NCEA: 43% of Northland students skip external exams, thanks to Covid-19

Kamo High School student Savannah Cowan is happy with her NCEA exam results and looks forward to starting University next month. Photo / Tania Whyte

Nearly 43 per cent of Northland students did not sit for their NCEA exams, knowing very well they had already passed.

NCEA exam results for 2021 were released on Thursday. While it came as a relief to some Northland students nervously awaiting the outcome, others benefited from the unexpected grade events which gave them an opportunity to skip the exams altogether.

The 2021 NCEA and New Zealand Scholarship exams were held from November 22 to December 14 - two weeks later than initially planned, to provide more time for students to prepare after the Covid-19 lockdown.

Kamo High School year 13 student Savannah Cowan was very happy with her NCEA outcome but said a lot of year 13 students knew they had already passed with their derived grade results.

"I had already passed the year with excellence endorsement just with my internal credits so I was primarily just waiting for my results to come back so I could see if I had bumped up any of my derived grade results and to be accepted into uni."

Cowan has already secured a $10,000 scholarship, guaranteed paid work experience after her second year of study from WRMK Lawyers Scholarship.

Now that her results were back, she could send through her acceptance into Victoria University, Wellington, and receive the scholarship properly, she said.

"I think the delay [in NCEA exams] helped me because I was able to bump up the three exams I did sit from what they were to excellence."

Whangarei Girls' High School principal Anne Cooper said the unexpected grade events helped a lot of students in a very difficult year.

Although she did not personally receive a lot of feedback, from what she heard it was the usual mixture.

"Some very happy with their results and others who are a bit disappointed."

Exam attendance among students in Northland was significantly affected by Covid-19, with students absent for 43% of externally assessed standards, compared with 18.1% absence across this region in 2020.

Nationally, 27.3% of students were absent for an externally assessed standard in 2021, compared with 11.5% in 2020.

NZQA deputy chief executive, assessment, Andrea Gray said while NZQA always expected students to attend exams where possible, they anticipated Covid-19 would have a considerable impact on attendance.

"In the areas most affected by lockdown – Auckland, Northland, and parts of Waikato – the Unexpected Event Grade process gave students reassurance they could still receive a grade even if they were unable to attend the exam.

"Every year, teachers gather evidence of students' learning and send grades to NZQA. These grades have undergone a quality assurance process to make sure they are fair and relate to the standard being assessed."