Student Assessment Information

The NZQF includes NCEA qualifications but also covers other NZQA qualifications that GHS students may be working towards.

WHO SHOULD I TALK TO IF I HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT NCEA?

• Your subject teacher or Head of Department for a specific subject

• The Academic Dean

• The Principal’s Nominee (PN)

• Your Year Level Dean.

WHAT COURSE INFORMATION WILL I GET AT THE START OF THE YEAR?

You will be given a document from each subject area outlining details including how your course will be assessed, the approximate timing for assessments, and other requirements specific to that subject. 

WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR GAINING NCEA LEVEL 1, 2 or 3?

NCEA Level 1 

• 60 credits at Level 1 or above. 

• 10 credits in Literacy and 10 credits in Numeracy. 

NCEA Level 2 

• 60 credits at Level 2 or higher.

• Level 1 Literacy and Level 1 Numeracy

NCEA Level 3 

• 60 credits at Level 3 or higher.

• Level 1 Literacy and Level 1 Numeracy 

HOW DO I GET ENTRANCE TO UNIVERSITY (UE)?

• NCEA Level 3 which includes 14 credits in each of THREE university approved subjects. (See Senior Subject Course Book for list of University-approved subjects).

• NUMERACY requirements of a minimum of 10 credits at Level 1 (or higher) from specified Achievement Standards or three specific numeracy Unit Standards 

• LITERACY requirements of a minimum of 10 credits at Level 2 (or higher) from specified Achievement Standards (5 must be in reading and 5 in writing) 

HOW DO I GET MY NCEA CERTIFICATE ENDORSED?

If you gain the required number of credits with "Merit" or "Excellence", your certificate will be endorsed: 

50 credits at Merit or Excellence - Certificate with Merit 

50 credits at Excellence - Certificate with Excellence 

HOW DO I GET MY COURSE / SUBJECT ENDORSED? 

14 or more credits at Excellence - Excellence endorsement in that course/ subject . 

14 or more credits at Merit or Excellence - Merit endorsement in that course or subject. 

14 or more credits at Achieved or higher - Achieved endorsement in that course or subject.

For Course Endorsement:

• at least 3 of the 14 credits must be from internally assessed standards, and 3 from externally assessed standards. (P.E, Religious Studies and Level 3 Visual Art are exempt from this condition) 

• the credits must be gained in a single year.

WHAT IS A RESUBMISSION?

Resubmissions are only available to take a grade from Not Achieved to Achieved.  Resubmissions are only offered where a teacher judges that a mistake has been made by the student and the student should be capable of discovering and correcting it themselves and where the correction can be made quickly.  It is totally up to the teacher’s professional discretion. NO learning can happen between the assessment being given back and the resubmission.

DO I GET ANOTHER CHANCE TO DO AN INTERNAL ASSESSMENT? (FURTHER ASSESSMENT OPPORTUNITIES)

In some subjects, you may be offered a chance to improve your grade for an internal achievement standard by being given a further assessment. You must have demonstrated additional learning for one further assessment opportunity to possibly be offered.

Whether a further assessment is offered is at the discretion of the Head of Department (HOD) for that subject. Your subject teachers will inform you which achievement standards you may have a further assessment opportunity for. If you are given another assessment opportunity the higher standard achieved will be recognised. 

WHAT IF I MISS AN INTERNAL ASSESSMENT? (EXTENSIONS OF TIME)

Assessment work must be handed in by the time indicated on the due date. Your subject teacher will tell you the date well in advance. NO LATE WORK WILL BE ACCEPTED. 

Consideration for extensions of time will NOT be given for:

• “Self-interest” absence (e.g. family holidays)

• “Wilful” absence, such as refusing to hand in tasks.

• Sickness without clearance from home. After 5 days the school may ask for a medical certificate as evidence of an ongoing illness.

If you have not achieved a standard due to lateness or(unacceptable) absence you will not be eligible for a further assessment opportunity.

If you have been given adequate opportunity to achieve but fail to achieve, a Not Achieved result will be reported. 

If you know in advance of an assessment that you will be absent due to self-interest,  the Principal's permission must be sought before that leave is taken. Extension of time will not be given.

Consideration for extensions of time will be given for:

ILLNESS: 

1. If a student has an assessment scheduled during an illness, a parent/ caregiver is required to e-mail or phone the office as soon as possible to let the school know the student is away due to illness.

2. As a result of the parent/ caregiver e-mail or phone call the student will automatically be covered by a “medical” for 2 school days.

3. If the student needs to remain at home longer than 5 school days the school may request a  Medical Certificate to be given to the PN or office.

BEYOND STUDENT CONTROL: SUDDEN FAMILY EMERGENCY, FAMILY BEREAVEMENT

It is your responsibility to contact the PN the day you arrive back OR contact your teacher or the PN while you are away.   You will be required to fill in a form and the PN may ask you for some evidence of what has happened. The PN will talk to your teacher and HOD and let you know the decision as soon as possible as to whether you will get an extension of time.

A SCHOOL FIELD TRIP/ EVENT: 

You should know about this in advance and it is your responsibility to inform the teacher WELL IN ADVANCE that you have this event coming up. The teacher, with the help of the HOD and/ or the PN,  will work out what is manageable, feasible and fair in the situation with respect to an extension of time (if that is applicable). 

DO I NEED TO SIGN OFF MY INTERNAL ASSESSMENT GRADES? 

Your subject teacher will ask you to sign off the grade awarded for internally assessed work. This is after you have had an opportunity to go over the assessment work and you are satisfied with the grade awarded. No appeals are allowed once you have signed off. 

WHAT DO I DO IF I DO NOT AGREE WITH THE MARK THE TEACHER HAS GIVEN ME?  (APPEALS) 

You have the right to appeal the outcome of an internal assessment if you believe there is a valid reason for doing so. Any appeal must be lodged with the PN within 5 school days of being informed of your result. Valid reasons for an appeal may be: 

• major departure from the assessment statements given at the beginning of the standard 

• major departure from the marking schedule 

• major difference between the description of the achievement standard and the grade awarded 

• genuine dispute about the authenticity of your work 

Before you appeal your grade, firstly raise your query with your teacher and, if necessary,  the HOD of that subject. If you are still not satisfied you can then appeal on the appropriate form and your appeal will be dealt with by the PN. The PN’s decision will be final. 

WHAT HAPPENS IF I CANNOT GET TO THE EXTERNAL NZQA EXAMS? (DERIVED GRADES)

If you have a legitimate reason for not attending an external NZQA exam or you have a legitimate reason for an impaired performance in an external exam you may apply for a derived grade. You must contact the PN about this as soon as possible if you think it applies to you.

WHAT DO I DO IF I HAVE SPECIAL ASSESSMENT NEEDS? (SPECIAL ASSESSMENT CONDITIONS (SAC))

Candidates with permanent or long-term conditions, or learning difficulties that may impair performance in specified external assessments (eg. written exams), may apply for special assessment conditions e.g extra time allowance in an exam or a reader/writer. Applications for these conditions are based on evidence of the special need and must be lodged with NZQA before the end of Term 2. If you start at Geraldine High School during an NCEA year make sure you alert your teacher to any special conditions you have had at a previous school.

WHAT DOES AUTHENTICITY MEAN? 

When you hand in a piece of work to be assessed you are claiming it is your own work. This means you have researched, read, thought about, had ideas and then put in your own words the information you have found out about. Correct referencing to acknowledge sources is really important. Direct quotes or copying of ideas, images etc must be acknowledged directly beside them.

You should not use any other students’ work or share your work with others.

You will be asked to sign a STATEMENT OF AUTHENTICITY for each submission of internally assessed NCEA work. Read this statement carefully before you sign it. 

Your subject teacher will explain how the internal assessment work will be authenticated in each achievement standard you do. 

In any situation where authenticity is questioned the teacher and HOD will review the assessment following the “Assessment Procedure” around plagiarism (breach of authenticity).  If necessary the PN will also review the assessment. In cases where there is evidence that the work you handed in is not your own, a reduction of the awarded grade may occur. 

WHAT HAPPENS IF I AM INVOLVED IN ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT?

If you are caught cheating or if you disrupt an assessment opportunity you will be dealt with according to the school discipline policy. This means you will be awarded a ”Not Achieved” for the standard being assessed. 

HOW CAN I CHECK MY NCEA RESULTS DURING THE YEAR?

Kamar’s Student Portal: Login through the Geraldine High School website homepage. This will give you up to date results as your teachers enter results. 

Check on your MyMahi profile.

NZQA website: All students sitting NCEA will be given a National Student Number (NSN) which you can use to register with NZQA and set a password. Your results are uploaded to the NZQA website on the 1st of every month by the school, from May onwards. It takes about 2 weeks for NZQA to process these and put them on the website. So check your results 2 weeks into each month. 

Order your NCEA certificates: NZQA does not send out certificates automatically. You can use your login to order your NCEA certificates.