Providers and partners

SAC – Information for Students

For all enquiries, please email sac@nzqa.govt.nz

Which students may be eligible for Special Assessment Conditions (SAC)?

Students with a permanent or long-term sensory, physical, medical or learning difficulty that directly impacts on their access to fair assessment for national qualifications may be eligible for SAC.

What SAC is available?

SAC is available for both internal and external assessments (exams). The list can be found at SAC available.

How to apply for SAC?

Schools make submissions to NZQA for SAC on behalf of students. There is no charge for this process. Students give the school signed approval before the school sends the submission to NZQA.

Students should contact their school if they want a SAC submission to be sent to NZQA.

What information does the school need?

NZQA does not require independent reports from professionals to support a SAC submission in most cases. However, these can be supplied if already available.

The school can gather information in a number of ways to help decide whether SAC is appropriate for a student and to use as evidence to support a SAC submission to NZQA.

Examples include:

the student’s history of learning support provided at school
comments and observations from teachers, the student and their parents
any medical or other report provided by the student or their parents
the result of any testing done by the school (e.g. reading and writing tests)
the result of any trials of SAC.