While English is no longer a compulsory subject at NCEA Level 3, for those that are wanting to move into careers that involve words, passing with an excellence certification will set you up well.
Being great with words isn’t a requirement and being great with words doesn’t automatically mean a strong pass, but with a few tips, we can help you improve your mark in NCEA Level 3 English.
Why NCEA English Level 3 is Important
English as a subject isn’t about grammar, or at least that’s a very minor part. At its core, it’s about communication. Using the written and verbal skills you develop through NCEA English can help you in a range of worlds outside of school.
Being able to communicate your ideas effectively and efficiently is something that applies to all areas of life. From being able to discuss a safety hazard at work with your boss, to being able to create a stronger relationship with a romantic partner, communication is key.
Although there are a huge number of standards that make up the English Level 3 subject, just look at “Communicate with people from other cultures” and “Listen actively to gain information in an interactive situation”. These are just two of the internally assessed unit standards that can form part of the standard curriculum in New Zealand schools.
With topics that focus on communication, it’s not hard to see why NCEA English is such a great subject to take. While there are also the more traditional aspects of an English course that focus on literature, the spotlight is on gaining transferable skills.
A close reading of a text means being able to develop a better understanding of the topic – and this is useful outside of school. Being able to present the ideas you have gained in through developing a deep understanding of a topic is just as important, if not more so, than being able to develop the knowledge in the first place.
Because NCEA subjects are made up of a variety of different achievement and unit standards, it can be a little confusing trying to work out if you have earned enough credits to achieve English Level 3. However, each standard is worth 3-5 credits each, and your school should be working in enough units to ensure that you do achieve if you do pass most of them.
Remember that how well you pass a standard doesn’t change the number of credits you earn.
Minimum Credits Needed to Pass NCEA Level 3
To be awarded NCEA Level 3 you need to earn 80 credits across all your standards. Each subject is made up of multiple “standards”, some of which are assessed internally (marked by your teacher), and others externally.
To be endorsed for a single subject, such as English, students need to achieve a minimum of 14 credits. According to the NZQA website: “3 of these credits from externally assessed standards and 3 credits from internally assessed standards.”
You also need to earn all credits in a single year.
With over 40 different standards that fit within the “English” subject, there are a range of options to suit every student. Although most schools will already have a set curriculum, there is usually room for a little flexibility if you ask.
However, don’t make the mistake of thinking something sounds easier, so that’s the one you want to do.
Talk with your English HOD or an English teacher that really knows your strengths and weakness, and then listen to their advice.
With NCEA you can be awarded a “Course Endorsement” for a single subject, even if that is the only NCEA subject you pass. Knowing this can help you work out how to approach scholarship subjects.
Do you have to study if you want to pass?
This is a tricky question to answer. For most of the English Level 3 unit standards, you will take through school there will be homework you need to complete to pass. This may be things like reading a novel, researching a topic or writing a speech. So, for the unit standards, which are internally assessed, there is limited “study” as such.
However, for the externally assessed achievement standards, the answer is a resounding yes. For NCEA Level 3 English, externally assessed standards take the form of a sit-down exam.
This means sitting in a school hall, or similar, with a whole lot of kids who are also sitting the same exam.
You need to try to answer all the questions in an exam you have never seen before, in under the allotted time.
Put like that, it can sound intimidating. But the key thing to remember about the New Zealand education system is that it is designed to help you learn. No one wants you to fail, there are no trick questions or “gotcha” moments.
The questions will be designed to help give you the answers, so the reason you will study is not to build up your content knowledge, but to ensure that you are ready to sit the exam.
The real question then becomes, how are you going to study?
Using Past Exams for NCEA Level 3
The NZQA website will be your first call. Here you will have access to free study material to help you pass NCEA English. In particular, you will be able to download past exams completed by real students, given real grades, and marked by real assessors. Better yet, you’ll be able to read all the comments.
The annotated exemplars are one of the best secondary resources for studying. However, they should be considered a secondary resource. Too often students will simply read through the notes and think “yeah, I’ve got this, I wouldn’t do that”. Unfortunately, this isn’t the way to study.
Your first step to studying for NCEA English, particularly at the Level 3 stage, is to download unmarked past year exams and sit them. Yes, you should time yourself, and complete the exam as though it is the real thing.
This will give you a good idea of how long it will take you to answer each section, and what areas you need to focus on. For example, if you are asked to talk about different texts that you have studied over the year, are you quite comfortable remembering the title, author, main characters and main plot ideas?
If you can add even more detail, awesome, but if you can’t remember the basic details, you may need to focus on this area.
You don’t need to re-read every novel, poem, essay or play you studied throughout the year, but you should reread keynotes you’ve taken. For many students, one of the best ways to get familiar with a text is to talk about it.
This could be with friends, but if you can work with a tutor you will get more value out of the experience.
With friends you need to make sure that you are talking about different aspects of the text, the deeper meaning, the pros and cons of the characters, who side characters build a deeper plot and so on.
With a tutor, you won’t be struggling to work out what you need to talk about. A good English tutor with NCEA knowledge will be able to guide you into grand conversations that help cement the information in your brain – ready to be recalled during your exam.
Crafting Excellent answers to Essay Questions for English
Once you’ve talked about your topics, and gained a secure understanding, your next step is to start working on how to answer essay questions.
As already mentioned, there are no tricks, in the exam, the question tells you exactly what the examiner will be looking for.
On the front page of your exam, you will see the criteria for “Achievement”, “Achievement with Merit”, and “Achievement with Excellence”. You will, of course, want to aim for excellence.
| Achievement | Achievement with Merit | Achievement with Excellence |
|---|---|---|
| Respond critically to specified aspect(s) of studied written text(s), supported by evidence | Respond critically and convincingly to specified aspect(s) of studied written text(s), supported by evidence | Respond critically and perceptively to specified aspect(s) of studied written text(s), supported by evidence |
At the very least, you need to write something that uses evidence from the text to support your ideas.
For essay-based exams, you have plenty of space and clear guidance about what you need to write. However, the keyword is “critically”. Remember that critically means “in a way that expresses or involves an analysis of the merits and faults of a work “. While “perceptively” means with deep understanding.
So, to earn an Excellence, you will be writing an essay that answers your chosen statement using your chosen text to provide the evidence. You’ll use examples from your text that shows you understand the characters or why the setting was used, and you’ll use examples from your own life to compare to the text to present a convincing discussion.
Passing NCEA Level 3 English
Whenever you start to struggle with English, just keep reminding yourself that the goal is to communicate. Whether you are trying to communicate emotion through poetry, transport someone to an event through a story, or engage attention with a speech, everything comes back to the idea that you are communicating your ideas clearly.
Is what you are saying, the same thing that the other person is hearing?
Keep communicating, and you’ll thrive in NCEA Level 3 English.
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