Changes and new requirements for all three levels of NCEA come into effect from 2024. These changes have been signalled since 2020 when the seven NCEA changes were announced.

• From January 2024, NCEA Level 2 and Level 3 will each require 60 credits at certificate level or above.
• NCEA Level 1 currently requires learners to achieve at least 80 credits at Level 1 or above. This includes the literacy and numeracy requirements of the qualification.
• NCEA Levels 2 and 3 also currently require 80 credits, but learners can ‘carry over’ 20 credits from the level below. This provision will cease, so learners will not be able to carry over 20 credits from Level 1 through to Level 2, or 20 credits from Level 2 to Level 3.
• The 60-credit NCEA Levels 1, 2, and 3 will not include the 20-credit te reo matatini, pāngarau, literacy, and numeracy co-requisite, which sits alongside these qualifications.
• From 2024, to be awarded any level of NCEA, learners will need to achieve the new 20-credit co-requisite.
• Credits used towards the co-requisite cannot be used towards the 60-credit NCEA. Essentially, the number of credits required to gain each level of NCEA remains the same, with the literacy and numeracy requirements separated out into a ‘one-off’ co-requisite.
• During the transition from 2024 to 2027, learners can achieve the NCEA Co-requisite either through:
  • the new unit standards [which are assessed via the Common Assessment Activities (CAA), Tūmahi Aromatawai Pātahi (TAPA), or Kete Manarua portfolio assessment option], or
  • an approved list of literacy and numeracy-rich standards.

Overview: NCEA Co-requisite standards
 

What stays the same?

• Unit Standards as well as Achievement Standards can be used towards the 60-credit NCEA Level 1, 2 and 3 qualifications.
• Any credits learners already have can be used towards the new NCEA qualifications.
• There is no time limit on completing an NCEA. If learners gain part of their qualification, they can return to study at any time.
• Course and certificate endorsement requirements also remain the same. Students will be required to gain 14 or more credits in a course at Achieved, Merit or Excellence (including at least 3 external and 3 internal credits) to gain a course endorsement. Certificate endorsement continues to require 50 or more credits at Merit or Excellence level.

All NCEA subjects and wāhanga ako are being re-developed with four achievement standards – 2 internally assessed, 2 externally assessed – worth 20 credits in total. Kaiako are free to design NCEA courses using achievement standards from across two or more NCEA subjects.

Course endorsement provides recognition of student achievement in an individual course in a single school year. It can be awarded at Achieved, Merit, and Excellence. Students achieve course endorsement if, in a single school year, they achieve: 14 or more credits at Achieved or Merit or Excellence, and at least 3 credits from externally assessed standards and 3 credits from internally assessed standards.

Schools choose which standards make up a course. Any type of standard from any subject can contribute towards course endorsement. They don’t need to be from the same subject.

From 2024, NCEA Level 1, 2 and 3 each require 60 credits. This does not include the 20-credit te reo matatini, pāngarau, literacy and numeracy co-requisite, which learners need to achieve to be awarded any level of NCEA.

If learners meet the NCEA literacy and numeracy requirements before the new Level 1 achievement standards are phased through (prior to 2024), this achievement will be recognised towards the new co-requisite.

This includes all current avenues, as well as the new literacy and numeracy, te reo matatini and pāngarau standards for schools, kura, and other providers who have used these between 2021 and 2023. Learners will have until the end of 2026 to take advantage of this recognition, giving them a three-year grace period.

During the transition period (2024-2027), credits from the approved list of literacy and numeracy-rich standards can be used to meet the NCEA co-requisite.

For example, NCEA Level 1 History 1.2 AS92025 credits can fulfill the literacy or te reo matatini requirements, and NCEA Level 1 Geography 1.2 AS91933 credits can contribute to the numeracy or pāngarau component. If these credits for NCEA Level 1 History and Geography have been used for the co-requisite, they will not count towards the 60 course credits needed for NCEA Level 1. However, we expect schools to offer a broad range of courses, ensuring students can still achieve 60 or more course credits to complete Level 1.

There is no time limit on achieving the NCEA Co-requisite. Learners have until their final year in secondary school to achieve the co-requisite. The CAA and TAPA are offered twice a year, and students can have multiple attempts over several years.

Standards approved for NCEA Co-requisite during the transition

The only time that a learner cannot use a standard towards an NCEA qualification is if they have already achieved a standard where the learning significantly overlaps.

Information on new exclusions

Due to the administrative burden of submitted reports and concerns over authenticity, including the rapid advancement in AI tools, the Ministry and NZQA have decided to discontinue their use as a method of external assessment in NCEA Level 1 from 2025. The change in methods of assessment is intended to support schools and teachers in implementing NCEA Level 1 and address specific concerns over authenticity.

Affected Achievement Standards will be assessed through either examinations or portfolios.

Below is a list of affected standards and the external assessment methods that will be used from 2025.

Level 1 English and Social Studies are the only two subjects with a subsequent change to Achievement Standards as a result of the external assessment method change. The mode of assessment has changed but the competencies being assessed for these assessments have not. Teachers can be assured that the affected subjects’ Learning Matrices and Subject Learning Outcomes can still be used to develop coherent teaching and learning programmes. 

Full details, including the changes to achievement standards, a link to draft specifications and further guidance, will be available on the NCEA Education website at the start of Term 4.  

On 5 April 2024 Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced a shift in the implementation timing for the new NCEA Levels 2 and 3 materials to 2028 and 2029 respectively. Both the NCEA co-requisite for literacy, numeracy, te reo matatini and pāngarau and the new NCEA Level 1 materials were implemented in 2024.

This shift means that ākonga undertaking NCEA Level 1 will complete programmes of learning assessed against the new achievement standards in Level 1 and the existing standards in Levels 2 and 3 until they are implemented in 2028 and 2029 respectively.

Information in this document is intended to support schools and kura to understand what the transition from Level 1 means for them. This includes general advice and some subject specific information for several subjects aligned to The New Zealand Curriculum.

Under the new timeline: 

• NCEA Level 2 will be fully implemented by 2028, not in 2026 as previously planned. 
• NCEA Level 3 will be fully implemented by 2029, not in 2027.