Teachers raise concerns as NCEA replacement confimed

Source: Radio New Zealand

Teachers say they are disappointed feedback fro the sector on replacing NCEA was not listened to.

The government on Saturday released further details about the new secondary school qualification framework, which was expected to begin replacing NCEA from 2028.

It would be replaced by the New Zealand Certificate of Education with more priority to be given to exams.

President of New Zealand Association for the Teaching of English, Pip Tinning, told Morning Report, the sector had been advocating to further strengthen NCEA rather than replace it.

“We were very aware that there were issues sitting within that qualification, however, it was working.”

But Education Minister Erica Stanford told Morning Report, under NCEA students were able to “game” the education system.

She said under NCEA students were getting too many credits from things like short barista courses or being able to paddle in water.

Tinning said the flexibility NCEA offered was one of its strengths.

There were issues with the structural makeup of NCEA, Stanford said.

“Chasing little tiny credits you can pick and choose between is a fundamental flaw in the system. The system is set up an and designed in a way that can be hugely gamed.”

Stanford said if a student was not getting the credits needed in English for example, the school could tell them to do a barista course to make up the credits.

“We have got a system that has been failing our kids… Let’s raise the bar and have aspiration for our kids.”

Stanford said there would be a “big announcement” on Monday afternoon about a pre-Budget investment in the education sector.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/05/18/teachers-raise-concerns-as-ncea-replacement-confimed/