Northland's high school halls will be filled with thousands of anxious students as NCEA exams are in full swing.
The first exam, Scholarship Drama, was held last Friday but the first major exam, NCEA level one science, was on Monday morning kicking off the exam season. NZQA deputy chief executive Richard Thornton said more than 143,000 students will sit the exams through to December 2.
In Northland 5250 students will be putting their knowledge to the test with 2575 students sitting NCEA level one, 2033 level two, 1285 level three and 170 will take part in scholarship exams.
Yesterday morning the largest exam, NCEA Level 1 English, saw an estimated 47,200 students entering the exam room including about 1887 Northland students.
Whangarei Girls' High School deputy principal Noelene Martin said stress levels at the school have been "pretty low" in the lead up to the exams.
"A lot of our Year 12 and 13 students already have their 80 credits from NCEA. This year we've reduced the number of credits available internally so the Year 11 students are feeling under pressure."
WGHS Year 12 student Penelope Wilson is one of the students who already have their NCEA credits. The 17-year-old said she's feeling "pretty good".
"I'm a bit nervous, but I've already been endorsed with excellence," she said.
Ms Martin said the exams are a big deal, particularly for the Year 11 and 12 students. "For the Year 11s this is something they haven't faced before, it's something new to them. For the Year 12 students these results really impact them because these are the results looked at when they apply for scholarships, so they'll be looking to get good grades."
Miss Wilson has six exams to sit and plans on applying for university scholarships next year. She was feeling well prepared having started her study at the end of Term 3.
Despite the pressure on some students, Ms Martin said she hasn't had anyone crying in her office. Results are expected to be released from mid-January.