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Additional NCEA changes for Auckland students

22 Sep 2021

To recognise the extended disruption for senior secondary school students in Auckland, the Minister of Education has announced additional changes to NCEA.

This announcement sees a full reintroduction of the measures which applied for students in Auckland last year, when a similar total amount of time was spent in lockdown. In summary, these are:

Auckland students will be entitled to 1 Learning Recognition Credit (LRC) for every 4 credits they achieve through assessment in the 2021 school year, rather than 1 LRC for every 5.
Auckland students will be eligible for up to 16 LRCs at NCEA Level 1, and 12 LRCs at levels 2 and 3.
The threshold for Auckland students to be awarded a Certificate Endorsement will be 44 credits at Merit or Excellence level, rather than the usual 50.

The changes to Course Endorsements and University Entrance announced on 2 September will continue to apply:

Auckland students will require 12 credits at Achieved, Merit or Excellence level to receive Course Endorsements, rather than 14.
To be awarded University Entrance, students in Auckland will need to achieve 12 – instead of 14 – credits in each of 3 University Entrance Approved Subjects, as well as attaining NCEA Level 3 and meeting the usual literacy and numeracy requirements.

Students outside Auckland continue to be eligible for LRCs and other changes, with the rates and caps as outlined in previous announcements.

Some schools outside of Auckland – particularly those near the border – will have been affected by the extended Alert Level situation in Auckland. These schools are encouraged to discuss their situation with NZQA, which will consider the most appropriate path to meet their students’ needs.