SD card) to reliably record each candidate's performances
• a backup camera and recording system for each Performance Space.

3. Submission of recorded performances to NZQA

Performances are to be submitted to NZQA on DVD. Schools should:

• copy the original recording onto a new DVD, one for each candidate
• check that the DVD plays on a 'standard' DVD player, such as an ordinary domestic machine plugged into a TV
• retain the original recording
• write the candidate's NSN on the DVD itself with a permanent marker
• submit the DVD in a DVD case for assessment.

This may mean that DVD recordings cannot be couriered to NZQA until the day after the examination. The technician may undertake the copying of performances on to DVD.

4. The Waiting-room

The school will provide a waiting-room for candidates, adjacent to, but out of sight and earshot of, the Performance Spaces(s). All candidates may use the same waiting-room.