St Hilda’s Collegiate School ditched level 1 assessments for its year 11 pupils in 2021 after a review of its curriculum found three years of continuous NCEA assessments contributed to the high stress levels and anxiety among pupils.
Last year, the school’s first cohort to go straight into level 2 assessments had a pass rate of 100% and an increase in the number of pupils passing with excellence endorsed in the past four years.
Principal Jackie Barron said the additional time to focus on subjects gave pupils the opportunity to have "richer, deeper learning".
"It took away all the pressure and the focus on assessment and allowed teachers to focus on the curriculum and the teaching."
She said there was an added six to eight weeks of teaching time with the study leave for level 1 external assessments taken out, which allowed teachers to delve deeper into topics.
Mrs Barron said curriculum deputy principal Judy Maw had visited other schools across New Zealand which had made the change and learned from what had worked and what had not.
She said although it was just one year of great results and it was not a trend yet, it was really encouraging.
She would definitely recommend the change to other principals because it gave the school more scope in the curriculum and reduced the administrative load on teachers, allowing them to focus on teaching.
Year 13 pupils Brooke Prentice and Anna Fulton, both 17, said the transition into level 2 went smoothly for them overall.
"It was definitely a big jump from year 11 but we kind of picked it up quite quick.
"Most people were quite on to it and no-one was left behind," Anna said.
Brooke said it was good to just be focused on learning in year 11 when her peers from other schools were stressed about having to do exams.
"I felt better prepared for topics that we learned during year 11.
"It meant that we could cover more of the basics, which helped for the next year."
Both pupils said they had more time to focus on co-curricular activities and passed level 2 with excellence endorsed.
