Exams from previous years in both paper and digital format are available from the Resources by Subject section of the website. Assessment schedules, which tell students what markers were looking when marking exams are also available as a reference. 

A walk-through video and a range of hand on activities are also available to teachers and students wanting to get familiar with the way digital exams look and work.

Generally, students sit exams at allocated exam centres. If there is a good reason why a student cannot sit all their exams at their exam centre, they must talk to the their Principal's Nominee who will contact the School Relationship Manager by 14 August to discuss any change. After 14 August, there has to be a very good reason for any change to where a student sits their exams. If this is the case, the school needs to contact the NZQA School Relationship Manager.

Both English and te reo Māori are New Zealand's official languages. Unless specifically excluded by the assessment specifications, candidates can present their answers in te reo Maori in external assessments. NZQA will contract markers or assistants to markers to facilitate the assessment of candidates who have answered in te reo Māori. In most subjects, candidates can request the exam booklet in te reo Māori until 31 July.

Students may be entitled to receive help in exams if they have significant learning, medical or physical difficulties.

The school:

• should have talked to the student about this
• will apply to NZQA by the end of term 1 if the student needs  help
• will tell the student what help they will get in their assessments  
• will tell the student if NZQA approves their entitlement for Special Assessment Conditions.

If NZQA approves a student's entitlement for Special Assessment Conditions, they must get assistance during the year for all assessments.

Candidates who through illness or misadventure have been prevented from sitting exams, or who consider that their performance in an external assessment has been seriously impaired because of exceptional circumstances beyond their control, may apply to NZQA to be awarded a derived grade. A derived grade is based solely on the student's pre-existing standard-specific evidence held by the school.

For the policy, process and application form for a derived grade see Derived grade process guidelines.

NZQA's exam-setting process takes approximately 18 months. The exam paper is written according to the requirements of the standard being assessed and within the boundaries of the assessment specification (defines the scope of subtopics that could be assessed and explains the conditions of the examination). NZQA editors format the paper as an exam booklet and also into a digital format for online examination (where applicable). The examination is reviewed by at least three critiquers and a corresponding assessment schedule is developed. The assessment schedule explains how grades are allocated in terms of the evidence provided by the candidate. If required, the examination is translated into te reo Māori.

For a diagram of this process, see NZQA Examination Development Process (PDF, 152KB) (PDF, 158KB).

From 2013, Grade Score Marking has been used to mark all NCEA examination papers. The Profile of Expected Performance (PEP) for an externally marked standard is produced each year as a guide to Marking Panel Leaders. The PEP does not set a pre-determined target for results but allows monitoring to take place to ensure the examination of the standard is consistent and not easier in one year than another. The PEP is based on historical trends, analysis of other statistical information and the professional experience of contracted Examiners and Panel Leaders, as well as NZQA National Assessment Facilitators. The PEPs are shown on the NZQA website from early November each year as graphs. The graphs show the expected performance for each grade (eg. a bar from 10-16 for Merit shows the percentage of candidates gaining Merit is expected to be between 10% and 16%). For valid reasons, such as improved examination format, results may be outside the PEP. For an overview of the marking process, see NZQA Examination Marking Process (PDF, 148KB) (PDF, 99KB).

Missing results: NZQA has a process for managing missing results. If we have evidence that the candidate attended the exam and handed in the booklet, or submitted work digitally, the school will be contacted in February, following reviews and reconsiderations. The school will be asked to provide a derived grade, after speaking with the candidate.

After looking closely at their answer booklets or portfolios, a student may want to apply for a review or reconsideration of their  results.

To do so, a student must not have altered or added to their answer booklets or portfolios in any way. Answer booklets or portfolios that contain correcting fluid or pencil will not be eligible for review or reconsideration. They may be investigated as a breach of examination rules and some or all of their results may be cancelled.

• In a review all sections of a booklet or portfolio are checked to make sure they have been marked and results correctly recorded and transferred. A review does not involve re-marking. There is no charge for a review.
• If a student thinks their answer booklet has not been assessed (or 'marked') correctly, they can apply for a reconsideration. A reconsideration involves reassessing all answers in the answer booklet using the original assessment schedule, in other words, re-marking it. It also involves checking mechanical processes, like transferring grades. 
  NCEA reconsiderations cost $20.40 for each standard. The fee for Design and Visual Communication (DVC) and Technology portfolios is $20.40 for each external achievement standard, not each portfolio. Where the reconsideration leads to a change of final grade the fee is refunded.

If a student completed any external assessment digitally, they do not need to send a copy of their submitted work with their review or reconsideration application.

If their assessment was not produced digitally, their paper submission must be sent to NZQA when they apply for a review or reconsideration.

A review or reconsideration may take up to six weeks to process. If the outcome of the student’s application might affect University Entrance, the student will need to let their  chosen university know it may take six weeks for any updated results to become available.

Students can monitor the status of their reconsideration request using the My Orders link in the Learner Login main menu.