Not enough NCEA credits to get into your course? Don’t panic!
There is something worse than jandal tan at this time of year – the panic of NCEA results.
Every year we get calls from students who have opened their envelopes to a nasty surprise – they don’t have enough credits to get university entrance. They cannot get into their planned university or polytechnic course.
Don’t let this happen to you!
Here is what you can do if you are only a couple of credits short of your future:
Contact your school as soon as possible
Your school may allow you to do work to gain these credits. You need to complete the work and your school needs to send it to NZQA. NZQA will usually accept results up to 28 February.
Already moved to your university town? Oops! Contact your old school and ask if you can do this by distance. If that fails, contact a local high school. Beg and plead.
Carefully review your results
Check your exam papers and your internal marks from the year. Have they been added correctly?
If you feel there has been a mistake in your results, appeal to your school and NZQA. You can contact them at www.nzqa.govt.nz.
Talk to the course provider
There may be exceptions. Sometimes a course provider may assess your overall results from your time at high school. This is unlikely to happen for those wanting to get into pre-med!
Go to summer school
Some universities and polytechnics run summer courses. This is a good way to get credits. These are not always open to undergraduates.
If these steps don’t work you could:
Delay study
If you can, re enrol for the next semester or intake. In the meantime, make up the credits through a course or Te Kura – The Correspondence School of New Zealand.
Study a related course
You don’t have enough credits to get into nursing? Why not study a health certificate in the meantime, earn credits and reapply for the next semester?
If you have really mangled your NCEA, you could study a related course. For example, you may be well off the marks needed to be a veterinarian, but you have enough to get into veterinary nursing.
Go back to school
NCEA gone Titanic? Why not go back to school for a bit next year? You don’t have to go the whole year.
Gap year
Work for a year, do some distance learning if you can. Save money and get a scary taste of the real world that will motivate you to study harder.
Change your career plan
Maybe you won’t be a dentist, but you could be a damn fine phlebotomist. Don’t be afraid to change plans if all else fails – you may be surprised at the result.
Has anyone out there had disappointing results? What did you do?
Very good – factual, helpful and concise, with flair – & web-friendly as well .
Looking forward to the next ones!
Begging schools to let you try for some emergency credits is unsound advice in my opinion. If a student hasn’t been able to meet the entry criteria after a years learning they
probably do not have what it takes to succeeded on the course.
not sure if I agree to that… it may be the incentive needed to get cracking! I remember my maths teacher saying I wasn’t good enough to go on to 6th form (year 12) and I worked all the harder to prove her wrong!
NCEA allows students to work towards other qualifications on the New Zealand qualifications Framework at the same time as they are working toward their NCEA. For example, a student studying materials technology at school might also be working on the National Certificate in Elementary Construction Skills. So, they can earn NCEA credits and a national certificate at the same time.