Assessment (including Examination) Rules for Schools with Consent to Assess 2022

7.1.5 Derived Grade Process

  1. The derived grade process is available only for external assessments.
  2. Where:
    1. NZQA marks an external examination, or a submitted portfolio, or Common Assessment Task (CAT), Candidates must apply to NZQA via their School:
    2. Schools mark and NZQA verifies a sample of student work for a portfolio submission, Schools must follow their late assessment policy:
    3. Schools mark and NZQA verifies a sample of student work for a Common Assessment Task (CAT), Schools must follow their missed assessment policy.
  3. Derived grades are available where:
    1. the Candidate's performance or ability to undertake an external assessment is seriously impaired by an event such as illness, trauma, misadventure, or bereavement of a family member or close acquaintance; or
    2. the Candidate’s performance or ability to undertake an external assessment is prevented by being selected to represent a country at a sporting or cultural event for which the Candidate has, in advance, applied to NZQA for pre-approval of eligibility and NZQA has approved the application; or
    3. the Candidate considers that their performance or ability to undertake an external assessment was seriously impaired by exceptional circumstances beyond their control; or
    4. in the case of external standards assessed by the submission of a portfolio of evidence or a digitally submitted report, the Candidate after 1 October 2022, has suffered a temporary impairment, including a physical injury, temporary acute illness or an emotional trauma, which has seriously impaired the Candidate’s preparation for the submission.
  4. A derived grade is not available for New Zealand Scholarship subjects.
  5. An applicant for a derived grade must complete the relevant sections of the published NZQA application form for a derived grade and submit this to the School by the specified date.
  6. The School must:
    1. submit all applications by the specified date,
    2. retain the application form and any supporting information for one year for audit purposes,
    3. indicate whether they support the application.
  7. Where an event has occurred that is likely to result in applications from a group of Candidates (such as a bereavement of a student from the School), Schools should contact NZQA for advice on managing any necessary derived grade process.
  8. In exceptional circumstances NZQA may accept late applications, but no application for a derived grade can be accepted after results have been released in January 2023.
  9. The grade submitted to NZQA must be from quality assured, pre-existing, valid, authentic, standard-specific evidence and:
    1. from a practice assessment of the standard for which a derived grade is applied; or
    2. from across a range of assessment activities where the Candidate demonstrates authentic achievement of the registered criteria of the standard for which a derived grade is applied.

    Decision-making process

  10. After considering the application NZQA will either:
    1. request further information from the Candidate (through the Principal's Nominee) in order to make a decision under sub-paragraph ii or iii; or
    2. advise the Candidate in writing and the School (through the Principal's Nominee) of the decision to decline the application and the reasons it does not meet the eligibility criteria; or
    3. approve the application, advise the School (through the Principal's Nominee) and award the better result for the Candidate based on either the submitted grade or the external assessment result as part of the release if external results in January 2023.

    Appeal of a Declined Derived Grade Decision

  11. The Reviews and Appeals processes in Section 9 apply to NZQA's response under j.ii of this clause 7.1.5.
 
 
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