Further explanation sought on NCEA ‘scaling’

National Party Education spokesman Bill English says NZQA will have to provide more detail about how they are massaging results of this year’s NCEA exams.

“The news that NCEA English exams are being remarked because too few students are passing is of real concern.

“And I'm suspicious that Education Minister Steve Maharey has told NZQA to massage the results to make sure there is no repeat of the controversy which dogged last year’s exams. That raises real quality issues.

“The simple fact is that this ‘scaling by another name’ wasn't supposed to be happening in a standards-based model. It’s precisely the sort manipulation that led to criticism of the previous School Certificate exams.

“In an effort to preserve confidence in the system, the NZQA must now go on the front foot to inform teachers and students how the exam marking is being done.

“The NZQA or the Minister must also reveal the pre-determined pass rate and new marking criteria,” says Mr English.

“Surely the Minister won’t be letting them make it up as they go along after last year’s debacle?”

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