by Rosalind Peterson
The most common question that we’ve been asked over the two decades that our family has homeschooled is, “But what about socialisation?!” And the second most common question has been, “But what about high school qualifications?!”
You may have already decided on what is your favourite answer to the school qualifications question, but if you haven’t, I hope that my version of “A Beginner’s Guide to High School Qualifications for the NZ Home Educator”, or Qualifications 101, will be of some use to you.
1. If you want your child to get high school qualifications while still at home, there are (at least) three options:
A. The New Zealand “NCEA”.
When I was a teenager, NZ school qualifications were: School Cert in Form 5 (now called Year 11), 6th Form Certificate/UE in Form 6 (Year 12), & Bursary in Form 7 (Year 13). They have been replaced with: NCEA Level 1 in Year 11, NCEA Level 2 in Year 12, & NCEA Level 3 in Year 13 (plus Level 4 as scholarship exams in Year 13). Theoretically, homeschooled kids can do NCEA by linking in with a school - but the reality is that no school wants the hassle – which leaves us with just the option of the NZ Correspondence School. (Warning: Very expensive unless your child is at least 16 years old.) An important point to remember: it is perfectly OK to do whoever level you think that your teen can handle (eg Level 3 English) *without* having done the previous levels, though the Correspondence School will ask what prior study has been done.
B. The British “Cambridge University A Levels”.
IGCSE exams are sat at the end of Year 11, AS exams at the end of Year 12, and A2 at the end of Year 13. (AS + A2 = your “full A Level” results.) These exams can be sat by home educators, via the home school academy, Bridge Academy, here in South Auckland ( – the contact is Jill Meyer at mmeyer@ww.co.nz) – but be warned, these exams are tough. Over 50 NZ schools now offer Cambridge Univ exams. For more info about Cambridge University exams:
www.acsnz.org.nz/
www.kingscollege.school.nz (second half of page)
“To gain the common tertiary entrance standard, students require 120 UCAS points. This is the equivalent of four D grades in AS Papers.”
C. The American “SAT tests”.
There are two SAT tests; the SAT I Reasoning Test (general test) and the SAT II (subject tests). The SAT I test is a 3 hour test of Maths & English. The SAT II tests are one hour each in separate subjects. The tests can be sat in Auckland, Wanganui, Wellington, Nelson, Christchurch, and Invercargill. NZ universities may accept SAT scores as supporting evidence for your teen’s application for Provisional Entrance (now usually called Discretionary Entrance). You will probably require a minimum total score of 1100 for the SAT I, with at least 600 for the Maths component if you plan on doing a BSc, & 600 for the verbal skills component to do a BA. To be granted Discretionary Entrance, you’ll need proof of FOUR subjects ie the Maths/English of the SAT I plus at least two SAT II subject tests (- but not another Maths). For more info about SAT tests:
www.fulbright.org.nz/education/sat.html
2. Getting university entrance:
A. Provisional Entrance (PE).
PE (& Discretionary Entrance, known as DE) is granted by the university if they feel confident that the student has *at least* a good Year 12 education. Long ago homeschoolers could quite easily convince some universities that the teen’s academics were of an adequate standard – but things are much tougher now. In 2000 my son found that the University of Auckland required exam results as proof, & now at Massey University they require teacher evaluations of the teen’s work. Once you get PE, you will be ”on probation” until you have passed a full year’s university workload, & you will not be allowed to enroll in any limited entry courses (eg professional courses & Comp Sci 101 at the University of Auckland).
[Update: Since I wrote the above, NZ universities have really tightened up on this method of entry, so check your univ's website for specific details. One of my sons scored in the top 5 students in NZ in Physics for a Cambridge exam in 2004 - and still wasn't granted Prov/Discretionary Entrance to the Univ of Auckland in 2005. He had to pass enough NCEA subjects, like everyone else.]
B. Gaining the Common Entrance Standard (CES) with NCEA.
It used to be that three C passes in any Bursary subjects got you into university. With NCEA Level 3 (ie Year 13), three bare passes, or two bare passes plus two almost-passes (ie at least 42 credits at Level 3), will give you CES – but you also must have fulfilled the new literacy & numeracy requirements. You will need to have passed Maths to at least Year 11 level and to have passed roughly half of Level 2 English. (My younger children will probably gain university entrance by enrolling with the NZ Correspondence School after they are 16, for four or five Level 3 subjects - including a Maths subject, to fulfill the numeracy requirement, plus Level 2 English.)
However, please be warned that some universities have so much demand for their courses that having just bare university entrance won’t be enough. Eg at the Univ of Auckland, you need at least 60 credits (not 42) to get into a Bachelor of Arts degree; everything else is even more.
C. Gaining the Common Entrance Standard (CES) with Cambridge Univ exams.
Because Cambridge exams are tougher than NCEA, you need three passes at only AS (ie Year 12) level – and to fulfill the numeracy & literacy requirements. (ie a minimum of IGCSE Maths & AS English.) Again, to get into the Univ of Akld requires marks above the bare minimum.
D. Aged over 20 years old.
This is *not* a way of automatic entry into uni. In the past, entry requirements may have been looser but today there is so much competition that univ’s can be picky – and they don’t want to increase their rate of “% of students who dropped out before completing their degree.” Unless your teen is able to show proof of adequate academics (eg exam results), he/she will probably be directed to first complete a bridging course.
For more info about University Entrance:
www.kingscollege.school.nz/
If you have any questions please post them on the NCHENZ members’ Yahoo group or leave a comment below.
Very kind regards
Rosalind 
( Updated November 2009)
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