The Ministry of Education has welcomed the Education Review Office’s (ERO) review of NCEA Level 1, saying it will consider the findings to improve the rollout of NCEA Levels 2 and 3. 

The new NCEA Level 1, introduced in 2024, is the most significant change to the qualification since 2002. 

“We acknowledge the scale and importance of these changes as we work with the Minister’s NCEA Professional Advisory Group (PAG) and NZQA to explore ways to make NCEA a more robust, accessible, equitable, coherent, and internationally comparable qualification.”

The Ministry will consider ERO’s report to understand its impact on NCEA Level 1 and the future implementation of Levels 2 and 3. We recognise the challenges with NCEA Level 1 changes and are committed to improving the rollout of Levels 2 and 3. 

We will also continue supporting schools in implementing NCEA Level 1. We are encouraged by the positive feedback from pilot schools that they found the implementation this year considerably easier.

Many of ERO’s recommended “quick changes" have already been implemented by the Ministry. These include:

• removing submitted reports as a method of external assessment in NCEA Level 1 from 2025
• extending the transition period for the implementation of the new NCEA Co-requisite standards - originally scheduled to end in 2025 - by another two years up to the end of 2027. The extended transition will give schools and kura extra time to adjust to the new requirements and strengthen the teaching and learning of te reo matatini, pāngarau, literacy and numeracy.
• providing schools supplementary funding to help offset the costs of administering the NCEA Co-requisite assessments
• offering targeted literacy and numeracy support that will initially benefit around 10,000 secondary students
• reviewing and updating Achievement Standards and supporting materials of New Zealand Curriculum NCEA subjects across all three levels