An education professor says schools and parents should have full confidence in the NCEA qualification despite one of the New Zealand's most prestigious schools dumping it at Year 11 level.
Auckland Grammar School is opting to use the Cambridge University exams because it believes they better suit the learning style of boys.
But Professor John Hattie, who specialises in teaching and learning assessment at the University of Auckland, says research has shown it is nonsense that boys do not suit NCEA as much as girls.
Dr Hattie says many top schools are succeeding under NCEA and it is one of the best predictors of success at university level in the world.
Dr Hattie says it is disappointing that teachers at Auckland Grammar are not interested in improving the New Zealand system, but the school prides itself on teaching to focus on external exams and makes it clear to parents that is what they do.
