The government has confirmed major changes to New Zealand’s secondary school qualification system, officially replacing NCEA with a new subject-based model.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Education Minister Erica Stanford announced the shift in Orewa, saying the current NCEA system is too complex and doesn’t clearly show how well students have mastered their subjects.

From 2029, Year 12 students will begin the New Zealand Certificate of Education, followed by the New Zealand Advanced Certificate of Education for Year 13 in 2030. Level 1 will be removed in 2028.

Under the new structure, students will take at least five subjects, and must pass a minimum of three to earn the qualification. Every subject will include internal assessments and an exam, and results will be reported using a six-point grading scale from A+ to E. Certificates will list each subject and the grade achieved, with endorsement awards for top performers.

Year 11 students will face new compulsory subjects — science, English or te reo rangatira, and mathematics — and all students will need to pass the new literacy and numeracy Foundational Award.

The curriculum will also expand to include new subjects such as Civics, Politics and Philosophy, Advanced Mathematics, and Journalism and Media, alongside industry-developed subjects like building and construction and primary industries.

Stanford says the changes are designed to move students away from “credit crunching” and toward genuine learning progress.

Current Year 9 students will be the first full cohort to move through the new system.

So all the statistics point to NCEA failing but like all tools it's because of the people who used the system not exclusively because of the system

A common reaction amongst older New Zealander is how tis resembles the School C, UE system we grew up with so it was less of a revolution and more of a return to basics that were well understood

The easy criticism for older folk was the marking system.  For some reason parents and employers did not understand the Excellence, Merit and Acheived rankings when obviously Excellence means an A, Merit a b and Acheived a C.  The A to E system is one that parents grew up with but in the cold light of day is just as abstract as the NCEA rankings.

The real problem lay in the rorting of the credits with students choosing easy to pass subjects and avoiding anything that seemed challenging.  But the real responsibility for the credit crunching surely lies with the parents as well

And the strength of NCEA was recognising that there is not one education for all.  That some people don't cope with maths or English or Science and the system recognised what talents they had.

My youngest and I had a big to do over his Year 13 subject choice.  He detested maths and wanted to study photography.  I said you have to have maths.  he argued that he had as much maths as any average student would need for real life.  He won.  And now he is a successful photographer doing his own taxes and playing Sharesies particularly well. So he was right.  But I'm just lucky he's such a rounded individual

But while the new system re-emphasises 3 basic pillars of knowledge in English Maths and Science a lot of those BS credit crunching subjects remain.

Other arguments are amongst those who say exams are artificial and how do you sit an exam on Food Technology which is the new fangled name for cooking. Or photography which still exists.

The question exists is this a brave new world or will the old problems still remain.

Luxon also used the event to comment on global instability, national security, and recent speculation about a potential National–Labour coalition, dismissing the idea outright.

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