New Zealand Scholarship

From 2004, the New Zealand Scholarship is New Zealand's highest secondary school leaving qualification gained at the end of Year 13, and is an undergraduate award for study at any New Zealand university. This name also refers to the examinations for the same award.

The New Zealand Scholarship replaces the New Zealand University Entrance Scholarship and the examinations of the New Zealand Educational Scholarships Trust (NZEST), which were both awarded for the last time in 2003. The University Entrance Scholarships were also known as the University of New Zealand Junior Scholarships which were paired with the NZ University Senior Scholarships, which were awarded at the secondary and tertiary levels of education, respectively.

New Zealand Scholarship is registered at Level 4 on the National Qualifications Framework. It is intended for the top students of NCEA Level 3, the main secondary school leaving qualification, so it is somtimes colloquially referred to as NCEA Level 4.

Contents

1 History 2 Assessment 3 Grades of Prizes 4 Additional Value 5 See also

History

Since the early 1870s there has been some national undergraduate scholarship for school-leavers. The Governor's Scholarships were awarded by the Governor of New Zealand for study at a constituent college of the University of New Zealand.

These scholarships were then merged into a system of Junior and Senior Scholarships awarded by the NZ University. Junior Scholarships were for by secondary school students while the Senior Scholarships were for students at the colleges of the NZ University. The Junior Scholarships were also called the Entrance Scholarships.

The dissolution of the NZ University in 1962 did not affect the award of Scholarships. After 1962 the awards were made by the Universities Entrance Board, which confirmed the use of the term Entrance Scholarship.

In 1989 the Government decided to scrap the separate Scholarships examinations and award Entrance Scholarships to the top 3-4% of bursars in the University Bursaries Examination. The Bursaries exam (a lower level exam) was renamed to University Bursary/Entrance Scholarships Examination, but Scholarships were still awarded as Entrance Scholarships.

In response to the scrap of the separate Scholarships examinations some Scholarship examiners set up their own examination board to assess Scholarship with a separate examination, and this board later became the New Zealand Educational Scholarships Trust. These separate Scholarships (and examinations) became known as the NZEST Scholarships.

In 1991 responsibility for the Entrance Scholarships was transferred to the New Zealand Qualifications Authority which was formed by a merger of the Universities Entrance Board with other Government educational bodies.

In 2004 the Government decided to award Scholarship by an external examination, reversing the decision made in 1989, and now calls the Scholarship the New Zealand Scholarship. The NZEST exams consequently ceased, and some NZEST examiners have returned to writing official Government Scholarship examinations. The NZEST now exists to award supplementary bursaries and scholarships for students studying at NZ universites.

Scholarship is arguably the oldest qualification/award that has been in continuous existence in New Zealand. Top scholars are still awarded their Scholarships at an awards ceremony at the Government House (the Governor-General's residence), reminding of the original Governor's Scholarships.

Assessment

The Scholarship is awarded by standards based three hour external examination, mostly written. Each subject exists at a failing grade (No Scholarship) and two passing grades: Scholarship and Scholarship with Outstanding Performance.

Grades of Prizes

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 (overall performance):
  • First place: NZ$15,000 p.a.
  • Second place: NZ$10,000 p.a.

• New Zealand Scholar
  • for Outstanding grades in three subjects ("Distinction"): NZ$7,500 p.a.
  • for Outstanding grades in two subjects: NZ$4,000 p.a
  • for an Outstanding grade in one subject: NZ$2,000 p.a

• Scholarship Award for all candidates who pass three subjects: NZ$2,000 p.a.
  • To gain a NZ Scholarship Certificate (the actual qualification), three subjects must be passed.

• Top of subject or top of NCEA Level III subject where there is no Scholarship examination: NZ$3,000 p.a.

• Top of school: NZ$1,500 p.a.

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 marking 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

• New Zealand Qualifications Authority (website (http://www.nzqa.govt.nz)) (awarding body)
• New Zealand Educational Scholarships Trust (http://www.nzest.ac.nz) (examining board for the NZEST examinations which the NZ Scholarship replaces)
• New Zealand Scholarship website (http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/qualifications/ssq/scholarship/index.html)
• Press release 15 December 2003 detailing prizes (http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/news/info/awards04.html)