Secondary school and the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA)

About secondary school and the NCEA qualification

About the National Certificate of Educational Achievement

The National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) is the main secondary school qualification in New Zealand.

NCEA is three qualifications, Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3. Students usually begin studying for their NCEA Level 1 in Year 11 and continue through Years 12 and 13. Students usually study NCEA between the ages of 15 to 18.

Students can also study towards vocational (work) qualifications in secondary schools. Qualifications may include, the National Certificate of Tourism, the National Certificate in Computing, and the National Certificate of Motor Engineering and more.

About secondary schools in New Zealand

New Zealand students must attend school until they are 16 years old. Study at secondary school begins when students are 12 or 13 years old and lasts for about five years, from Year 9 to Year 13.

Secondary school is also known as high school or college.

Most secondary schools in New Zealand are state-owned, and teach a nationally set curriculum. There are also privately owned secondary schools. Most privately owned schools are based on specific education or religious traditions.

New Zealand's secondary schools offer national qualifications that are recognised by tertiary institutions in New Zealand and internationally.

In New Zealand, all national secondary qualifications are monitored and checked by government and sector agencies.

Useful links

Understand New Zealand's education system (external link) - Education New Zealand

Education in New Zealand (external link) - Ministry of Education

Find out more about NCEA

How NCEA works

All the info you need to understand the NCEA qualification.

How NCEA works

Choosing NCEA subjects

How to choose subjects at school

Choosing subjects

How to apply to study overseas

Learn about using NCEA to apply for study in another country

Applying overseas

NCEA videos and brochures

Share brochures and videos with whānau

Learn more about NCEA

New Zealand Scholarships and school statistics

New Zealand Scholarships

A New Zealand Scholarship award recognises high-achieving students. Students attempting this separate assessment are usually in Year 13.

Learn more

School statistics information

NZQA publishes data on how secondary schools perform in NCEA and in other national qualifications.

View reports

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