Senior secondary school students outside Auckland will be eligible for support as they return to school under Alert Level 2, the Ministry of Education and New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) have confirmed.
Adjustments to the criteria, announced by Education Minister Chris Hipkins last week, would see the reintroduction of Learning Recognition Credits should schools and kura be disrupted by Alert Levels 3 and 4 for 20 or more school days.
Students outside of Auckland returned to school today after 16 days under Alert Levels 3 and 4, meaning students would not have been eligible for LRCs.
“I can confirm those students will be eligible to earn Learning Recognition Credits at a rate of one LRC per five credits achieved through assessment, up to a cap of eight LRCs at NCEA Level 1, and six LRCs and Levels 2 and 3,” NZQA chief executive Grant Klinkum said in a statement on Thursday.
"Although students in Auckland continue to do the hard mahi in lockdown, those who returned to Alert Level 2 this week have also been significantly impacted by the loss of 16 days of classroom learning time.
"The lower cap reflects the shorter amount of time spent away from school."
He said only students who have been disrupted for the full 20 school days will meet the threshold for changes to endorsements and University Entrance (UE), however.
The changes mean those eligible would see Course Endorsements require 12 credits at Achieved, Merit or Excellence level, rather than 14. Students would still need to achieve at least three credits from external assessments and three from internal assessments, where applicable.
To receive a Certificate Endorsement, students would need to receive 46 credits at Merit or Excellence level, rather than the usual 50.
For University Entrance, students would need to achieve 12 – rather than 14 – credits in each of three University Entrance-approved subjects. Students would still need to attain NCEA Level 3 and meet literacy and numeracy requirements.
Last year, UE changes and endorsement changes did not apply until 32 school days under Alert Levels 3 or 4.
"This provides students with additional time for learning and assessment, which will help them earn their full entitlement of LRCs," Klinkum said.
He added that schools impacted by "other forms of significant disruption this year" – such as public health and safety advice or directives – can "apply the full NCEA settings" if students' total time away from school is more than 20 days.
"I would like to acknowledge the work teachers and schools are doing to support their students as they continue to learn remotely or return to the classroom."
It follows an earlier announcement of a two-week delay to end of year exams and most portfolio submission dates.
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