New Zealand Scholarship
The New Zealand Scholarship will be (from 2004) New Zealand's highest secondary school leaving qualification gained at the end of Year 13. This name also refers to the examinations for the same award. The New Zealand Scholarship replaces the New Zealand University Entrance Scholarship, which was awarded for the last time in 2003.
New Zealand Scholarship is somtimes colloquially referred to as NCEA Level 4, based upon it's rank in the new National Certificate of Educational Assessment system started in New Zealand in 2002.
Assessment
The Scholarship is awarded by standards based three hour external examination, mostly written. Each subject exists at three grades: No Scholarship, Scholarship and Scholarship with Outstanding Performance.
Grades of Prizes
To gain any of the awards, three subjects must be passed. The monetary awards are tenable at any New Zealand university, and last for three years. A candidate can be awarded only one monetary prize.
Top Scholar
For overall performance:
1st: NZ$15,000 p.a.
2nd: NZ$10,000 p.a.
New Zealand Scholar
For Outstanding grades in three subjects: NZ$5,000 p.a.
Top of subject
or top of National Certificate of Educational Achievement Level III subject where there is no Scholarship examination: NZ$3,000 p.a.
Top of school
Provided the candidate passes three subjects: NZ$1,500 p.a.
Certificate
For all candidates who pass three subjects. No monetary award.
Additional Value
These New Zealand Scholarship papers have the equivalence of 24 credits - to get Level 4 72 credits at Level 4 are needed. However should a candidate not obtain a sufficient number of these credits they can still count towards their Level III qualification.
The University of Auckland has announced that it regards a scholarship subject pass (presumably at either Scholarship or Scholarship with Outstanding Performance) as obtaining 24 achievement with excellence (the best possible mark in the NCEA mark awarding system) credits in the Level 3 subject equivalence.
However the University of Auckland will only count which results are best, whereby each subject only counts once only in their consideration.
For example should a student obtain 21 achievement with excellence credits and 3 achievement with merit credits in Level 3 Geography but obtain Scholarship with Outstanding Performance in Level 4 Geography the Level 4 result is 'better' and so is considered at the expense of Level 3 Geography.
See also
