20 Jan 2022

NCEA 2021 results have been released, significantly lower attendance at exams

11:13 am on 20 January 2022

Students nervously awaiting the outcome of their NCEA exams can find some relief as the results are released online.

View of large exam room hall and examination desks tables lined up in rows ready for students at a high school to come and sit their exams tests papers.

Photo: 123RF

Around 160,000 students sat NCEA last year and were awaiting results.

This year's exams were delayed by two weeks due to the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown and significantly less students showed up to sit them.

The Unexpected Event Grade process gave students most impacted by lockdown the reassurance they could still receive a grade even if they were unable to attend.

In Northland, Auckland and Waikato, students were absent for 43.2 percent of external exams, compared to 10.7 percent across the same regions in 2020.

Nationally, 27.3 percent of students were absent, compared to 11.5 percent in 2020.

"While NZQA always expects students to attend exams where possible, we anticipated Covid-19 would have a considerable impact on attendance," Gray said.

The overall operation of exams proceeded as planned, NZQA deputy chief executive of assessment Andrea Gray said.

"Students worked hard to overcome the impact of lockdown, with outstanding support provided by teachers and whānau," she said.

"As with previous years, there are high loads on the NZQA student portal, but there have been no delays for students in accessing their results."

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