News

NZQA Announce Changes to NCEA and University Entrance for 2020

We know some of our students - and their whānau - are worried that they might not be able to attain NCEA or UE this year, because of the disruption caused by COVID-19. To help address this and support students, the following changes are being made to NCEA and University Entrance (UE) requirements for this year:

• Students working towards an NCEA can gain additional credits, based on the number of credits they achieve during the 2020 school year. These additional credits will be known as Learning Recognition credits. For every 5 credits a student achieves towards their NCEA either through internal or external assessment, they are entitled to an additional 1 credit. Students at NCEA Level 1 are eligible for up to a maximum of 10 additional credits while those at Levels 2 and 3 are eligible for up to a maximum of 8 additional credits.
• Students will be awarded a certificate endorsement if they achieve 46 credits at Merit or Excellence level, rather than the usual 50. Students achieving 12 credits at Merit or Excellence level in a course – rather than 14 – will be awarded a course endorsement.
• Current UE requirements have been reduced from 14 to 12 credits in three UE-approved subjects. Students still need to attain NCEA Level 3 and meet literacy and numeracy requirements to be awarded University Entrance.
• External NCEA examinations and NZ Scholarship examinations will now take place from 16 November 2020 to 9 December 2020. This will provide extra time for teaching, learning and assessment in Term 4.
• The submission date for subjects which require students to submit a portfolio (for example, Design and Visual Communications) has been extended to 12 November 2020, to give students more time to complete their portfolios.

These changes have been designed to encourage students to continue working towards their NCEA and to ensure that the NCEA attained by our rangatahi this school year is just as valid as those earned in previous years.

If you have any queries about the changes, please contact Peter Howarth, Principal's Nominee by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

Term Update - 28 May 2020

Dear Parents/Caregivers

It has been great to see our students back on site and reengaging with their onsite learning.

The current Alert Level 2 restrictions and the time away from school during the lockdown mean that our teaching and assessment programmes, along with many of our planned events, may need to be reconsidered and rescheduled. I hope that you can appreciate that it will take some time to work through all of the implications so we will not have all of the answers at once. We will continue to keep you informed as decisions are made.

Departments have reviewed their courses and current assessment plans. It may be unrealistic to try and get through the content that was previously planned; this will depend on a number of factors and may be different for each course. This could result in a reduction in the number of credits assessed in some subjects but we believe at this time will still allow our seniors to gain their qualification(s).

This includes Level Three (Year 13) courses that provide opportunities to meet the requirements of University Entrance. Our staff will continue to work with students to ensure that the assessment programme available to them will meet their needs.

If you have questions regarding courses you can email the appropriate Head of Department. Email addresses can be found on the College website.  

As you may have already heard the NCEA external examinations has been delayed. An updated examination timetable is available on the NZQA website. Please ensure that you are familiar with the revised timetable, as the NCEA examination period will now continue beyond the end of the school year.

Junior students will still finish for the year on Thursday 3 December.

With regards to Sports and Co-Curricular activities, we will continue to adhere to the advice provided by the Ministries of Education and Health, and the relevant sporting bodies / organisations. Some sporting codes may be underway by the end of the term.

Parent-Teacher Interviews were scheduled for earlier this term. Under the current restrictions, these will not be going ahead. Providing an opportunity for parents to meet with their child’s teachers is important and we are looking at rescheduling.

Alert Level 2 restrictions and the uncertainty of what might happen over the coming weeks and months (including a move back to Level 3 or 4) make it problematic to continue with planning the School Ball. While some schools have already cancelled these sorts of events, we met with the Ball Committee today and have decided to wait until the next announcement from the Prime Minister regarding group gatherings and requirements before making a final decision. It may be that the Ball goes ahead with Year 13 only and is not open to outside partners. If it goes ahead, the date will not change.

A reminder to those who were loaned school chromebooks / devices, or issued Ministry devices, that these must be returned to the school office.

Finally, a reminder of Queen’s Birthday on Monday 1 June. School will be closed on this day.

Yours sincerely,
Gary Yeatman
Principal

Queen's Birthday - School Closed

Awatapu College will be closed on Monday 1 June due to Queen's Birthday. Normal timetable will resume on Tuesday 2 June.

NCEA Exams 2020 - Revised Dates

NZQA exams will run Monday 16 November - Wednesday 9 December 2020. The exam timetable is available on the NZQA website.