Government delays final Cabinet decision on whether to abolish NCEA as officials scrutinise 11,000 submissions
The Government has delayed making final decisions on its proposal to abolish the NCEA and replace it with new educational qualifications.
Public consultation on the changes opened in August and ran to mid-September, with officials then analysing the feedback to identify what adjustments to the plan may be needed.
The discussion document released alongside the proposal said Cabinet would consider final policy recommendations in November.
However, Education Minister Erica Stanford has confirmed to the Herald she now intends to go to Cabinet with decisions in February next year. She said analysis of the large amount of feedback was still ongoing.
“We are carefully considering the feedback we have received on the proposal to replace NCEA [the National Certificate of Educational Achievement]. Nearly 11,000 submissions were received during public consultation,” she said.
“The Ministry of Education is undertaking further analysis of the submissions before having further conversations with key sector groups based on specific areas of feedback. Together, these findings will inform any further policy advice on the proposals.”
In August, Stanford announced the Government was seeking to abolish the NCEA qualification, replacing NCEA Level 1 with a foundational skills award focused on literacy and numeracy, and two new certificates for Year 12 and 13 students.
The proposal was unveiled after a series of Government briefings, revealed by the Herald, raised significant concerns about the credibility of the qualification.
Among the reported issues were the NCEA’s “overused” flexibility, a lack of coherent vocational education pathways, an over-reliance on internal assessments and students gaming the system to accumulate credits.
The change programme received a strong response from the sector, with some schools supportive of ditching the NCEA and moving to a more structured system, while others believed there was value in the flexibility the NCEA provided and said the Government’s proposal would cause disruption.
Labour’s education spokeswoman Willow-Jean Prime has been reluctant to provide a position on the Government’s proposal, instead focusing her remarks on what she considered was a too-short consultation period.
She told the Herald on Thursday the changes “shouldn’t be rushed through for political expediency”.
“Our kids’ learning is far too important for that,” Prime said.
“To drop a once-in-a-generation change on schools and parents and give a very short window to respond was short-sighted.
“Erica should’ve co-designed the changes with the sector from the start. She now needs to be genuine in involving the sector and take their contributions seriously.”
Stanford has previously highlighted the input of an NCEA Professional Advisory Group made up of school principals. According to a statement by the chairperson in the discussion document, the group met multiple times in 2024 and 2025.
As the Herald revealed, the minister also attempted to have Prime briefed on the Government’s plan on multiple occasions before it was announced.
However, the Labour MP initially didn’t respond to these invitations and then declined them, before eventually meeting the minister in September.
Prime said her approach was to meet with teachers, parents and others in the education community before the minister to ensure she understood their views and could therefore relay them.
Unions representing teachers have cited the NCEA change programme as contributing to uncertainty in the sector.
As part of a deal ratified by secondary school principals this week, it was agreed they would receive a $15,000 allowance to recognise their work to lead changes to the NCEA.
“The settlement, alongside the secondary teachers’ settlement, will provide some certainty to schools as they look to focus in the year ahead on the significant work required to deliver new curriculum, prepare for further curriculum changes, and respond to whatever secondary school qualifications changes are confirmed,” Kate Gainsford, Secondary Principals’ Council chairwoman, said.
The timeframe proposed in August was for the new Year 11 foundational award to begin in 2028, the Year 12 certificate in 2029, and the Year 13 certificate in 2030.
Jamie Ensor is a senior political reporter in the NZ Herald press gallery team based at Parliament. He was previously a TV reporter and digital producer in the Newshub press gallery office. He was a finalist this year for Political Journalist of the Year at the Voyager Media Awards.