CR21123 NZQA OIA response 20200930.pdf

30 September 2020

J Robinson
[FYI request #13640 email]

Tēnā koe J Robinson

Official Information Act Request

Thank you for your request of 2 September, under the Official Information Act 1982, for the
following information:

…all documents about the previsions and procedures set out to
1. Decide if external examinations are to go ahead
2. Ensure the social distancing and limitations of alert levels for these exams are followed
3. What then happens if these externals are to be cancelled.

NZQA has interpreted the request as finalised provisions and procedures for external examinations
in 2020. I attach copies of the following information covered by your request:

Document
Audience and intention
COVID-19 Examination Options A paper for NZQA’s Strategic Management Team on
8 September 2020 advising them on examinations options
(based on the conditions for alert levels as at 8 September).
Examination Readiness email
Email sent to all schools on 18 September providing clarity on
external examinations under each COVID-19 Alert Level.
COVID-19 Alert Levels
Checklist (attached to Examination Readiness email) for
examination centre checklist
schools that have examination centres to assess readiness
and develop a plan for managing NCEA and NZ Scholarship
examinations under COVID-19 Alert Level 1, 2 and 3.
Requirements for examination
Information for schools that have examination centres to notify
centres at Alert Level 3
them of requirements for running examinations under COVID-
19 Alert Level 3 (attached to Examination Readiness Email).

Please be advised that there has been a change of position in the circumstances under which
COVID-19 alert level NZQA would hold examinations between that advised in the 8 September
paper COVID-19 Examination Options to NZQA’s Strategic Management Team and our subsequent
position.

The initial advice, which informed the 8 September paper, was based on the Alert Level 3
conditions at that date. Following continued engagement with the Ministry of Education, Ministry of
Health and WorkSafe New Zealand, and identifying specific conditions and precautions to ensure
health and safety, NZQA subsequently received notification from the Ministry of Health that all
examinations could proceed under a future Alert Level 3.

As part of the commitment to open and transparent government, NZQA is proactively releasing
responses to Official Information Act requests which are of public interest. NZQA intends to publish
125 The Terrace. PO Box 160, Wel ington 6140, New Zealand | Tel.+ 64 4 463 3000 Fax + 64 4 802 3112 | www.nzqa.govt.nz

its response to this request on its website as part of its next quarterly release of documents. Your
name and contact details will be removed before publication.

If you require further assistance or believe we have misinterpreted your request, please contact
[email address].

If you are dissatisfied with our response, you have the right, under section 28(3) of the Official
Information Act 1982, to lodge a complaint with the Office of the Ombudsman at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz. You can also telephone 0800 802 502 or write to the Ombudsman
at PO Box 10152, Wellington, 6143.

Nāku nā

Dr Grant Klinkum
Pouwhakahaere/Chief Executive

125 The Terrace. PO Box 160, Wel ington 6140, New Zealand |  Tel.+ 64 4 463 3000 Fax + 64 4 802 3112  | www.nzqa.govt.nz

Planning to manage NCEA and NZ Scholarship exams under COVID-19 Alert Level 1, 2 and 3.

Released
Schools (who have exam centres) need to plan for managing exams to Ministry of Health requirements in the event they are under Alert
Level 1, 2 or 3 during the examination period.

Use the following table to help assess your readiness and develop a plan (in conversation with your Examination Centre Manager where
under
possible).

the
Schools, like workplaces, are not considered to be gatherings so exams can go ahead.  While there are no restrictions on the number of
students attending an exam in a single venue (such as the school hall), schools must maintain enough distance between students, so they
Official
aren’t touching or breathing directly on each other and exam conditions are met.

A minimum gap of 1.5 metres between students in all directions is required (head to head or seat to seat). See the 18 August Bulletin from the
Information
Ministry of Education https://mailchi.mp/education/covid-19-update-18-august) and the document Requirements for Exam Centres at Alert
Level 3 for more detail.

Categories
Action
By
By
Status
required   who
when

Act
Appropriate Physical distancing

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Identify rooms suitable for hosting examination sessions where

•  students can be spaced at 1.5 metres in all directions
•  windows and doors can be open to ensure good ventilation of fresh air.
Calculate the number of rooms required to allow necessary physical distancing for candidates and

supervisors. Base this on entries in your largest exam session (including any students from other
schools sitting at your exam centre).
Check that rooms for SAC candidates remain suitable

Check that rooms for Digital examinations remain suitable

1

Readers/Writers (Exam Assistants)

Discuss with all Exam Assistants their availability and/or willingness to work under Alert Levels 1,

2 and 3 and provide your ECM with list of those available
Identify examination sessions where supplementary Exam Assistants are required to cover for

those unavailable to work under Alert Level 1, 2 and 3 requirements
Recruit and arrange training for supplementary Exam
Released  Assistants employed by the school

Discuss with ECM training for supplementary Exam Assistants employed by NZQA

Monitoring student health and wellbeing

Establish protocols for managing students who arrive at an examination session in an unwell state

under
Link this to the school’s process for handling Derived Grade applications

Covid Tracing

the
Communicate your system for recording visitors to your ECM

Communicate your system for recording visitors to the PN of schools with
Official students sitting at your

exam centre
Washing and drying hands

Information
Make a supply of hand sanitiser available at the entrance to each examination room

Provide soap, water and the ability to dry hands in toilets

Establish a process to monitor that these are being used

Cleaning processes

Act
Establish a cleaning regime where high use surfaces such as door handles in and around each

examination room will be cleaned before each session.
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Disinfect and clean all shared computers between exam sessions.

Require school contracted cleaners to disinfect and clean all surfaces daily in each examination

room and common areas used by examination candidates (between exam sessions at Alert Level
3)
Establish a process to monitor that cleaning protocols are being followed

2

HE MANATU/MEMORANDUM

RĀ/DATE:
8 September 2020

KI/TO:
Strategic Management Team

KAITUKU/FROM:
Kristine Kilkelly, DCE Assessment (Alan Bailey, Manager
Operations and Logistics)

KAUPAPA/SUBJECT:
Running examinations at COVID-19 Alert Levels 1 - 4

__________________________________________________________________________
Te Takuna/Intent
Released
1.  This paper outlines the planning for running NCEA and NZ Scholarship examinations at
COVID-19 Alert Levels 1 and 2, and for running NZ Scholarship examinations if New
Zealand, or some regions, are at Alert Level 3.
under
Te Taunaki/Recommendation(s)
2.  It is recommended that the Strategic M
the  anagement Team:
a.  note that a detailed plan for each examination centre is being developed and
Official
documented by Operations and Logistics (OAL) for holding examinations under Alert
Levels 1 or 2; each plan will be finalised by the end of October, once all schools
have submitted their final examination entries files to NZQA.
Information
b.  note that it is not logistically possible to run NCEA examinations at Alert Level 3, but
OAL is working with the Ministries of Education and of Health to enable
NZ Scholarship examinations to go ahead at this level.
c.  note business continuity planning to ensure that NZQA can manage running NCEA
examinations in other regions of New Zealand if Wellington is at Alert Level 3 or 4 is
Act
at an advanced stage and will be completed by mid-September.
d.  note if any regions are at Alert Level 4 in November or December, NCEA and
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NZ Scholarship examinations would not be logistically possible in the impacted
regions.
Te Horopaki/Situation
Background
3.  It is possible that New Zealand, or regions within New Zealand, will fluctuate between
COVID-19 Alert Levels 1 to 4 between now and the end of the 2020 examination cycle.
4.  The restrictions in place under Alert Levels 1 and 2 allow for a full examination process to
be run, as long as appropriate health and safety measures are in place at examination
centres and any venues used for the sorting and marking of examination material.
5.  The current physical distancing requirements and gathering limits at Alert Level 3 make it
logistically unmanageable to run examination sessions with more than around 100
candidates, meaning that NCEA examinations would not be able to proceed in any region
under Alert Level 3.
3

Examinations at Alert Levels 1 and 2
6. All examination centres are in the process of providing NZQA with an assurance that they
have enough rooms available to meet physical distancing recommendations and have
the necessary health measures in place to safely run the examinations.
7. All examination supervision staff are confirming their willingness to work under these alert
levels – note that 30 percent of supervision staff are in their seventies or older. Usually
Examination Centre Managers recruit their Centre’s staff, but this year a national
recruitment campaign is being run to mitigate the risk of examination centres being
unable to find enough people through the usual channels.
8. A detailed plan for the day-to-day running of examinations at each examination centre will
be completed and documented by the OAL team by the end of October, once all schools
have submitted their final examination entries files to NZQA.
9. This plan will be similar to that submitted by examination centres every year, but will be
enhanced by requiring each centre to include:
• clearly documented
Released processes to meet the added COVID-19 related health
requirements, and
• a staff replacement contingency plan to ensure there is cover for staff who fall ill
or need to self-isolate. Regionally based NZQA staff and/or teachers are being
prepared, in case they are needed at any time to assist with examination
under
supervision.
Examinations at Alert Level 3 or 4 the
10. The most recent Alert Level 3 restrictions allowed for bubbles of 20 Year 12 or 13
students to attend school, as long as they stayed together in their bubble.
Official
11. Applying these bubbles to an examination would allow no more than 20 candidates to be
in the same room, or bubbles of 20 candidates arranged so that they are physically
separated from one another in a hall. The usual supervisor to candidate ratio is 1:35, and
Information
these restrictions would require at least a 1:20 ratio meaning NZQA would need to
increase the number of supervisors by at least 30%.
12. Should these restrictions, or similar, remain in place for any region/s at Alert Level 3 in
future, it is not logistically manageable to run the national NCEA examinations in any
region that is at Alert Level 3 due to the high numbers of NCEA candidates at a
Act
significant number of examination centres.
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13. It may be possible to run NZ Scholarship examinations in a region that is at Alert Level 3.
The OAL team is working with the Ministries of Education and of Health to ensure that the
requirements for running NZ Scholarship examinations at Alert Level 3 are clearly
understood and documented so that they can be incorporated into any future Health
Order for Alert Level 3 and communicated to the sector if and when required.
14. To ensure schools are prepared for the running of NZ Scholarship examinations at Alert
Level 3, every examination centre that has NZ Scholarship examination entries is
including an Alert Level 3 NZ Scholarship examination plan as an appendix to their
overall Examination Centre plan by the end of October.
15. Special arrangements are being developed to manage NZ Scholarship subjects requiring
performances or speeches that need to be recorded.
16. It is not logistically possible to hold NCEA or NZ Scholarship examinations in any region
that is at Alert Level 4 because schools are required to be closed on site at this level. The
Assessment Division is investigating options for possibly rescheduling NZ Scholarship
examinations if any region/s with a significant number of entries is at Alert Level 4 during
the examination period.
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Examination Management if the Wellington Region is at Alert Level 3 or 4
17. A detailed business continuity plan (BCP) is being developed by the Assessment Division
to ensure that NZQA can manage NCEA and NZ Scholarship examinations should the
Wellington Region be at Alert Level 3 or 4 while other regions are at Alert Levels 1, 2 or
3, and that those regions are able to continue with their examinations.
18. This Alert Level 3 or 4 BCP will include details and/or contingencies for all key processes
required to prepare, run and mark examinations as well as the processes around the
releasing of results and management of reviews and reconsiderations. This BCP is on
track to be completed by mid-September.
Impacts/Risks
19. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the likelihood of examinations not being able to
proceed on a day-to-day or session-by-session basis is much higher this year than usual
if there are new outbreaks of the disease; last minute cancellations could be possible
Released
nationally, regionally or school-by-school. This risk will be mitigated through the invoking
of an Unexpected Event process, if any examination session is not able to proceed.
20. There is a risk that there may be delays to the examination booklets sorting and
distribution processes should any region, but particularly the Wellington region, be at
Alert Level 3 or 4 during or soon af
under ter the examination period. This could have an impact
on marking timelines, potentially causing marking to continue past Christmas, which
would put the results release date at risk. Where and as possible, NCEA Level 3 and 2
the
marking and results processing would be prioritised to minimise impacts on learners
progressing on to tertiary studies and employment.
Official
Information
Act 1982
5

Tēnā kōrua Principal and Principal’s Nominee

Readiness for end of year examinations
This message provides clarity on plans around offering end of year examinations under each
COVID-19 Alert Level.

Managing examinations

For any region at Alert Level 1, 2 to 3
•  NCEA and New Zealand Scholarship exams will proceed.
•  Schools are not considered gatherings so there are no restrictions on the number of
students attending an examination in a single venue (such as the school hall). In all
exam rooms ensure there is a gap of 1.5 metres between students in all directions.
This provides enough distance between students, so they aren’t touching or
breathing directly on each other and enables supervisors to walk safely between
Released
desks.
•  At Alert Level 3 additional requirements for exams to proceed have been agreed by
the Ministry of Health. These are detailed in the attached document Requirements for
exam centres at Alert Level 3.

under
There will be students who will be unable to attend should their region be at Alert Level 3
during exams. We will let you know shortly about the support options available for students
in this situation.
the

For any region at Alert Level 4
Official
It is not possible to hold NCEA or New Zealand Scholarship exams because school sites are
required to be closed. The unexpected event grade process would be available for students
prevented from sitting NCEA exams as a result of COVID-19 res
Information trictions. Unexpected event
grades are not available to New Zealand Scholarship candidates, as this is a competitive
award.

What next
Irrespective of the Alert Level you may be in at exam time, your plan
Act for delivering exams will
need to meet Alert Level 3 conditions to ensure safety and continuity. NZQA will work with
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you to develop your site plan to these requirements.

The attached checklist, additional Ministry of Health requirements at alert Level 3, and 18
August Bulletin from the Ministry of Education (https://mailchi.mp/education/covid-19-update-
18-august) will help with this. We will also work with you on contingency plans, in case
COVID-19 or other factors affect the availability of key examination staff such as your Exam
Centre Manager or supervisors.

Support for students
All students working towards NCEA this year will have had their learning and assessment
programme affected by COVID-19. In recognition of this, in June modifications were made to
help ensure there is a fair opportunity for achievement to be recognised.  With the recent re-
emergence of COVID-19 community transmission, the Minister of Education has announced
additional support for NCEA students whose teaching, learning and assessment has been
further affected in Term 3.

There are also opportunities for schools to more flexibly assess student work without having
an adverse impact on grade validity or teacher workload. The remote assessment matrices
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provided in Term 2 (and available on our website’s NCEA subject pages) provide guidance
and advice on alternative internal assessment methods, particularly for those subjects such
as Outdoor Education or Drama, where performance of knowledge or skills may have been
impeded. Where external assessment requires practical components or use of equipment
not accessible remotely, we have further advice available on the specific subject pages.

Ngā mihi

Kay Wilson
Manager
School Quality Assurance & Liaison
Released
under
the Official
Information
Act 1982
7

Requirements for exam centres at Alert Level 3
If New Zealand or parts of New Zealand were at Alert Level 3 during an exam period, exams
can still go ahead if certain conditions can be met. The following precautions must be in
place to reduce potential risk.
At all alert levels:
• If a school is at the centre of or implicated in an outbreak or cluster and/or has been
closed by the Medical
Released Officer of Health, exams will not be able to take place until
public health authorities give approval
• Anyone who is unwell must stay away
• Those students identified as close contacts of a confirmed case, cannot attend their
under
exam(s)
At Alert Level 3
the Official
Before the Start of each exam, ensure:
• Desks in the exam room must be spaced so that exam candidates are at least 1.5
metres apart in all directions
Information
• All surfaces like door handles, desks and chairs are disinfected and cleaned
• Hand sanitiser is available at the entrance to each exam room
• Hand washing must be possible in the toilets (running water, soap and the ability to
dry hands)
Act
• Exam candidates are observed by staff on arrival checking for symptoms and asking
those presenting as unwell to make arrangements to go home1982
• For subjects where a calculator memory check is required, this is done in a way that
keeps exam candidates 1 metre apart.
• Candidates will need to be at least 1 metre apart if they have to wait to enter the
exam room prior to the start of the exam
• There is a system in place to manage congestion prior to the exam – for example
someone to manage a queue to ensure there is appropriate distancing between
candidates prior to entering the room
• Exam rooms have adequate ventilation
During each exam, ensure:
• The attendance roll is clearly marked – this is a requirement for all exams under
normal conditions
• Exam supervisors position themselves in the exam room so that they have line of
sight to all candidates and do not walk the aisles as they normally would
8

• Exam supervisors only approach candidates when they require assistance
• A roll is kept to record the times that any candidates leave the exam room for a toilet
break – this is a requirement for all exams under normal conditions.
After each exam, ensure:
• Candidates leave the exam room in a way that maintains physical distancing
• All surfaces like door handles, desks and chairs are disinfected and cleaned
• Exam supervisors wash and dry their hands thoroughly (or use hand sanitiser) after
handling exam papers and before setting up the exam room for the following exam
session
• Encourage candidates to immediately return home after their exam (and not to mill
around in groups, for example)
Released
Face coverings
Face coverings are not required in an exam at Alert Level 3. They continue to be an option
for both the exam candidate and the staff member supervising the exam.
under
the Official
Information
Act 1982
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