The New Zealand secondary school transition system will usher in the most important qualification reform of recent years. The Ministry of Education in New Zealand released further details on September 9, confirming that the current **NCEA (National Council of Education)** would be replaced in stages by a new high school qualification system: Year 11 Foundation Award by 2028, Year 12 by 2029, NZCE by 2030 Year 13 by 2028 。
This is not the first time that a "cancellation of NCE" has been announced on September 9th. The New Zealand government has gradually confirmed the reform architecture in March and May this year. The 9 September update focused on the re-organization of the name of the new qualification, the phased time frame and the direction of the new system in terms of measurement, accreditation and international comparability.
What are the three phases of the new system?
According to the latest Ministry of Education statement, the following structures will be adopted for the next high school period:
- Year 11：Foundational Award , imported since 2028, with emphasis on literacy and numeracy;
- Year 12：New Zealand Certificate of Education（NZCE） Since 2029;
- Year 13：New Zealand Advanced Certificate of Education（NZACE） Since 2030.
The Ministry of Education has indicated that the new qualifications will be centred on the subject, including to make it easier for parents, students, universities and employers to understand performance and to enhance the credibility of the qualifications in terms of international comparability.
As a result, the future high school performance in New Zealand will be presented in a way that is significantly different from the NCEA, which currently has the core of credits.
Moving from cumulative credits to a "whole" assessment
The official design published by the New Zealand government in May states that the year 12 and the year 13 students will study at least once a year. 5 subjects , eligibility at least has to be passed 3 subjects , and has to get Year 11's Literacy and numeracy Foundational Award.
New production. A+ to E (a) Level VI achievement; The Government also indicated that each subject would include in-school assessments and examinations, which would vary depending on the subject area.
This is different from the long-standing NCEA statusards/credits structure. News also stated in May of this year when the government published the design that the new system represents a gradual shift from New Zealand high school qualification to a more complete subject-based assessment.
Why should the government change?
The Government of New Zealand has indicated that the new eligibility system wants to be more closely linked to the renewed Senior secondary curriculum, which allows qualifications to present more directly the student ' s learning results across the subject, rather than just the number of standards completed or the cumulative number of credits.
Ministry of Education, September 9th update page, with particular emphasis on the new eligibility design objectives, including: easier to understand、credible、internationally comparable It is also hoped that it will be easier for universities and employers to interpret students ' academic achievements.
But "international comparability" does not mean that all overseas universities have published new conversion forms. The conditions for future admission of NZCE/NZACE to universities in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia and other countries should remain in line with the official admission announcements of the universities.
Not all students will be replaced in the same year.
The reform is carried out in a phased manner. The Government of New Zealand has stated that the NZCE, which dealt with Year 11 first in 2028 and Foundational Award, Year 12, will not start until 2029 and NZACE in Year 13 until 2030.
In March of this year, the government also stated that one of the priorities of the design was to avoid students being forced to switch from NCEA to new qualifications while attending their high school. Thus, in determining which system is applied to the child, parents should check the student's grade with the official translation instructions, and not just the phrase "NCEA was cancelled in 2028".
Implications for Taiwanese students and families
This reform is particularly important for families in Taiwan planning to go to New Zealand for high school, exchange, placement or to apply to overseas universities for high school grades in New Zealand.
First of all, The name of the future report card and graduation will change. 。 Students who entered the New Zealand High School system later may not be able to apply for a university anymore, but rather NZCE/NZACE.
Second of all, The old NCEA credits cannot be understood in the same way 。 The new system focuses on subjects, and parents choose to pay more attention to the study and achievement of the whole subject than to the conceptual planning that has built up the credits in the past.
Thirdly, in preparing for cross-country admissions, attention should be paid to the updating of university enrolment pages. (b) The possible gradual introduction of NZCE/NZACE admission requirements and conversion methods to universities in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, the United States and Asia; It is not appropriate to convert the old NCRE threshold directly into new results on its own initiative before it is officially published.
Fourth, if a student considers going to New Zealand for high school between 2028 and 2030, he or she should identify in particular the transition year in which he or she falls and check the actual curriculum and qualification arrangements with the school.
For Taiwan’s families, the core of this reform in New Zealand is not simply a “change of name”, but rather a gradual shift in the assessment of high school from the NCEA’s credits structure to a more complete curriculum qualification system. In the future, when preparing applications for New Zealand high schools and overseas universities, the school year will be an important piece of information to be identified together.
