To further boost literacy and numeracy outcomes, Education Minister Erica Stanford has launched a $2.5 million initiative that will initially benefit an estimated 10,000 students in secondary schools and immersion units.

From Term 4 2024, targeted support is being offered to around 160 secondary schools and immersion units with students who are most likely to struggle to meet the NCEA Co-requisite requirements.

Recognising the challenges of the new NCEA Co-requisite, Minister Stanford has extended the transition period to 2027.

NCEA Co-requisite

To help your Year 7 and 8 students prepare to transition to secondary school and meet the NCEA Co-requisite requirement, we encourage teachers and kaiako to access past Common Assessment Activities (CAA) on NZQA's website.

Literacy and Numeracy exemplars, past assessments, reports and schedules

Some text and images have been redacted due to copyright restrictions. However, the redacted versions provide links to access the full content. By following these links, schools can access the complete CAA papers and help their students familiarise themselves with the Co-requisite assessments.

We are currently developing resources to help teachers use the CAA papers to enhance  students' literacy and numeracy skills. An update will be provided in early 2025.

Information and resources to help students prepare for digital assessment are also available on NZQA's website.

Preparing for digital assessment as a student

As schools plan their Level 1 courses, it is important to be aware of the transition options (2024 to 2027). While credits from standards on the additional list can be applied towards the NCEA Co-requisite, they can only be used once, either towards the 20-credit co-requisite or the 60-credit NCEA qualification. It is important that students have back-up options if they fail the Common Assessment Activities.

To successfully complete an NCEA qualification, students must be entered into sufficient assessments to provide them with the opportunity to achieve 60 credits, at any level, plus the 20 credits required for the NCEA Co-requisite.

Credits earned from standards used to meet the co-requisite can still be included in calculations for course and certificate endorsements.

Standards approved for NCEA Co-requisite during the transition period
 

The NCEA Qualification Outcome statements will be republished on our website to reflect the extended transition period ending in 2027.

We will also clarify that Supported Learning Unit Standards are not included in NCEA qualifications.

Supported Learning Standards are foundational-level standards that support learners who need extra assistance. They have been designed to contribute towards the entry-level qualifications, the New Zealand Certificate in Skills for Living for Supported Learners (Level 1) [2853] and the New Zealand Certificate in Skills for Learning and Working, for Supported Learners (Level 1) [4373] but cannot count towards NCEA qualifications as they are not set at the same level of The New Zealand Curriculum.
 

A number of Achievement Standards and supporting materials have been updated for 2025 following the annual review and maintenance of the New Zealand Curriculum NCEA subjects across all three levels.
 
All affected Achievement Standards and supporting materials are now available for planning purposes on the NCEA Education website. 

•    Level 1 - Updated Ministry of Education materials are available on each subject page’s Learning tab as PDFs.
•    Levels 2 and 3 – The updates are available as PDFs, organised by subject, on the website.

Reviewed NZC Achievement Standards and assessment materials for use in 2025. 

Teachers and other NCEA providers must ensure that the revised standards and supporting materials are used for assessment in 2025.

Our Curriculum Advisors – Senior Secondary (formerly known as NCEA Implementation Facilitators  or NIFs), supported by subject associations, are currently conducting online workshops for subjects affected by the NCEA review and maintenance updates.

These workshops provide teachers with subject-specific support to help in understanding the changes in the updated materials for 2025. They will again be offered in Term 1 2025, if required. We are pleased to be able to partner with many of our subject associations to support these updates.

Register for these workshops through our website.

Register for NCEA online workshops 
  
Our regionally based Curriculum Advisors can also support you to unpack subject Learning Matrices, Subject Learning Outcomes, and Achievement Standards or to help design courses. To access their support, please contact your Ministry of Education regional office.

Curriculum Advisors - Senior Secondary (formerly known as NCEA Implementation Facilitators or NIFs)
 

The Ministry and NZQA are aware of concerns raised by schools about the potential impact of generative AI tools on the authenticity of NCEA assessments.

While AI can enhance teaching and learning, it’s important that schools exercise oversight to prevent misuse and protect the integrity of student work. 

The Ministry and NZQA are stepping up their efforts to support schools in navigating this evolving landscape, particularly in addressing authenticity issues related to NCEA.  We have been working with a number of schools and kura to understand the challenges teachers are facing and the range of approaches that they have adopted. We are also working on developing additional guidance and supporting resources, considering changes to assessments and policy, and will be seeking further input from the education sector and the Minister's Professional Advisory Group this term.

More information is available on the Ministry and NZQA websites:

•    ChatGPT - NZQA
•    Effective Assessment Practice Guide - NZQA
•    Introduction to Artificial Intelligence – Ministry of Education 
•    He Kōrero Whakataki ki te Atamai Rorohiko – Ministry of Education

We have developed new resources to support schools and kura with the implementation of the NCEA Co-requisite, the 2025 review and maintenance updates to Achievement Standards, and the 2025 NCEA external exams:

• Te Reo Matatini me te Pāngarau | Literacy and Numeracy Resource Guides have organised our collection of Te Reo Matatini me te Pāngarau | Literacy and Numeracy resources for easy use by school leaders, teachers, whānau and students.
• Unpacking Co-requisite Outcomes are designed to help teachers understand the Co-requisite reports and how to unpack them using the recommended support materials.

• Literacy Strategies demonstrate effective literacy strategies that teachers can implement across all subjects. They align with specific learning outcomes from the Reading and Writing Unit Standards.

  Rauemi for Te Reo Matatini me te Pāngarau
  NCEA Literacy and Numeracy resources for kaiako

• A video about the NZC NCEA Review and Maintenance Programme explains the review and maintenance process for NCEA, its purpose, and where the updated materials for 2025 can be found.
  NZC NCEA Review and Maintenance Programme

   

• New Vocabulary Lists for the 2025 NCEA external exams will be published on the NCEA Education website:
  a.    Level 2 and Level 3 vocabulary lists for Asian and European languages will be available at the end of 2024.
  b.    Level 1 Vocabulary List for Te Reo Māori and the Level 2 and Level 3 lists for Pacific Languages will be published by the start of Term 1 2025.

   

• Resource texts for Level 1 Pacific languages and New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) are available on Tāhūrangi and will also be published on the NCEA Education website. These include:
  a.    Pacific Languages: 10 spoken texts and 10 written texts for each Pacific language
  b.    NZSL: 10 signed texts and 10 interaction resources. 
  Learning Languages - Tāhūrangi