NCEA

SCHOLARSHIPS

INTRODUCTION / OVERVIEW

The scholarship is a national external assessment for top senior school students. NCEA Scholarship is designed to extend the best students and to financially reward very able students who are going on to tertiary study. Each year between 5 to 10 students nationwide are selected for a Premier Scholars Award. Successful Scholarship students gain substantial monetary awards.

Since networking is an important part of our national events, we know that our members regard networking as a key benefit of being affiliated with the NCEA. There is something special, though, that comes from bonding with working professional from across town or even those from a few hours away. Indeed, many chapter members speak of the enduring relationships built with professionals who, though relatively close by, they would likely never have otherwise met. These professionals now friends have at times been instrumental in something as significant as facilitating a career move or as timely as offering a workaround for a peculiar Learning Management Systems (LMS).

ENTRY TO NCEA SCHOLARSHIP

  • Secondary school students who hold concerned residency
  • International fee-paying students enrolled with a consented NCEA secondary school; or
  • Students enrolled in a non-consented school which has a Memorandum of Understanding with one which is consented; or
  • Home-schooled, secondary school equivalent students, who make an entry as a link student with a consented school and attest to
    their eligibility through a Justice of the Peace.
  • For full details of the entry requirements, see Assessment (including examination) Rules for Schools

ELIGIBILITY TO RECEIVE A MONETARY AWARD

  • To be elective to gain a scholarship award, the student must be enrolled in tertiary study in NCEA for the years in which they receive monetary awards.
  • For awards with second or consecutive year payments, recipients must maintain a ‘B’ grade average each year of their tertiary study in NCEA.
  • For further information, see Monetary Awards.
  • All candidates are eligible for only one of the following monetary awards, except that up to two single subject awards can be awarded to a candidate, and a winner of a Top Subject Scholar Award who also passes a second scholarship subject is eligible for the additional $500 award.
  • The Premier Award is awarded to the top five to ten candidates who gain three or more scholarship subjects with at least three at outstanding level and is worth $1,500 per year for three years.
  • An Outstanding Scholar Award is awarded to the top 20 to 30 candidates who gain three scholarship subjects with two at outstanding level or gain more than three scholarship subjects with at least one at outstanding level and is worth $500 per year for three years.
  • A Scholarship Award is awarded to all candidates who gain three or more scholarship subjects and is worth $3,000 per year for three years.
  • A single subject award is awarded to candidates who gain one or two scholarship subjects and did not top the subject(s). It is worth $500 per subject for one year only.
  • A Top Subject Scholar Award’ is awarded to candidates who are top of a subject and did not receive one of the above prizes. It is worth $2,000 per year for three years.
    For full details of the eligibility requirements, see Assessment (including Examination) Rules for Schools.

NCEA AND SCHOLARSHIP EXAMS

Check out some useful tips for helping and improving your child. Also be up to date with examination information. 

NCEA and Scholarship exams are the coming together of years of work for your child.

The most important thing over the exam period is to keep talking to your child and encouraging them:

  • Ask them how their study is going
  • Keep a check on their stress levels
  • Have a talk to them after each exam about how it went
  • Ask them for any help in their studies
  • Make sure your child gets good environment to study
    • Balance study and free time – their study will not be as effective if they don’t have breaks
  • Make sure they are taking care of themselves – eating healthily and getting enough sleep
  • Check that they are well prepared – they know when and where their exams are, what they need to take, and have transport plans
  • Always have a talk to child’s teachers for any queries or worries about child.
  • Celebrate their successes and motivate them.
  • You can get more NCEA and Scholarship exam information on the website and on the NCEA Guide App.

ASSESSMENT

Students entered for NCEA Scholarship are assessed on their ability to demonstrate high-level critical thinking, abstraction and generalisation, and to integrate, synthesize and apply knowledge, skills, understanding and ideas to complex situations. The examinations or portfolios cover the same content as level 3 achievement standards, but the standard of performance required is much higher.
Scholarship candidates are expected to demonstrate high-level critical thinking, abstraction and generalization, and to integrate, synthesize and apply knowledge, skills, understanding, and ideas to complex situations.
NCEA Scholarship provides recognition and monetary reward to top students in their last year of schooling.
The Scholarship is awarded by standards-based three-hour external examinations, which are mostly written exams. The grades are No Award, Scholarship and Outstanding Scholarship.