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NEW ZEALAND QUALIFICATIONS AUTHORITY
MANA TOHU MATAURANGA 0 AOTEAROA
QUALIFY FOR THE FUTURE WORLD
KIA NOHOTAKAT0 Kl TO AMUA AO!
27 August 2015
David Meek
david.meek@parliament.govt.nz
Dear Mr Meek
NZQA Select Committee Follow Up Questions
Thank you for your request of 13 August 2015, and agreement on 19 August 2015 to the
refinement to question three. The following information has been requested:
1. A breakdown of university entrance and NCEA Level 3 achievement rates by
decile level for the last three years;
2. A breakdown of university entrance and NCEA Level 3 achievement rates by
ethnicity for the last three years; and
3. Data showing any trends over time that may indicate if there has been any
increased use of standards or subjects that have traditionally had higher pass
rates.
Please find attached three tables that contain the data requested. Also provided below are
explanatory notes for each of the tables.
Table 1 NCEA and UE Achievement for 2010-2014 by decile and ethnicity
Table 1 provides data that responds to parts one and two of your request. The data table
reports the achievement of Year 13 students achieving NCEA Level3 and University
Entrance.
Please note that it is most common for these two qualifications to be undertaken by Year 13
students, although each year there are a small number of students from other year levels who
achieve these qualifications. By reporting only the Year 13 student results the majority of
achievement is able to be reported in a clear and concise form.
A small number of schools change decile over time. As a result, reporting by decile across
years the actual schools contributing to each decile's achievement figures change.
The decile and ethnicity data is presented separately as Roll Based Current Year
Achievement and Roll Based Cumulative Achievement.
"Roll based" data utilises the roll number sourced from the Ministry of Education and is taken
from the 1 July school roll returns in the relevant year.
The term "current year" refers to the achievement figure for each year and is calculated by
dividing the number of students in the decile who achieved the qualification by the roll number
for that decile.
125The TetTace, PO Box 160,Well_ington 6140, New Zealand -Tel: 6'1 'I '163 3000 fax: 64 4 802 3112 ..-- www.nzqa.govt.nr.
The "cumulative" term used indicates that the data also includes students on the roll who had
already achieved the qualification in a prior year.
Table 2 Student Subject Participation and Achievement for 2010-2014
Table 2 provides a breakdown by Subject and Standard Level and includes three measures that
are defined below.
"Achievement rate" represents those students who are deemed to be participating in the subject
because they were assessed for 14 or more credits from standards in the subject at this level.
"Assessed students" represents the number of students participating in the subject.
The "percentage of total students" data represents the proportion of all students, regardless of
Year Level who were participating in this subject at this standard level. This provides some
measure of the uptake of this subject and any variation across years might suggest a movement
to or away from the subject.
Please note that the data provided for the Maori language learning area shows three subject
headings of Maori, Reo Maori, and Te Reo Maori. Students have been assessed against
individual standards spread across the three subject headings between 2010 and 2014.
Table 3 Student Entry and Achievement Rates in Level3 Standards for 2010-2014
This table provides a breakdown by Subject, Standard Level, and Standard Number and includes
four measures that are defined below.
The "Standard achievement rate" is calculated by dividing the number of students with an
Achieved, Merit or Excellence result in the standard by the number of students assessed in the
standard.
"Students Assessed in the Standard" refers to the number of students assessed in the standard.
"Students Assessed in Subject/Level" represents the number of students who were assessed for
14 or more credits from standards in the subject at this level.
The "percentage of participants in subject assessed in standard" shows the proportion of
students who were participating in this subject, at this level, who were assessed in this standard.
Any variation of this percentage across time could indicate that the standard was more or less
popular.
Comment
It is important to note that the standards alignment project made significant changes to the
standards available to be used in secondary schools. This project delivered a revised set of
Level 1 standards in 2011, Level 2 standards in 2012 and Level 3 standards in 2013. The
change in standards included the expiration of many standards, both Unit and Achievement
standards, the creation of new Achievement standards, and a shift from internal assessment to
external assessment and vice versa for some Achievement standards.
If you require further assistance or believe we have misinterpreted your request, please contact
Colin Daniel, NZQA Advisor Chief Executive and Ministerial Services. Colin can be contacted by
email at colin.daniel@nzqa.govt.nz.
Yours sincerely
Karen Poutasi (Dr)
Chief Executive
Encl. Table 1 - NCEA and UE Achievement for 2010-2014 by Decile and Ethnicity
Table 2- Student Subject Participation and Achievement for 2010-2014
Table 3- Student Entry and Achievement Rates in Level3 Standards for 2010-2014