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Clearer pathways to further education and employment is one of the seven changes to NCEA. This change will help schools deliver the National Education Learning Priorities Objective 4:

Future of Learning and Work - Learning that is relevant to the lives of New Zealanders today and throughout their lives.

Every teacher can support ākonga to achieve in pathways that align to their aspirations and are meaningful to them and their whānau.

What are pathways?

Everyone is on a pathway and pathways are:

• Lifelong and include interacting with the world of work.
• Not linear. There are many ways to define success.
• About who ākonga want to be, as well as what they want to do.

Why does teaching with a pathways focus matter

It means ākonga will:

• Have a better idea of what future success means for them and their community, and how they can achieve it.
• Be more engaged and have ownership of their learning by seeing its relevance for their future.
• Be better equipped for them and their whānau to make confident and informed decisions about their next steps.

Why every teacher is a teacher of pathways

No matter what ākonga choose to do beyond school, they will carry the knowledge and skills developed through subjects with them throughout life, including into the world of work.

You can play an active role by encouraging ākonga to consider what their next steps could be, and how your subject can help with those steps. Contextualising the learning helps show ākonga and their whānau its relevance to life outside school.

How can I support my class with their pathways?

• Draw on your school’s links to connect with iwi, employers and the local community and help bring the learning to life in a real-life context.
• Connect with your school’s careers advisers. Do students have a career profile? Do you know what your class profile is or what student interests are for their future life? How can you connect what you are teaching to their aspirations?
• Support ākonga to create mind maps that identify the key knowledge and skills they are learning in your subject and learning area. Then map the possibilities of where that could lead with future work and life opportunities.
• Share your pathway experience with ākonga. You are an expert in your own pathway and will have made built a successful career through making several pathways choices and transitions.
• Use the pathways guidance included in the learning tab for each NCEA subject to inform your planning, teaching and pathways conversations with ākonga.
• Use the Vocational Pathways profile builder to check how the standards you are using align with the pathways groupings to help ākonga make connections to future pathways.
• Familiarise yourself with successful models of teaching that connect to the world of work and future training.
• Put up the Ki hea rā? subject/learning area posters in your teaching and learning space.
• Connect the skills you are teaching through your subject and learning area to key employability skills:

A positive attitude | Waiaro pai Communication | Whitiwhiti kōrero Teamwork | Mahi ngātahi Self-management | Whakahaere-whaiaro Willingness to learn | Ngā pūkenga whaakaro Thinking skills | He hiahia ki te ako Resilience | Pakaritanga

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To support ākonga Māori with their pathways you can draw on these resources:

• Moneyhub and Careers.govt.nz have information on scholarships for ākonga Māori.

• Te Pūkenga has information on how its courses support ākonga Māori.

• The NZQA website has information for Māori whānau on how to support their tamaiti through their NCEA journey.

• Te Puni Kokiri | Ministry of Māori Development has cadetship stories. These are some examples of what has worked well for supporting ākonga Māori with their pathways.

• Te Hekenga ki Hawaikihou supports teaching and learning te reo Māori. You can search it for relevant content, tools and resources.

• Nau Mai Te Anamata: Tomorrow’s Skills is a report created by Tokona Te Raki: Māori Futures Collective. It recommends which skills to nurture for the future.

• Ka Hikitia – Ka Hāpaitia | The Māori Education Strategy details system-wide education sector strategy to support ākonga Māori.

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To support Pacific learners with their pathways you can draw on these resources:

• Moneyhub guide and Careers.govt.nz have information on scholarships for Pacific learners.

• The NZQA website has information and resources for supporting Pacific learners’ pathways. For example, you can share:

  • Rising Stars | Navigating Future Pathways. This is a comic book with pathways tips for Pacific learners and whānau.

  • Examples of Pacific people working in STEAM (Science Technology Engineering Arts Mathematics).

  • STEM It Up!. This is an interactive comic book that showcases STEM subjects for Pacific learners.

• The Saili Malo career resource Level Up! Prepare for your Future. This is a set of activity workbooks focused on career activities for learners and their whānau.

• Te Pūkenga provides information on how its courses support Pacific learners.

• The Pacific Action Plan 2020 – 2030. This identifies key objectives for embedding pathways support for Pacific learners in schools.

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Education to Employment Brokers help to connect ākonga with the world of work. This can include setting up ākonga with paid employment opportunities.

You can find your local service at:

Region	Broker	Contact
Auckland	Auckland Regional Chamber of Commerce	Email: ed_em@chamber.co.nz Phone: 0800 709 907
Blenheim	The Marlborough Chamber of Commerce	Email: info@marlboroughchamber.nz Phone: (03) 577 9575
Canterbury	Motivationz Ltd	Email: marg@motivationz.co.nz Phone: 027 552 2255
Greymouth (West Coast)	Development West Coast	Email: info@dwc.org.nz Phone: 0800 768 0140
Hawke's Bay	Eastern Institute of Technology	Email: e2e@eit.ac.nz Phone: 027 685 7755
Hutt Valley	Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce	Email: info@hvchamber.org.nz Phone: (04) 939 9821
Eastern Bay of Plenty	Toi Kai Rawa	Email: info@toikairawa.co.nz Phone: 021 143 7040
Manawatū	Talent Central
Nelson Tasman	Nelson Regional Development	Email: kiaora@lifelab.nz
Otago	Business South
Rotorua	Rotorua Community Youth Centre Trust	Email: office@taiohiturama.org.nz Phone: (07) 343 1012
South Canterbury	Venture Timaru	Email: liam@venturetimaru.nz Phone: (03) 688 9380
Tai Tokerau, Northland	Tai Tokerau Trades Training Ltd	Email: admin@4ts.nz Phone: (03) 688 9380
Waikato	Te Wānanga o Aotearoa	Email: e2e@twoa.ac.nz Phone: 027 202 7838 or 027 324 1759
Wellington	Elite Management School	Email: yes@e2ecentre.org Phone: (04) 801 9180
Western Bay of Plenty	Priority One	Email: darlene@priorityone.co.nz Phone: 022 122 3486
Whanganui	AGC	Phone: 0800 348 8215

 

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The Reform of Vocational Education (RoVE) has created a strong, unified, sustainable vocational education system. This new system will be fit for the future of work and will deliver the skills that learners, employers, and communities need to thrive. Several of the seven key changes that make up RoVE are now in place such as the establishments of Te Pūkenga, the Workforce Development Councils (WDC), Centres of Vocational Excellence (COVES) and Regional Skills Leadership Groups (RSLG). A new unified funding system is now in place and NZQA is working to simplify the design of vocational qualifications. You can find more information about these key changes at the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) website. Schools and kura remain crucial to vocational education. The Ministry of Education wants to ensure that schools, kura, and tertiary education organisations are better linked to each other and to the world of work.

Schools and kura are encouraged to continue supporting students as they study vocational learning options including those undertaken through funding and programmes such as the Secondary Tertiary Alignment Resource (STAR), Gateway, and Trades Academies.

We released a supporting document about the changes to vocational education as part of for the 2022 August Teacher Only Days. It includes the latest information about the changes that are happening across the education sector that relate to vocational education and training, and to support you to reflect on what these changes may mean for your school or kura. It is available in Te Reo Māori and English.

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NZQA is reviewing the NZQA rules to reflect amendments to the Education and Training Act that came into effect on 1 August 2022 and to ensure the rules remain up-to-date and fit for purpose. The changes would allow schools and kura to apply for approval of micro-credentials, and to deliver them. Over time, it is anticipated that most schools and kura will offer skill standards as they incrementally replace unit standards.

Please visit the NZQA website for information about these changes.

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In response to the Review of Achievement Standards, we have been receiving queries about the future of unit standards. Over time, skill standards will replace unit standards as the core components of vocational qualifications. Skill standards will be new, and it may take several years for a significant number to be developed. In the meantime, unit standards will continue to count towards the credit requirements for NCEA at all levels, and you can include unit standards in your course planning as you usually would.

You can find more information about this programme of work on the NZQA website.

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The high-level design of a Vocational Entrance Award (name provisional) has been paused from the testing of prototypes in two industries with a very small number of schools and kura.

The Award is being developed as part of Change 6 of the NCEA Change Package - "Clearer pathways to further education or work". Achieving the Award will demonstrate that a learner has undertaken initial learning valued by industry, employers and tertiary education organisations (TEOs), and is ready to transition into higher-level vocational education including apprenticeships.

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As you will be aware, Transitional Industry Training Organisations (TITOs) have been holding two core functions: arranging workplace training and standard setting. The standard setting functions of the Transitional ITOs have already been transferred to the Workforce Development Councils.

As part of RoVE, the arranging training functions of the TITOs have transferred to other providers such as Te Pūkenga, wānanga, and private training establishments. All TITOs will have transitioned their arranging training functions by the start of 2023. You can find out more information about TITO transitions on the TEC website under the delivering vocational education section.

TITOs will be in touch with their stakeholders as their transition plans are approved and implemented. Until then, schools should continue to connect with the Transitional ITOs and other vocational education providers as they normally would. Please note that the TITOs’ contact details have not changed for schools wanting to access resources and materials for Gateway and other standards and programmes used in schools – all except NZMAC which has transitioned to MAST Academy.

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As of 4 October 2021, the six new Workforce Development Councils (WDCs) which represent all industries in Aotearoa became operational. Ohu Ahumahi provides a guide to which WDC covers which industries and provides links to the six WDCs. The role of the WDCs is to work with their industries to develop and maintain a strategic view of the skills their industries require, now and in the future.

WDCs are responsible for developing and maintaining industry qualifications and unit standards. These qualifications and standards are currently being managed by both the WDCs and NZQA. They have been updated on NZQA’s system and you will be able to find out which ones have been transferred to each WDC by searching the NZQA website.

The WDCs are also taking on responsibility for running national external moderation and endorsing consent to assess applications for unit standards within their coverage areas.

Providers will develop a programme of study/learning to meet the requirements of each qualification.

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We visited a few schools and kura to look at how their vocational programmes are preparing students for work, further training or study.

[ Video Resource ]

• Title: Women in Trades
• Description: See how schools are supporting pathways for young women to go into trades and vocational learning opportunities.
• Video Duration: 3 minutes
• Video URL: https://player.vimeo.com/video/726895792
• Transcript: English Vocational education and training pathways are supported through NCEA. We visited a few schools to look at how they are supporting pathways for young women to go into trades and vocational learning opportunities. Our students don't all want to go to university. Approximately 65 per cent of our last year’s Year 13s didn't go to university. So vocational pathways is invaluable for those students for whom university is not the preferred choice. And with industry as it is

[ Video Resource ]

• Title: Te Wharekura o Ruatoki
• Description: Vocational programmes at Te Wharekura o Ruatoki
• Video Duration: 4 minutes
• Video URL: https://player.vimeo.com/video/703953727
• Transcript: English Vocational education and training pathways are supported through NCEA. We visited some schools to find out how their work programmes are preparing students for work or further training. Well

[ Video Resource ]

• Title: Palmerston North Boys' HS
• Description: Vocational programmes at Palmerston North Boys’ High School
• Video Duration: 3 minutes
• Video URL: https://player.vimeo.com/video/703955758
• Transcript: English Vocational education and training pathways are supported through NCEA. We visited a few schools and kura to look at how their vocational programmes are preparing students for work

[ File Resource ]

• Title: NCEA Pathways Case Study
• Description: Palmerston North Boys High School
• File URL: https://ncea-live-3-storagestack-53q-assetstorages3bucket-2o21xte0r81u.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/2023-03/PNBHS%20Case%20Study.pdf?VersionId=4FdKrqYMPYwdrL0iHUYge7q9aR4vNhFk
• File Extension: pdf
• File Size: 536KB

[ File Resource ]

• Title: Palmerston North Boys High School
• Description: Vocational programmes at Palmerston North Boys' High School
• File URL: https://ncea-live-3-storagestack-53q-assetstorages3bucket-2o21xte0r81u.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/2022-05/Fact%20Sheet%20-%20Vocational%20Programmes%20at%20Palmerston%20North%20Boys%20HS_1.pdf?VersionId=W8JWL_FKnW3bahPxtkGO00YBUhHSZUT.
• File Extension: pdf
• File Size: 419KB

[ Video Resource ]

• Title: Geraldine High School
• Description: Vocational programmes at Geraldine High School
• Video Duration: 3 minutes
• Video URL: https://player.vimeo.com/video/703956892
• Transcript: English Vocational education and training pathways are supported through NCEA. We visited a few schools and kura to look at how their vocational programmes are preparing students for work

[ File Resource ]

• Title: Geraldine High School
• Description: Vocational programmes at Geraldine High School
• File URL: https://ncea-live-3-storagestack-53q-assetstorages3bucket-2o21xte0r81u.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/2022-05/Fact%20Sheet%20-%20Vocational%20Programmes%20at%20Geraldine%20High%20School_0.pdf?VersionId=Er.HMkm1dq1BBRxODpiAfZts_IJkiuwV
• File Extension: pdf
• File Size: 397KB

[ Video Resource ]

• Title: Trades Academies
• Description: See how schools and kura are working with tertiary providers to prepare students for work, further training or study.
• Video Duration: 3 minutes
• Video URL: https://player.vimeo.com/video/726897710
• Transcript: English Vocational education and training pathways are supported through NCEA. We visited a few schools and kura to look at how they are working with tertiary providers to prepare students for work