New Zealand Scholarship Technology

Students enrolled in a consented New Zealand secondary school can enter. You do not need to be working towards NCEA. Entry is arranged through your school, so speak to your technology teacher early: not all schools enter students for Scholarship, and some enter only a small number of subjects.

Assessment is by either a written or spoken examination or by the submission of a portfolio or report of work produced throughout the year. The Technology assessment specifications on the NZQA Scholarship subjects page set out exactly which form applies and what evidence is required.

Assessments are designed to be challenging for the most able students. Award requires deep understanding, high-level critical thinking, and application to complex situations. Each part is scored 0 to 8; an 8 is outstanding in all respects, showing integration and synthesis and being accurate, comprehensive, coherent, lucid and perceptive. A 1 shows little relevant understanding.

Assessments have between 3 and 5 parts, and your score for each part is added to give your final result. To be awarded Scholarship or Outstanding Scholarship you must reach a set cut score. Scripts close to either cut score are re-marked to ensure results are correct. Below the cut score, no Scholarship is awarded in that subject.

The source does not set out a retake policy. The number of Scholarships available in a subject is limited to around 3% of the number of students achieving 14 or more credits in that subject at NCEA Level 3, with some variation, mainly for subjects with few candidates.

Results are released in mid-February each year. Soon after release, your assessed work is available through your learner login. Visual Arts portfolios are returned in December after marking. If you believe a marking error occurred, you can apply for a reconsideration or review within a limited time.

Awards range from a one-off $500 payment for a single subject award to $10,000 per year for up to 3 years for premier award winners. To be paid you must be enrolled in tertiary study at an approved New Zealand provider in a course approved by StudyLink for Student Allowance or Student Loan.

You can defer the monetary award for up to 4 consecutive years if you are still at school or not planning to enter tertiary study straight away. For awards paid across more than one year, you must maintain a 'B' grade average in your tertiary study each year. Domestic student entry carries no charge.

Study the Technology assessment specifications and performance standard, then work through past papers and exemplars, noting that public resources may be redacted for copyright. Ask your teacher for unredacted material. Common failure modes are shallow description instead of critical analysis, and a portfolio that documents outcomes but not the reasoning behind decisions.