Boiled down, the arguments in favour of and against Cambridge International Exams amount to the same thing: to supporters it is "traditional", to detractors, "old fashioned".
Cambridge is simply a system to assess school-age students. It runs courses through secondary level, up to university entrance and beyond with
professional qualifications such as a diploma in teaching.
In New Zealand, it is the university entrance level that schools are introducing. Called A-Levels, they are generally sat by students at 17 and 18 to determine whether they are suitable for higher education.
They typically take two years to complete, but students can also opt for a one-year AS Level, which can form the first half of an A-Level or be taken as a qualification in its own right to complement other subjects.
The exams themselves are very much like the old Bursary.
Students have a three-hour time slot to answer a series of questions based on work they have done throughout the course. They are given a percentage mark to reflect their performance.
It is very much the style of exam most people over the age of 20 will remember from their own school days.
Fans of the system say it is academically rigorous and inspires students to aim for as high a mark as possible.
Those who back NCEA argue Cambridge ring-fences students as "pass" or "fail" at a young age and does not provide a comprehensive measure of students' abilities.
Cambridge International Exams, a department of the University of Cambridge in Britain, was originally developed for countries without the infrastructure to develop their own exam system, leading to the criticism that it is Third World.
The A-Levels are available in more than 100 countries and many countries are localising subjects to suit their own needs. The qualifications are recognised by universities the world over.
Cambridge schools
* Whangarei Boys' High
* Westlake Boys' High
* Westlake Girls' High
* Auckland Grammar
* Macleans College (Auckland)
* Hamilton Boys' High
* Hillcrest High (Hamilton)
* Rotorua Boys' High
* Western Heights High (Rotorua)
* Trident High School (Whakatane)
* Whakatane High
* Gisborne Boys' High
* Napier Boys' High
* Hastings Boys' High
* Palmerston North Boys' High
* Wellington College
* Christchurch Boys' High
