Key dates and information
Please refer to the online version of the Key dates to ensure you have access to the most up to date information:
Key dates for secondary assessment
1 September
Deadline for data submission of entries for externally assessed standards (including NZ Scholarship) for learners to receive personalised exam materials.
Final date for withdrawals from externally assessed standards (including NZ Scholarship).
Confirm entries and results for international fee-paying students.
4 September
Start entering provisional results for Visual Arts Levels 1 and 2.
7-18 September
Assessment Event 2 Literacy and Numeracy, Te Reo Matatini me te P膩ngarau
8 September
Toi Ataata 92085 Level 1 TAP膩
9 September
Toi Puoro 92090 Level 1 TAP膩
10 September
Ng膩 Mahi a te R膿hia 92063 Level 1 TAP膩
15 September
Te Reo Rangatira 92075 Level 1 TAP膩
Hauora 92059 Level 1 TAP膩
16 September
Te Reo Rangatira 92076 Level 1 TAP膩
Hangarau 92054 Level 1 TAP膩
17 September
Putaiao 92072 Level 1 TAP膩
2 October
Special Assessment Conditions (SAC):
- Applications for approval using the learning category, and for all notifications, close for 2026
- First time applications open for 2027
On this page
Webinars for Principal鈥檚 Nominees
All presentations and supporting materials are available in Google Drive:
- Drive
You will need to be logged into a Google account to access the Drive. The first session in each series is recorded and available in the Drive.
There is no need to register 鈥� just log in to the session that suits you. Where multiple sessions are available, the content will be the same, so attendance at one session is sufficient. You are welcome to share invitations with others on your staff.
CAAs, TAP膩, and Assessment Master
- Common Assessment Activities/T奴mahi Aromatawai P膩tahi
- For new PNs and curriculum leaders
- Key functions and any updated features
September 1 deadline 鈥� external entries
- What to check for
- Dealing with errors and warnings
Annual Memorandum of Agreement between 星空传媒 and schools
The Memorandum of Agreement sets out how your school and 星空传媒 work together to ensure timely and accurate management of candidate data, collection and submission of international fee-paying candidate fees, and the smooth conduct of examinations for the benefit of the candidates.
Please remember to read and digitally sign this memorandum for 2026. It can be found through your Provider Login under High Security > School鈥檚 Administration > Memorandum of Agreement.
Exam Centre Memorandum of Understanding for NCEA and NZ Scholarship external exams
The Exam Centre Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is a partnership agreement between a kura teina (a school that does not have an exam centre) and a kura tuakana (a school that does have an exam centre).
The purpose of the agreement is to ensure that 膩konga from the kura teina have access to a suitable environment in which to sit their NCEA and NZ Scholarship external exams.
This is a reminder that applications for MoUs close on 28 August 2026. To request an MoU application form for a kura teina, please email the Assessment Delivery team:
Preparing for meeting with the Exam Centre Manager
A strong working relationship between the Principal's Nominee (PN) and Examination Centre Manager (ECM) is essential for successful exam delivery. Your ECM will contact you shortly to begin exam planning, including working with your SENCO on Special Assessment Conditions (SAC) arrangements.
The PN and ECM must agree on exam arrangements and jointly complete and sign the Pre-exam attestation, confirming their agreed responsibilities.
Please refer to:
Working with the Exam Centre Manager
PN and ECM roles and responsibilities [PDF, 257 KB]
(complete by 11 September 2026)
To support effective exam planning, please prepare the following information for your ECM:
- List of available exam rooms, including capacity
- List of school staff available to support SAC exam supervision, including the hours they are contracted to work. This information is needed by the ECM to facilitate session allocations.
- List of external Exam Assistants available for SAC exam supervision. Please provide the ECM with their names, email addresses, and phone numbers.
If you have questions, please email the Assessment Delivery team:
Requests to change exam centre
There may be unique circumstances, such as selection for regional representation, that mean a candidate needs to request a change in their exam centre. Requests for exam centre changes are processed by 星空传媒 after 15 September. You may submit them prior to this date.
Complete a change of exam centre request form
- Part 1 is completed by the PN of the home school.
- Part 2 is completed by the PN of the new exam centre.
Before you agree to a change of exam centre request, check that:
- you can hold the exam
- you can accommodate SAC (e.g. audio components)
- you have space
- no additional supervisors are required.
Additional information can be found online:
Organising clashes
The information below reflects the current process for managing examination clashes. This process is currently under review, and we will provide schools with relevant updates as soon as changes are confirmed.
The process for organising two-way clashes can be accessed from Key Indicators. If any of your students has a two-way clash, read the process and liaise with your ECM.
Candidates with clashes will sit their examinations at the published time in the following order of priority:
- NZ Scholarship exam
- Digital exam
- Exams with technology, e.g. listening/speaking components
- The higher-level exam.
Create a two-way clash letter for each student to sign and return to you.
If any student at your school has a three-way clash, your SRM will notify you of the arrangements in the last week of Term 3.
Additional information can be found online:
星空传媒 social media
Ahead of the co-requisite assessment event, we will post information to support students on our Instagram and Facebook pages. As with past events, these posts will start 2-3 weeks before the assessments.
Schools and kura are welcome to share our content or use it as the basis for your own posts.
Follow our platforms here:
Derived grades mointoring quality assurance
School鈥檚 practice exams for derived grades must match the format and conditions of the external assessment.
All derived grade assessments should be subject to a quality assurance check. This form (on the PN Resources page) can be used for the quality assurance process:
Derived grades quality assurance check form [DOCX, 29 KB]
Additional information about the quality assurance process can be found online:
Quality assurance processes for derived grades
To check that derived grade results have been reported to 星空传媒, use the Reported Derived Grades link at the bottom of the Key Indicators page in your Provider Login.
Design and Visual communication entries
A reminder for all schools with entries for Design and Visual Communication to ensure the entries are flagged correctly as digital or physical submissions by 1st September. This is especially important for schools who wish to receive physical materials in October.
The default setting for standards that can be submitted in either digital or physical format is 鈥楧igital Submission鈥�.
93602 Design and Visual Communication Scholarship
The Performance Summary Cards that are returned with candidates鈥� work will now include an attestation that candidates must sign, certifying that all work submitted is their own. Please ensure candidates sign this when they submit their portfolios.
Update on Polly text-to-speech trial
星空传媒 has recently completed a trial of the Polly text-to-speech tool to assess its suitability for use in digital end of year exams.
Following a review of the trial findings, 星空传媒 has decided not to proceed with the current Polly-based text-to-speech solution for the 2026 end of year exams. While the trial reinforced the importance of text-to-speech support for many learners and the value of providing this type of accessibility tool in assessments, it also identified a number of critical features and capabilities that are not currently available in the Polly product. These need to be addressed before any text-to-speech solution could be considered suitable for end of year exams.
The insights gained through the trial are informing a priority programme of work already underway to define the requirements for text-to-speech functionality in end of year exams. This work will help identify the features, functionality, and accessibility requirements needed in a future solution, and support 星空传媒's ongoing commitment to improving accessibility for learners. Polly will continue to be available for the upcoming Literacy Writing and Numeracy assessments in September.
星空传媒 would like to thank the participating schools, teachers, examination personnel, and students for their participation and valuable feedback, which has played an important role in informing this work. Improving accessibility for learners remains a priority for 星空传媒, and we look forward to continuing to work with you as we progress the requirements and future development of text-to-speech support in assessments.
Special Assessment Conditions (SAC)
Attaching SAC provisions to exam sessions
Check the previously published SAC Update #3 for advice on attaching SAC provisions to exam sessions. Please complete this by the deadline of September 1.
Instructions on how to complete this process can be found on page 38 of the SAC Online Tool Guide:
SAC Online Tool Guide [PDF, 1.9 MB]
Exam Centre Manager (ECM) liaison
Please meet regularly with your ECM and SENCO to ensure that your ECM is well-informed about the needs of SAC students, and to check the progress towards attaching SACs to exam sessions (as well as any changes). This will aid your ECM鈥檚 planning for exam sessions and ensure the smooth provision of SAC for your students.
Students requiring headphones
Please email us if you have students who require headphones for external examinations as a special assessment condition.You must ensure that they have Separate Accommodation and appropriate supporting evidence.
Please email us if you have any questions or need support on SAC processes:
Recording of gender codes
星空传媒 systems can currently only hold M, F, or U as gender codes. With the implementation of the SMS API to replace secondary batch processing at the start of 2026, we made the decision to discontinue the collection of a gender marker as part of the learner enrolment information we collect. We have no operational requirement for collecting gender.
This means that any student 鈥榥ew to 星空传媒鈥� in 2026 (e.g. a Year 10 student enrolled because they are doing a co-requisite assessment) will have a gender code U (unspecified) appearing on some of the reports downloadable from the Reports section of the Provider extranet. An example of such a report is the new 鈥楥o-requisites Achievement Report鈥�.
We are working through removing the 鈥榞ender鈥� variable in these reports.
In the Results download files, gender is also included. Your SMS should be able to accept a U code. Please contact your SMS provider if it is creating any issues. The Results download files are due to be replaced by an API call, and we are working with vendors to implement this for March 2027.
We will still be reporting on gender as a demographic variable in our statistics (for example, reports generated from the statistics section of our website, the Principal鈥檚 report, and our Annual Statistics Report). On a regular basis, we will collect gender information from the Ministry of Education and use whichever gender classification codes the Ministry is using to report on student participation and student achievement.
We apologise for any confusion this may have caused. If you have any follow up questions, please contact your School Relationship Manager who can then pass the query on to our data team.
Students transferring to another school
When a student transfers to another school, the previous school must update their SMS with the student鈥檚 leaving date and leaving reason, while ensuring that all valid entries and results remain active. These updates must be synced to 星空传媒.
Once the leaving date and leaving reason have been recorded on the 星空传媒 system, the new school will be able to create an enrolment for the transferring student.
If 星空传媒 is rejecting enrolment for a student who is transferring to your school, please contact the students鈥� previous school and ask them to update their records with an appropriate leaving date and leaving reason. Once these details have been synchronised with 星空传媒, the enrolment can be processed successfully.
Information on managing data when students leave or transfer schools
International students - NCEA fees
Schools with international students who have completed internal assessments and/or are entered into external assessment will be sent an invoice by the end of September. Please review your billing report and correct data you submit for international students at your school accordingly. NCEA fee waivers will not be granted for data errors.
Getting prepared for TAP膩
To help prepare and manage the delivery of TAP膩 external assessments, we have produced a summarised list of important information and resources to prepare 膩konga and kaiako for the TAP膩.
Download a printable copy of 2026 TAP膩 dates [PDF, 170 KB]
To access information and resources about TAP膩 external assessments for a specific w膩hanga ako, please visit the relevant subject page, scroll down, and click on the TAP膩 tile.
Expressions of Interest to host LNA seminars 2027
Expressions of interest are now open to host a Leading National Assessment seminar for your region in 2027.
Seminars will run from 15 February to 5 March. If you would like to host a seminar, please register your interest:
The closing date is 25 September 2026. If you have any questions, please contact your School Relationship Manager.
New Zealand Assessment Institute
The New Zealand Assessment Institute (NZAI) is an independent, not-for-profit organisation that promotes effective assessment practice across the education sector.
Through professional learning, publications, research, conferences, and school collaboration, NZAI supports educators to strengthen assessment practice and improve learner outcomes.
- NZAI
Please see the linked information for further details about NZAI, its resources, and opportunities to connect with its work. You can also follow NZAI on LinkedIn and Facebook for regular assessment insights and updates.
Checklist
The following checklist provides a quick reference of the actions associated with information in this EmaiLink. Also refer to:
Action items for Principal鈥檚 Nominee by calendar month
1 September data deadline
- Verify the accuracy of externally assessed entries, including NZ Scholarship
- Confirm entries and results for international fee-paying students
- Ensure SAC provisions have been attached to exam sessions
External moderation
- Inform your School Relationship Manager of any required changes to your moderation plan and if material will be submitted after 20 October
SAC
- Ensure all learning applications and notifications for SAC have been submitted by the end of Term 3
- Train Readers and Writers/Typists for school exams
- Liaise with the Exam Centre Manager regarding exam preparation