Summarised by Centrist
According to figures supplied by New Zealand Qualifications Authority to Radio New Zealand, roughly 5,000 Year 13 students and 10,000 Year 12 students failed to meet the basic literacy and numeracy co-requisite by the end of 2025 despite completing most of their coursework.
Overall achievement rates for Year 12 and 13 were the lowest in five years.
Achievement rates were lowest in schools serving poorer communities. Only 74 per cent of Year 12 students at those schools met the co-requisite by year’s end, down from 85 per cent in 2021. For Year 13 students, the rate fell from 93 per cent to 88 per cent over the same period.
Some principals pointed to reliance on an alternative pathway, which allows students to meet the co-requisite through 20 additional NCEA credits. Mākoura College principal Simon Fuller said older students at his school largely used this option and would likely have struggled if required to sit the online tests. That pathway is due to end in 2028, after which the tests will be the sole route to meeting the requirement.
Some educators also raised concerns about the suitability of the tests for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, neurodiverse learners and boys.
Editor’s note: The RNZ report treats falling pass rates primarily as a risk to student wellbeing. The literacy and numeracy co-requisite was designed to be a hard national benchmark. Its introduction has removed years of buffering through internal assessments and alternative credits.
The result may be a clearer view of how many young people have progressed through school without mastering core skills, pointing less to individual failings than to systemic failures and lowered expectations, with schools now confronting the consequences.
