Please read this key information about NCEA as students prepare for external examinations.

Key NZQA Dates

Last Date to Enter or Withdraw from External NCEA & Scholarship External Exams School’s deadline – Wednesday 24 August 2022

Term Three Practice Examination from 5th to 13th September:

Practice Exam Time Table

• Will be published by 29 August.

Practice Exam results could end up being a student’s actual External Exam result - Derived Grades:

• NZQA provides students with an opportunity to apply for derived grades if they have been disadvantaged because of a temporary impairment close to or during an external examination (held in November).
• Derived grades will be generated from the results students gain from their practice examinations held in Term Three, unless their teacher advises them otherwise. This is one very good reason why senior students should take their Term Three examinations very seriously.
• NZQA will not be able to award a student with a grade for an externally assessed standard unless they have a result from an appropriate practice assessment.

Unable to sit a Practice Exam from 5th to 13th September

• It is impractical to provide further assessment opportunities for these practice examinations outside the assessment period.
• It is possible for practice exams to be rescheduled after the published examination time. They can be rescheduled up until the 5 September, if appropriate documentation is provided to support the student’s absence for the initial assessment.
• Contact Martin Mitchell about rescheduling Term Three practice examinations (mitchellm@hghs.school.nz)

Students who need to apply for either an extension or another assessment opportunity

If a student is absent from, or is unable to do an assessment then they may be assessed later if:

1. The reason is beyond the student’s control,
2. It is practical to do so, and
3. If the application for a further assessment opportunity is received within two weeks of the absence/incident occurring. Applications dating back more than two weeks will only be approved either if they (1) are accompanied by a medical certificate stating the dates the student was medically unfit to attend school or (2) if the student has been grant ‘justified leave’.

How to apply:

Leave applications – You will need to apply to Mr Scrimgeour (scrimgeourc@hghs.school.nz), the Deputy Principal responsible for all leave applications. If he grants justified leave then your daughter has the reason for a further assessment opportunity/extension approved.

Funerals – The caregiver will need to provide Martin Mitchell (mitchellm@hghs.school.nz), the Principal’s Nominee, with either an email or a signed note explaining the situation.

Sickness – If your daughter has been sick for four days or more over a two-week period, they will need to provide Martin Mitchell (mitchellm@hghs.school.nz), the Principal’s Nominee, with a medical certificate stating the dates she was medically unfit to attend school. However, if she was sick for less than four days over a two-week period then you need to provide him with an email explaining the sickness.

COVID Self-isolation– Caregivers will need to contact the school and have their daughter’s attendance coded correctly (i.e. “F”). Then when she returns to school the caregiver needs to contact Martin Mitchell (mitchellm@hghs.school.nz), the Principal’s Nominee, stating the dates their daughter was self-isolating. This is because he has to apply the extension to a time period. Please note, if the student has been self-isolating for more than two weeks, then they will need a medical certificate stating the dates they were medically unfit to attend school.

EOTC – The students will need to provide Martin Mitchell (mitchellm@hghs.school.nz), the Principal’s Nominee, with details about the trip. The date, the name of the trip and the subject it relates to.

Please note that once the 'reason' for the student being absent has been approved, then the Head of Department has to approve if it is practical to offer a further assessment opportunity/extension. If a student is away for a considerable length of time (e.g. more than two weeks) then it will most likely be impractical to assess the student.

School contact

Mr Mitchell is the Principal’s Nominee (NZQA Liaison) at the school.

You can contact him by:

E-mail: mitchellm@hghs.school.nz

Phone: 07 839 1304 EXT 839

Mail: Mr Mitchell

Principal’s Nominee

PO Box 4082

Hamilton