NCEA Information
New Zealand students must attend school until they are 16 years old. Study at secondary school begins when students are 12 or 13 years old and lasts for about five years, from Year 9 to Year 13. Secondary school is also known as high school or college
To recognise the disruption caused by COVID-19 there are some changes to NCEA for 2020.
New Zealand's National Certificates of Educational Achievement (NCEA) are national qualifications for senior secondary school students. NCEA challenges students of all abilities in all learning areas, and shows credits and grades for separate skills and knowledge. It enables students to gain credits from both traditional school curriculum areas and alternative programmes.
For more information, see How NCEA works.
NCEA and other national certificates are recognised by employers and used as the benchmark for selection by universities and polytechnics. NCEA is also readily accepted overseas, including by universities. When applying for employment, prospective employees can create a summary of their results from their Record of Achievement.
For more information, see Using NCEA after leaving school.
Many students are also completing NCEA – often at Level 2 – in attempting new qualifications while undertaking tertiary study.
For more information see Awarding of NCEA Level 2 after leaving school.
Employers need to understand the secondary qualifications system in New Zealand, in order to understand the information that prospective employees present them with.
For more information, see NCEA in business.
Since its introduction in 2002, the NCEA qualification system has progressively been improved through a number of initiatives.
For more information, see History of NCEA.
NCEA (the National Certificate of Educational Achievement) is the main secondary school qualification in New Zealand.
NCEA is actually three certificates: it can be awarded at Levels 1, 2 and 3. Students usually begin studying for their NCEA Level 1 in Year 11 and continue through Years 12 and 13 (from ages 15 through to 18).
Many vocational qualifications are also offered in secondary schools. These include, for example, the National Certificate of Tourism, the National Certificate in Computing, and the National Certificate of Motor Engineering.
Read useful advice for Choosing a course or subjects at school.
You can find out more about how NCEA works at How NCEA works.
NCEA is well-recognised overseas. For more information, see International recognition of NCEA.
You can also download brochures about NCEA, or watch a short animated video on how NCEA works, on our brochures and videos page.
If you’re an international student, you can also download the ‘Study in New Zealand’ booklet on the brochures and videos page. The booklet is available in English and translated into six languages. To find our brochures or videos, see NZQA brochures and videos.
A New Zealand Scholarship award recognises high-achieving students. Students attempting this separate assessment are usually in Year 13. For more information, see New Zealand Scholarship.
2023 Term Dates
Term 1
Tuesday 2nd February (staggered start) to Thursday 6th April
Term 2
Monday 24th April - Friday 30th June
Term 3
Monday 17th July to Friday 22nd September
Term 4
Monday 9th October to Wednesday 15th December
Address
1 College Road North, Ruatoria, Gisborne 4032
Ph: (06) 864-8164