About NCEA

Find out how to achieve NCEA and how it helps you move into tertiary study or work

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

NCEA is recognised by employers, and used for selection by universities and other tertiary education providers in New Zealand and overseas.

Learn about entry into NCEA

Find more resources

Resources and brochures

NCEA me te Whānau

NCEA ma le Pasifika

Video transcript

Kia ora, hello! This film is designed to help you understand NCEA, the main qualification for secondary school kids in New Zealand.

NCEA stands for the National Certificate of Educational Achievement. And it comes in three levels, cleverly named 1, 2 and 3.

The key ingredients in NCEA are things called standards and credits. One leads to the other.

With NCEA, there are still important national exams at the end of the year (we sometimes call it external assessment). But you can also be tested, or assessed, throughout the year. That's called internal assessment because it happens in school.

It may sound like a lot more work, but let’s face it, there are some things you can't test in a sit-down exam. Why write about delivering your mihi in te reo Māori when you could do it for real?

Why just write about a science experiment when you could do the experiment in the lab and see the real results?

With NCEA, subjects are divided up into all the things you need to know, they’re called standards.

Each standard is worth credits, and credits count towards the final qualification.  

It means that instead of doing a 3-hour exam on the whole subject of English, you could be assessed in separate standards about writing a business letter, analysing a text, making a film, and giving a speech.

Some of these will be tested in an exam at the end of the year, and some will be assessed during the year.

You can build up credits during the year, or even over more than one year, and once you've got credits, they last forever.

And you can keep track of how many credits you’re stacking up as you go along.

When you get your results, you’ll know how many credits you’ve got. But your results tell you a lot more than just “NCEA Level 1, passed".

When you log in to view your results for each standard, a letter will appear next to each one: N, A, M, E.

They stand for Not Achieved, Achieved, Merit, and Excellence. 

You can probably guess what Not Achieved means. Achieved, Merit and Excellence tell you how well you did in reaching the standard.

One thing to remember is that these days, E is for Excellence! It might pay to let your parents know that. When they were at school, if you got an E it was bad news!

You won't get any more credits for getting Merits and Excellences but there are good reasons for aiming high.

If you get enough credits with Merits or Excellences (50 to be exact), you'll get Merit or Excellence included in your NCEA qualification. It's called Certificate Endorsement, and everyone will know how well you've done.

That will tell people you mean business. It's a good reason to keep aiming for Merits and Excellences, even after you've reached 80 credits.

Merits and Excellences can also be useful if you're doing well in particular courses or subjects.

Course Endorsement tells people you are especially good at a particular subject or course.

If you get 14 credits with Excellence in a particular course, say maths, or music, you will have that course endorsed with Excellence. Anyone who reads your results will see you’ve done particularly well at maths, or music, or even both. 

That will come in handy when you’re showing results to people after you’ve left school for work or going somewhere else to study.

Vocational Pathways are another way you can show what you’ve learned. They also suggest the types of study options and job opportunities that you may be interested in looking into.  

You get a Vocational Pathways Award when you’ve completed one of the six industry pathways. You can get more than one Vocational Pathway Award, neat eh!

You can use Vocational Pathways to show how your achievement relates to the learning or skills employers are looking for.

Your time at secondary school is a bit like a journey. It might start off feeling like you're in a foreign land but you soon start becoming more familiar with the territory.  And you'll want to explore new places and ideas… 

Just like any journey, it helps to have an idea of where you want to go, and a map, so you can plan how to get there. You want to know the subjects you're studying are taking you in the right direction. 

Getting as many credits as you can is great, but it's important to think about what subjects you’re getting credits in.  

If you’re aiming for a job or university course, you need to get credits in the standards that will be useful to employers or that the university will expect to see in your results. Make sure you’re on the right path.

And remember, just because you've got University Entrance doesn’t mean you can just turn up for any university course you like. These days universities want to see lots of Es in your results.   

Another good reason for aiming high.

So, a couple of important things to remember.

Make sure the standards you are studying are going to give you the results you need so you can do what you want to do when you leave school.

Because NCEA is recognised internationally, it means you can study at an overseas university.

And make sure you are getting your best possible results, as many Excellences and Merits as possible.

If you've got questions, talk to the experts: Ask your teachers, go to the NZQA website, or phone NZQA on 0800 697 296.

How it works (05:37 mins)

Watch the following video that explains how NCEA works.

You can watch the video or read the transcripts in Māori, New Zealand sign language and several Pacific languages. It's also available with Japanese subtitles.

View how NCEA works in other languages

NCEA overview

  • Each year, you study courses or subjects.
  • Achievement in each subject may be assessed through several standards, with each standard covering a specific set of skills and knowledge. For example, a Science standard is: Investigate implications of electricity and magnetism for everyday life.
  • Schools use internal and external assessments to measure how well you meet these standards.
  • When you achieve a standard, you gain credits. You must achieve a certain number of credits to gain NCEA.
  • There are 3 levels of NCEA. In general, students work through levels 1 to 3 in years 11 to 13 at school.
  • Achievement at each level or in a course is recognised with endorsements.

Learn more

Find out more about standards

Find out how many credits you need and about the 3 levels of NCEA:

NCEA levels and certificates

Find out more about endorsements

Changes to NCEA

While most of the way NCEA works will remain the same, what is needed to attain NCEA will change over coming years. These changes are designed to make NCEA more accessible and equitable, and to make sure students with NCEA are ready to enter tertiary study or work.

Read about the changes to NCEA requirements on the NCEA website:

NCEA changes for 2024 and 2025

Understanding How NCEA Requirements Are Changing (external link) - ncea.education.govt.nz

NCEA and tertiary study

NCEA Levels 2 and 3 open doors to tertiary study and training.

Some tertiary providers also look for University Entrance (UE) as a sign that you are ready for tertiary study, and UE is the minimum requirement to go from school to a New Zealand university.

Read more about University Entrance

Find out more about tertiary study overseas with NCEA and UE:

Applying to study overseas with NCEA

NCEA and employment

Study at NCEA Level 2 aims to provide the basic level of knowledge and skills required for employment.

Vocational Pathways can help you move from NCEA Level 2 to work.

Read more about Vocational Pathways

When applying for a job, you can create a summary of your results from your New Zealand Record of Achievement (NZRoA) and paste it into your curriculum vitae (CV) or job application.

To do this:

  • Log in to view the NZRoA using your National Student Number (NSN).
  • Choose to view a selection of items.
  • Copy and paste the information into your CV document or the job application.

New Zealand Scholarship

New Zealand Scholarship is a monetary award to recognise top secondary school students.

It is designed to challenge even the best students and allows candidates to show deep understanding of a subject.

NZ Scholarship is separate from NCEA and is assessed through a different set of exams or portfolios.

Entering NZ Scholarship does not earn credits towards NCEA, but if you are awarded a Scholarship it appears on your Record of Achievement.

For more information see our New Zealand Scholarship page

Helpful links

NCEA information for employers

Learn more

History of NCEA

Learn more

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