Новозеландские школы массово переходят на международные экзамены Cambridge

More than 50 New Zealand secondary schools use the Cambridge International curriculum to teach and assess their students. Photo / NZME More Kiwi secondary schools are adopting Cambridge exams, but the way this international assessment system is used varies so widely it often leaves families scratching their heads. It’s all A-Levels this, IGCSE that, private schools all in and public schools half in. Some kids sit Cambridge papers while their matesin the next classroom don’t. Then there are the different levels, plenty of acronyms and the fact Cambridge runs mid-year and end-of-year exams. It can feel like you need a qualification to understand the qualifications. The reasons for Cambridge’s growing adoption are less confusing. It offers global recognition, a very different assessment style from NCEA and a curriculum built with decades of international expertise behind it. The Herald examined the system and spoke to three principals whose schools integrate Cambridge in different ways to learn what works, what doesn’t and what parents should know. What is Cambridge International Education? The GCSEs and A-Levels used in British schools are essentially the Cambridge International Education system. In New Zealand, 55 schools follow the Cambridge curriculum. In 2024, 50 of those entered into the exams, up from 42 in 2022. With more than 370 secondary schools in New Zealand, Cambridge remains a minority choice – but a growing one. The biggest structural difference between Cambridge and NCEA is assessment style. Cambridge relies almost entirely on external exams while NCEA spreads assessment across internal and external standards. “There are some students who are going to struggle with it, but there are some students who really thrive on it,” Chris Wiggin, Cambridge’s senior country manager New Zealand, Australia and Pacific Islands, said. “If you know where the goalposts are… it’s pretty clear, and there are many students who love that clarity.” Having alternative assessment options such as Cambridge and International Baccalaureate keeps the homegrown NCEA honest, New Zealand Initiative senior fellow Dr Michael Johnston said. “I can understand why they [schools] might not trust NCEA. I think it’s a flawed system in many ways,” he said. “The strengths of the Cambridge system are a really solid curriculum and rigorous assessment. Although it’s narrow, and to some students a greater variety of assessments is a really good thing.” A Year 11 Foundational Award focused on literacy and numeracy will be introduced first, followed by the New Zealand Certificate of Education (NZCE) at Year 12 in 2029 and the New Zealand Advanced Certificate of Education (NZACE) at Year 13 in 2030. Students will need to pass the Foundational Award to pass the Year 12 or 13 qualifications. Students, undertaking the certificates in Year 12 and 13 would study at least five subjects each year and could choose to do more. Assessment in every subject would include a mix of coursework and at least one exam. The new system is intended to move away from NCEA’s credit-collection model, with students assessed and graded in whole subjects instead. When the changes were announced in March, Education Minister Erica Stanford said the new system would be “clearer, more consistent across schools and internationally comparable”. Johnston believes it will set students up well for tertiary study and trades and apprenticeship pathways. What is the Cambridge system? In New Zealand, Cambridge is most commonly adopted at secondary school level, starting with IGCSE (International General Certificate of Secondary Education), usually sat in Year 11, the same year most Kiwi students undertake NCEA Level 1. The main aim of IGCSE is to prepare students for the next stage, A-Levels, which are usually taken in Years 12 and 13 instead of NCEA Levels 2 and 3. A-Levels are split into two parts. Typically, Year 12 students sit AS and Year 13s sit A2. Passing both gives the full A-Level. Passing AS alone is enough for University Entrance, Wiggin said. More advanced students sometimes sit AS or A2 earlier, or even complete both parts in a single year. Schools don’t always follow the full IGCSE to AS to A-Level sequence. Some offer only IGCSE or only A-Levels, and others use Cambridge in selected subjects only. “The flexibility of Cambridge means schools can tap into different elements of it,” Wiggin said. A common application is offering Cambridge as an extension programme for advanced students. “It creates a little bit of a fallacy. It makes people think Cambridge exams are only for top academic students and they’re not.” Huanui College Until the new qualification comes into force, every public school is required to offer NCEA. Private schools are not. In New Zealand, eight private schools offer Cambridge as their only curriculum, including the small independent Huanui College near Whangārei. With 364 students from Years 7 to 13, the only NCEA paper on offer is Te Reo because it is not a Cambridge subject. Even for a school fully committed to Cambridge, the jargon, unfamiliar grade scales and the fact a D at AS-Level is still a pass can leave new parents lost, principal Philip Coombes said. Cambridge carries high compliance costs, requires strict exam-day administration, and fees are paid in British pounds, making IGCSE, in particular, expensive for parents. Some schools avoid entering students for the IGCSE exams altogether for that reason, Coombes said. Another challenge is helping students navigate the steep jump from IGCSE to AS – a demanding transition – but the school makes it work, Coombes said. “We get lots of feedback from students at university who have done the A‑Levels, and they just say, ‘We’re superbly prepared’. “Those students do extremely well in their first year at university and there’s a lot of research that shows that if you do well in your first year at university, you’re away – you’re going to be successful.” Another benefit Coombes highlighted was student discipline. “For those kids who are not natural academics but they’ve got a good work ethic, they can be successful.” Macleans College Macleans College is one of the country’s biggest schools and its Cambridge programme – embedded in the co-ed school’s DNA for 20 years – looks very different to Huanui’s. Instead of IGCSE or NCEA, Macleans Year 9 to 11 students are taught the school’s own curriculum and sit school‑run end-of-year exams, principal Steven Hargreaves said. The only exception is a small, accelerated group taking up to three AS subjects a year early. The dropping of NCEA Level 1 is not uncommon across the country because it had little relevance in qualifying for most post-school educational and vocational pathways, Hargreaves said. On the basis of the Year 11 results, students choose between Cambridge or NCEA for Years 12 and 13 and it is usually close to a 50/50 split. “The students and the parents need to weigh it up. Do I want to tackle these subjects that are assessed in end-of-year exams and are potentially more difficult to pass and cover more content?” Hargreaves said. “Or do I think I’ll be suited to maybe chipping away at internal assessments and then tackling or not tackling external exams on the NCEA pathway?” In creating their own Year 9-11 courses, Macleans was able to prepare pupils for the jump from Year 11 into whichever pathway they chose. Running two systems isn’t simple, Hargreaves said. “It does put a load on the staff.” It also creates its own culture. Students begin to see themselves as either “Cambridge kids” or “NCEA kids”, something the school tries to counter. Hargreaves believed the benefits outweigh the effort. A significant group of students head overseas for tertiary study and A-Levels offer international recognition to help secure university enrolments abroad. And mirroring Coombes’ appraisal, exam-based learning pays off, Hargreaves said. “Auckland University has research that shows exposure to external examinations helps predict success in the first year,” he said. Tauranga Boys’ College Tauranga Boys’ College has taken a hybrid path, embedding Cambridge IGCSE subjects inside its self-developed Year 11 “Tauranga Certificate”. Like Macleans, the school built its own Year 9-11 programme, dropping NCEA Level 1. But unlike Macleans, Tauranga Boys’ does not run A-Levels in Years 12 and 13. Deputy principal Grant Marshall said the shift came after staff lost confidence in the revised NCEA Level 1. The college believed it could prepare students more effectively for NCEA Levels 2 and 3 by freeing up teaching time and controlling the structure of the junior classes. As part of the certificate, every Year 11 student sits IGCSE maths and IGCSE first language English, except for a small group focused on literacy and numeracy co-requisites. Marshall likes what Cambridge brings to those core subjects – “we like the depth and breadth of knowledge it requires”, he said. Being part of an international exam also gives the boys a chance to benchmark themselves against a global cohort. Marshall is clear that exam-heavy systems don’t fit every learner. But he believes Cambridge has helped build a stronger exam culture at the school and parents are supportive. The college is now in its second year of running the model. Tauranga Boys’ has no plans to introduce AS or A‑Levels. The senior school remains firmly NCEA-based. Mike Scott is a senior visual journalist at the New Zealand Herald. His work spans writing, photography and video and has won numerous journalism awards, including Videographer of the Year and Best Documentary. He has worked in media for more than 25 years, producing stories across New Zealand and internationally. 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