Ryan Bridge: Something needs to be done about NCEA

If we could mark NCEA level One... would it even get an achieved. let alone a merit or excellence?

We heard at the weekend about an ERO report. 

Basically, said the whole system is too flexible. Kids are scooping up credits from all corners of the classroom.

It's too broad and flexible, they reckon.

As a result, students aren't being properly taught core subjects.

The government's looking it. But there was a number in this report which should jump out at all parents and teachers. 

22%. 

In 2024, just 22% of NCEA results came from external assessment. Which means exams. 

The bulk of credits come from internal assessments - stuff like essays. 

This means kids can use AI and all sorts to do the work for them. 

One in four don't bother sitting the exams because they've already got enough internal credits. 

I went through the NCEA system and this happened to me too - but I would never dream of skipping an exam and missing out on credits. 

Clearly, something has to be done.

What hope do we give students if they're not being taught the basics and not being assessed properly? 

Until something's done, bad headlines and reports like this one will just keep undermining the qualification so many young people rely on to get through their working lives. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
If we could mark NCA or even NCA level one,
would we even give it an achieved, let alone a
merit or an excellence. We heard at the weekend about
an arrow report that's been done for the government basically
says the whole system's far too flexible. Kids are scooping
up credits from left, right and center, all corners of
the classroom. Too broad, too flexible. As a result, they're

(00:24):
not being properly taught core subjects and basic stuff things
you would expect that young people are taught at high school.
Government's looking at it, you know, always looking at it.
But there was a number in this report which I
think should jump out for all parents and teachers. Twenty
two percent. Last year, twenty two percent of NCA results

(00:47):
came from external assessment, which is code language for exams,
you know, actually going and sitting down under the watchful
eye of a teacher or an assessor. The bulk of
the credits that students got came from internal assessment stuff
like essays. This means you can basically get away with

(01:07):
using AI and all sorts of other stuff to do
the work for you. One in four this is bad.
One in four kids didn't bother sitting the exams for
subjects because they already had enough internal credits. Now I
went through the NCAA system and this happened to me too,
that I would never dream of skipping, and I would

(01:29):
have been cobbed around the back of the head by
mum skipping an exam just because I had enough credits
to go on. Clearly, something has to be done about this.
What hope do we give students if they're not being
taught the basics or they're not being assessed properly. And
until something is done about that, you'll keep getting bad headlines.
You'll keep getting bad aero reports about a system that

(01:53):
gets undermined. The qualification gets undermined every time one of
these headline rolls out, and kids rely on these qualifications
to get them through their working lives. That doesn't seem
very fair. For more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge,
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