Covid-19 disruptions likely cause behind drop in NCEA results last year

Saturday, 29 April 2023

Vaughan Couillault, president of the Secondary Principals' Association of New Zealand, says the results reflect the disruption over the pandemic years. (File photo)

Fewer high school students gained NCEA qualifications in 2022 than 2021, according to data released by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) on Friday.

The finalised data from last year's assessments found attainment of NCEA across all levels and University Entrance (UE) had declined compared to the year before.

However, attainment of NCEA level 3 and UE was similar to 2019 results, before the Covid-19 pandemic began.

NZQA deputy chief executive assessment, Jann Marshall said students and schools had worked hard to address the disruption caused by Covid-19.

“The decrease in attainment compared to 2021 is likely to reflect a range of factors, including the compounding of lost teaching and learning time due to Covid-19 over the last three years,” she said.

Education Minister Jan Tinetti made the announcement at Papatoetoe High School in Auckland.

The, now ended, Learning Recognition Credits scheme was put in place to help address some of these factors and better support students, along with adjustments to UE and endorsement thresholds.

Overall attainment of NCEA level 1 amongst year 11 students was 65% in 2022, compared to 70% in 2021 and 71% in 2019.

Marshall said attainment in this category had been steadily decreasing since 2017, reflecting a trend of some schools moving away from offering a full NCEA level 1 programme in year 11 and instead focussing on achieving NCEA level 2 in year 12.

Attainment of NCEA level 2 amongst year 12 students dropped from 77.9% in 2021 to 74.9% last year.

Level 3 attainment by year 13 students also dropped from 70.5% in 2022 to 68.2% last year, but showed some improvement compared to 2019 (67.3%).

The regions with the highest level of level 1 achievement included Otago (78.9%), Southland (77.3%), Hawke’s Bay (76.8%), Wellington (75.9%) and Taranaki (74.6%).

The regions with the lowest levels of achievement were Northland (56.4%), Manawatū-Whanganui (57.8%), Auckland (60.1%), Gisborne (61.9%) and Waikato (65.9%).

Marshall expressed concern about the continuing and significant differences in attainment between Māori and Pacific students and their European or Asian peers.

“Work needs to continue across the education sector to address this gap,” she said.

While Māori student attainment has lifted slightly at NCEA Level 3 and UE in 2022 compared to 2019, Pacific attainment has declined at each level compared to 2019, and the underlying equity gap remains.

“Addressing barriers to equitable attainment continues to be a priority for NZQA, and we are working across the education sector and with communities to improve outcomes for Māori and Pacific students, those from low socio-economic backgrounds, and students with disabilities or special learning needs,” Marshall said.

Vaughan Couillault president of the Secondary Principals' Association of New Zealand, said it was good to see a return to pre-Covid levels in some results which were “not dissimilar” to 2019.

Fewer high school students gained NCEA qualifications in 2022 than 2021, with the pandemic still considered a major factor. (File photo)

The results were indicative of the disruption in recent years with achievement and attendance “very closely linked”.

“We’re starting to see a return to normal,” he said. “As we see attendance start to improve this will hopefully correlate with achievement improvements.”

Chair of the Secondary Principals’ Council Kate Gainsford was not surprised there had been a steady decrease, especially across level 1.

Chair of the Secondary Principals’ Council Kate Gainsford says attendance and attainment are closely related. (File photo)

“Attendance relates to achievement, and attendance has been disrupted significantly over the past three years,” she said.

“School attendance rates were dropping before Covid but the pandemic has exacerbated the situation.”

She said new NCEA level 1 standards had proven to be “more engaging” and showed promise in helping lift attainment at this level. A recent slow-down of the new NCEA rollout was still welcome though, allowing for more time for teachers to adapt to the new curriculum.

“Level 1 is meant to be providing a general, broad foundation.”

Acting Education Minister Kelvin Davis said the Government was making changes, but it would take time. The results reaffirmed its decision to slow down the implementation of NCEA changes.

“We are prioritising maths and literacy learning in the classroom by shifting the time frames of implementation for changes to NCEA and the national curriculumThis is what the sector has asked for because they believe it will lead to better outcomes.”