New Zealand Scholarship

From 2004, the New Zealand Scholarship is New Zealand's highest secondary school leaving qualification gained at the end of Year 13. This name also refers to the examinations for the same award. The New Zealand Scholarship replaces the New Zealand University Entrance Scholarship, which was awarded for the last time in 2003.

New Zealand Scholarship is somtimes colloquially referred to as NCEA Level 4, based upon its rank in the new National Certificate of Educational Assessment system started in New Zealand in 2002.

Contents

1 Assessment

2 Grades of Prizes

3 Additional Value

4 See also

Assessment

The Scholarship is awarded by standards based three hour external examination, mostly written. Each subject exists at a failing grade (No Scholarship) and two passing grades: Scholarship and Scholarship with Outstanding Performance.

Grades of Prizes

To gain any of the awards, three subjects must be passed. The monetary awards are tenable at any New Zealand university, and last for three years. A candidate can be awarded only one monetary prize.

Top Scholar for overall performance: 1st: NZ$15,000 p.a., 2nd: NZ$10,000 p.a.

New Zealand Scholar for Outstanding grades in three subjects: NZ$5,000 p.a.

Top of subject or top of NCEA Level III subject where there is no Scholarship examination: NZ$3,000 p.a.

Top of school provided the candidate passes three subjects: NZ$1,500 p.a.

Certificate for all candidates who pass three subjects. No monetary award.

Additional Value

These New Zealand Scholarship papers have the equivalence of 24 credits - to get Level 4 72 credits at Level 4 are needed. However should a candidate not obtain a sufficient number of these credits they can still count towards their Level III qualification.

The University of Auckland has announced that it regards a scholarship subject pass (presumably at either Scholarship or Scholarship with Outstanding Performance) as obtaining 24 achievement with excellence (the best possible mark in the NCEA mark awarding system) credits in the Level 3 subject equivalence.

However the University of Auckland will only count which results are best, whereby each subject only counts once only in their consideration.

For example should a student obtain 21 achievement with excellence credits and 3 achievement with merit credits in Level 3 Geography but obtain Scholarship with Outstanding Performance in Level 4 Geography the Level 4 result is 'better' and so is considered at the expense of Level 3 Geography.