11 May 2009

More students getting qualifications

8:22 pm on 11 May 2009

More New Zealand secondary students are getting qualifications.

The 2008 nationwide NCEA results are now available on the Qualifications Authority's website and show the number of students gaining the NCEA has risen slightly over all three levels.

The authority says 63% of the Year 11 roll in New Zealand achieved Level One, 66% passed Level Two, while 54% of students in their last year at school gained Level Three.

However, when based on just the numbers of student who could potentially gain NCEA, the percentages across all levels go up into the 70s.

The authority says presenting the NCEA participation figures gives a clearer picture as students taking alternative qualifications, such as Cambridge exams or special education courses are not included.

Meanwhile, information on the Qualifications Authority's website will allow parents to make more comparisons between schools. An analysis of the 2008 NCEA results, which contains far more detail than in previous years, is available.

Parents and other members of the public will for the first time be able to compare individual schools' results by subject, gender and ethnicity, as well as by the actual numbers who entered for the NCEA, rather than just the overall roll.

Schools have often complained that league tables that rank schools often misrepresent their results.

The authority says the way NCEA results are being presented this year will give a much more accurate picture of a schools' performance.