Providers and partners

Query or appeal a moderation report

When to query or appeal a moderation report

You may query or appeal moderation decisions up to 30 working days after the report is provisionally published. Once the report is final it can no longer be appealed or queried.

Querying a moderation report

You can query a moderation report if you are not clear on the meaning of something in the report. The query function of the external moderation application, accessed through your Provider Login, allows you to ask the moderator a question to clarify the decisions and/or comments e.g. "For Learner B, you have said further evidence is required for independence. How can the student show that?". The moderator will respond through the application.

Up to three interactions with the moderator, related to a query, are possible. If there’s a particular piece of evidence from your original submission that you want the moderator to consider, you can upload a copy of it through the application.

Submitting a query does not change the content or outcome of the moderation report.

For further information on the use of the query function please refer to the Guide to the NZQA External Moderation Application for schools and TEOs (PDF, 3.9MB).

Appealing a moderation report

If you understand the information in the moderation report but do not agree with the moderation result and/or comments you can appeal a moderation report. You should discuss this with your Principal's Nominee. Only those with the appropriate access to the external moderation application can prepare and/or submit an appeal.

If you are unsure that your grounds for appeal are valid, or for advice about whether the report should be queried instead, it is recommended that your Principal’s Nominee contact their School Relationship Manager before submitting an appeal.

For further information on appealing a moderation report, e.g. for details on how to describe the issue and outcome you are seeking, please refer to the Guide to the NZQA External Moderation Application for schools and TEOs (PDF, 3.9MB).

If your materials were submitted physically rather than through the NZQA external moderation application, you will need to submit a copy of the assessment materials and assessed learner work that were originally submitted to the moderator with your appeal. These materials can be uploaded digitally through the application as an alternative to sending them by courier to the address given.

The appeal applies only to the material originally sent to the moderator. Do not send any new evidence.

What does NZQA do with an appeal?

Once submitted, it may take us up to six weeks to review the assessment materials, moderation report and points made in the appeal. The status of the report will show as Report - Under Appeal while it is being reviewed.

The results of the moderation appeal will be available through the NZQA external moderation application. Once the report has been reviewed the status becomes Report -Final. You can view the appeal outcome by selecting the moderation report. It will show if comments and/or decisions have changed as a result of the appeal.

The outcome of the appeal is final.