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Consultation open for the proposal to replace NCEA

4 August 2025

Consultation is now open on a proposal to replace NCEA with a new qualification pathway that it is more credible, coherent, and consistent for you and your students. It’s important that the qualifications students leave school with set them up well for future employment, training, or study – and national and international evidence suggests that NCEA is not working as well as it could.  

The amount of flexibility in the current system has introduced too much inconsistency in what young people are learning, and how they’re assessed. Some mokopuna are leaving school without the skills and knowledge they need to be successful – particularly in vocational pathways – and others leave with a qualification that doesn’t accurately represent what they know and can do.  

All of this affects NCEA’s credibility, because employers and tertiary providers can’t always trust that the qualifications are a true reflection of how prepared students are for future education or employment. We want to make sure that that our national qualification pathway incentivises the important learning young people need for life after school. That’s why we are proposing to replace NCEA with a new qualifications pathway that addresses the core issues with the current system.  

Have your say 

Everyone across the country has a stake in the success of our young people, which is why we want to give people a chance to have their say on the proposal before anything is finalised.  

Consultation is currently open, meaning anyone can provide feedback on the proposal between 4 August and 15 September.  

More detailed information about the proposal is available on our website here, including the ways that you can provide feedback and how it will be used to inform final decisions around the change: 

Consultation on proposal to replace NCEA (education.govt.nz) 

We are also holding a series of webinars from 11 August to help you understand the proposal and how it might impact your practice. You can sign up to one of these sessions on the consultation homepage.