English Bill: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
English Bill: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:631;Page:2908] 
8.  
Hon BILL ENGLISH (National—Clutha-Southland) 
 to the  
Minister of Education 
: Would a student sitting an NCEA external examination in 2005 have had the same chance of passing a given standard as he or she would have had in 2004 in the 10 mainstream subjects analysed by Professor Warwick Elley; if not why not? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY (Minister of Education) 
: 
 Yes. Because the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) has standards that stay the same students have the same chance of achieving them. However when we have different students in different years attempting different questions different numbers of students of course may well reach the standard. What we can achieve in national school exams are acceptable levels of consistency from one year to the next and I am reassured that the processes of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority are delivering on this. In the case of the 10 subjects quoted by Professor Elley I am advised that student results in the mainstream subject areas are very much in keeping with what the New Zealand Qualifications Authority expected. 
Hon Bill English 
: Is the Minister aware that the New Zealand Qualifications Authority told the select committee that a fluctuation in pass rates from year to year of 7 to 10 percent would be acceptable and does he endorse that position? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: By way of clarification I point out that I think the New Zealand Qualifications Authority is referring to the fact that we can have variation in standards that is equivalent to a question within a subject and therefore we can have quite substantial variation like 7 to 10 percent. But when we take the overall range of standards that make up say a subject like biology we get an acceptable variation. 
Moana Mackey 
: What processes are in place to improve year to year consistency in exam results? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: NCEA is now in its third year of full implementation and with every year we get additional information about student results. That additional information each year informs the interpretation of standards the development of examination papers and marking guides and the training and monitoring of markers. Through experience as is the case of course with all exams we build consistency and confidence in the NCEA. 
Hon Bill English 
: How can the Minister say that NCEA in 2005 was fair to the 100000 students who sat the 10 mainstream subjects analysed by Professor Elley when that analysis showed that 35 percent of those standards—in fact over 35 percent—fell outside the acceptable limit of 10 percent variation set by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: Any exam system produces some variability because students sit different examinations. In the interests of fairness the level of variability must be contained so that the same level of student performance is consistently awarded the same level of recognition. The New Zealand Qualifications Authority has publicly acknowledged that there are issues with a small number of standards and an even smaller number of subjects and it is committed to working constructively to fix them. The problem with the member’s question is that he looks for examples of variability within particular standards that as I said before is the equivalent of one question in an exam then implies there is something wrong with the whole subject or the whole system. The variability is coming from those particular questions. When we look across the whole of a subject we get a variation that is seen as acceptable. 
Hon Bill English 
: Can the Minister not see that it is the students’ point of view that matters not his national statistics and that the students who sat geography this year then found out that 1000 more of them had failed—out of 5000—than would have been the case if they had sat the exam last year might think it is unfair that whether they succeed depends on sitting the right exam in the right year because his system will not deliver consistent assessment? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: One of the real strengths of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority’s NCEA system is that students not only have a system that is committed to being fair and consistent but also get their papers back. This is something that I think is unique compared with any other system in the world. So the students who are at the centre of this system— 
Hon Bill English 
: Answer the question. 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: —as the member who is yelling out knows—are able if they disagree with what has happened to make sure that paper is looked at again. 
Hon Bill English 
: How is NCEA fair to students when 35 percent of the standards sat by 100000 students did not meet the New Zealand Qualifications Authority’s own benchmarks of consistency and fairness? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: I will try again. The point the member is raising is addressed by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority in its reply to Warwick Elley where it points out that the problem with the question he is raising is that he is focusing on essentially a question within a subject—like an exam question. There may be variability on that particular question but overall the variability is something that the authority is able to say is fair and consistent. 
Hon Bill English 
: You don’t care about students. 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: Mr English may not like the answer but it is the answer. 
Hon Bill English 
: When will the Minister answer the question that is relevant to individual students—or is he not aware that students get results for the individual exams they sit—which is that if they fail the geography geometry accounting or economics exam that they sit when they would have passed it had they sat it in the previous year then that is unfair and that the New Zealand Qualifications Authority produced a benchmark that showed that 35 percent of its mainstream exams were not fair and consistent with last year’s? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: As I pointed out before the member may not like the answer but the answer is that he is looking at individual questions for example within a subject. The variation across that subject is acceptable. The students themselves are empowered to have this looked at by the unique fact that they get back the exam script.