Students lose NCEA re-sit rights

South Canterbury high schools are divided on new New Zealand Qualifications Authority rules in which students will get only one re-sit for internally assessed NCEA standards from next year.

This means secondary school students will have a maximum of two assessment opportunities for every standard during the school year, regardless of whether they pass or fail the first time.

Reassessment opportunities differ in every school for certain subjects some have none, while others offer up to six.

Mountainview High School principal Derek Friend said the changes were not welcome.

"I'm all about getting positive outcomes for kids. If you are trying to get your driver's licence, you don't have to wait 12 months to get a second chance. It is a direct parallel to what's been going on in the past with NCEA.

"My vote is to allow kids to have another go when they show they have done the extra learning.

"But at the end of the day, when [NZQA] make a decision and say that's how it's going to go, then that's the way it's going to be from now on."

Mountainview High School students usually have only one re-sit in academic subjects, but there was a maximum of three in some unit standards. "For practical reasons it's just not possible to have four or five chances."

Mr Friend said the NCEA system had received a lot of criticism from those outside the education sector.

"If what New Zealand is doing is so flash and the only way it should be done, then that would be obvious when other countries start switching to what we are doing in New Zealand."

Opihi College principal John Cruden said the new rules were a good idea, but the school would only offer a re-sit where it was able to.

Some standards, such as those involving field trips, could not be offered again because it was impractical.

Roncalli College principal John Hogue said the whole review of the NCEA system was timely and the new rules were simply formalising practices. He said students usually did not re-sit standards more than once anyway.

A total of 125 responses from 91 schools were received on draft guidelines, representing about 2000 teachers, with 70 per cent support for cutting reassessment opportunities down to one.

NZQA deputy chief executive Bali Haque said the aim was to ensure consistency across schools, while allowing teachers to exercise professional judgment in their assessment practice.

The rules also cover resubmission, where a student can be offered the chance to correct a minor error in an assessment, but only if they are capable of identifying the error independently.

Resubmissions will be limited to one per assessment opportunity.

- © Fairfax NZ News