An announcement on the future of New Zealand’s main secondary school qualification is understood to be imminent, with Education Minister Erica Stanford foreshadowing public consultation on a substantial proposal.
The Herald last month revealed a damning Government briefing about NCEA, its “overused” flexibility, students gaming the system to accumulate credits and an over-reliance on internal assessments.
Following that, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told the Herald he was up for a “fundamental overhaul” as the current set-up was “not working”.
Stanford has made clear “there’s no option to do nothing” and a range of possibilities were on the table, including abolishing NCEA Level 1 entirely.
In an interview this week, the minister highlighted a number of questions that will be asked, including whether some of NCEA’s flexibility should be traded off for a more structured system, how industry should play a role in developing vocational pathways, and whether there are too many standards.
It comes as a new document obtained by the Herald highlights how NCEA does not support “coherent” pathways for students into the likes of trades or hospitality, an issue officials argue could undermine the qualification.
The briefing, considered by the minister recently, also questions whether some standards should count towards students’ qualification. They include having “knowledge of a commercial espresso machine and preparing a beverage”.
“This briefing from NZQA [New Zealand Qualifications Authority] and our vocational pathways, this worries me," Stanford said.
It is critical to get the settings correct, Stanford said, as vocational education is “equally as important for our economic growth and productivity and future of New Zealand” as academic options.
Stanford indicated consultation will be launched to receive public input, including from the business sector, on vocational options.
“That’s something that we need to talk about in the discussion document. It’s going to be crucial that we have industry playing a key role in deciding what these pathways look like.”
Thought had been given to how to phase in any changes, the minister said, including alongside a refreshed curriculum.
“There is not just one part of this, it’s not just a new qualifications framework, potentially, or whatever you do with that, there is also the new curriculum.”
Since the Herald published details of the earlier briefing, Stanford said parents had been confident in expressing their concerns about NCEA.
“The data is backing up what parents intuitively knew all along and so it’s been a useful discussion. Now is the time to really pull everyone together and say, what do you think? What does the future look like?”
The new briefing examines the use of unit standards within NCEA. These assess students in vocational, often practical, skills rather than traditional curriculum subjects.
The paper was prepared as the minister considered “how to improve vocational education opportunities and pathways within NCEA (or within any replacement qualifications)”.
It highlights “valuable” vocational offerings in secondary school, including programmes run alongside industry. Students’ engagement in unit standards is also “not in itself a concern”.
But what the briefing does raise issue with is that many students are enrolling in unit standards that don’t contribute to a coherent pathway to future study or employment.
“While students may be accumulating credits, the patterns suggest that these are not always part of structured or purposeful vocational learning pathways,” it says.
Only 19% of unit standards achieved by students last year were associated with Trade Academies, a partnership between schools and industry to give students workplace experience.
Some students are also using unit standards just to top up their credit haul. Of nearly 10,000 students last year who achieved Level 3 with the help of unit standards, 42% drew on less than 15 credits from unit standards.
Stanford said that was worrying.
“There are too many students who are using the unit standards just to get across the line rather than in a very coherent package of credits that are building skills and knowledge in a particular area like hospitality or trades, or building and construction, agritech.”
The flexibility in the system “has done us a disservice in some cases”, she said, and a question that would be asked was whether there needed to be a “trade-off” of some of that flexibility “to make sure that we’ve got good, coherent, deep packages of learning that are consistent across the country”.
There are thousands of unit standards schools can offer, which the NZQA says reflects the flexibility of NCEA but also adds to concerns of incoherence.
Asked whether there were too many standards, Stanford said that question would need to be considered.
“Are there too many? Are they relevant? Do we need to update them? Do we need to create new ones to reflect what it is that is going to make a young person successful in their apprenticeship or going into work or going into further study?”
The briefing identifies several unit standards that “may be valuable” for students but possibly should not be counted towards students’ qualification, if not part of a clear package of skills.
For example, in 2023, 12,500 students earned credits for providing basic life support, while about 5500 students got credits for understanding a commercial espresso machine and preparing a beverage. Last year, 4500 students gained credits for producing a CV.
“This is a useful skill, but its inclusion as credit-bearing within NCEA does little to enhance the standing of NCEA,” officials say.
“In future changes to NCEA or new qualifications, NZQA considers that it would be possible and desirable for schools to provide access to a limited range of unit standards – such as CV writing – that can be included on a learner’s record of achievement but need not count toward a senior secondary school qualification.”
Stanford said in some cases – such as part of a package of hospitality skills – it may be appropriate to offer a standard on understanding an espresso machine.
“But if you’re doing it as a one-off with a whole lot of other things, then I think rightly so, NZQA are concerned about that,” she said.
The minister wants to work closely with industry to ensure a “better connect” between the standards offered and skills required in the workplace.
“They hold all of that knowledge about what are the useful skills and knowledge that are required to go into an apprenticeship or into work. It is crucial it is driven by them.”
NCEA has been the subject of several reviews in recent years, including one commissioned by the previous Labour Government that led to numerous changes, such as the introduction of numeracy and literacy co-requisites.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins – who was Education Minister in the previous Government – told the Herald last week that work provided “good insight” into issues with NCEA, including students having a “grab bag of credits” and too many standards.
Hipkins didn’t want to see a “massive step backwards” to the old School Certificate and Bursary qualifications but noted there was “clear evidence that NCEA is not operating as intended and there is change required”.
He said it was “vital” issues around the school curriculum and national qualification didn’t become “ideological” or “unnecessarily political”.
“There’ll always be some politics in it. But we [need to] do what’s right for the kids. It’s the credibility of their qualifications that they’re going out into the world with that we’re talking about.”
After the Herald’s story last month, Auckland Grammar headmaster Tim O’Connor wrote an opinion piece arguing that “complexities” with the current NCEA system had “left most parents in the dark, with many teachers and students”.
Considering the concerns raised by NZQA, as well as the Education Review Office, around a lack of “core learning” and too much flexibility, he said NCEA as it stands should be “abolished”.
“What we need is a simplified, rigorous but fair national qualification. Get the design right and we will have a new system that we can be proud of,” O’Connor said.
Among his suggested fixes was aligning qualification content with the national curriculum, making examinations the primary mode of assessment, and restricting the qualification to the final two years of secondary schooling.
However, Chris Abercrombie, president of the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA), said NCEA should “evolve” rather than be destroyed.
“Reform is necessary – but it must be thoughtful, inclusive and evidence-based.
“Let’s listen to the voices of students, teachers and communities who know the value of NCEA – along with its challenges. If there are areas that need improvement – such as more coherence in course design or a better balance between internal and external assessments – let’s address them thoughtfully and collaboratively."
He said one of the qualification’s greatest assets was its flexibility, allowing courses to be designed that respond to students.
“It encourages innovation and supports a more personalised approach to teaching. These are qualities we should be nurturing, not narrowing.”
Jamie Ensor is a political reporter in the NZ Herald press gallery team based at Parliament. He was previously a TV reporter and digital producer in the Newshub press gallery office. In 2025, he was a finalist for Political Journalist of the Year at the Voyager Media Awards.