NZ Scholarship Visual Arts

For Visual Arts, assessment is by submission of a portfolio of work produced throughout the year rather than a written examination. You submit in one discipline: Design, Painting, Photography, Printmaking or Sculpture. Check the assessment specifications, performance standard and submission instructions for your discipline before you start building the body of work.

You can enter if you are enrolled in a consented New Zealand secondary school, and you do not have to be working towards NCEA. However, not all schools enter students for Scholarship, and some enter only a small number of subjects, so speak to your teacher early to confirm your school will submit you.

There is no charge for domestic student entry for NZ Scholarship. International students pay a separate secondary education fee, so check the current amount with your school or NZQA if that applies to you. Do not budget for a domestic entry fee.

Assessments are designed to be challenging for the most able students in each subject. The number of Scholarships in a subject is limited to around 3% of students achieving 14 or more credits in that subject at NCEA Level 3, with some variation for subjects with few candidates. Expect to be judged against the strongest cohort.

Assessments have between 3 and 5 parts, and each part is scored 0 to 8, with scores added for your final result. A score of 8 is outstanding in all respects, showing integration, synthesis, accuracy, coherence and perception; 1 shows little understanding and 0 is blank or irrelevant. You must reach a cut score for Scholarship.

NZ Scholarship results are released in mid-February each year, and soon after that your assessed work is available through your learner login. Visual Arts portfolios are returned to you in December, following the completion of marking. If you believe a marking error occurred, apply for a reconsideration or review within the limited time available.

The source material does not set out a retake policy for NZ Scholarship Visual Arts, so treat each year's submission as your attempt and confirm options with your school. Students who score below the cut score do not receive NZ Scholarship in that subject. Building the portfolio across the whole year is the realistic way to improve your position.

Treating the portfolio as a set of finished pictures rather than evidence of sustained thinking. Markers reward integration and synthesis, so unresolved, disconnected or derivative work reads weakly. Study the specifications, performance standard and past assessment materials for your discipline, and look closely at exemplars and Top Scholars' portfolios to see the standard expected.

Read the assessment specifications and performance standard for your chosen discipline, then the submission instructions and authenticity declaration, since your work must be your own and submitted correctly. After that, work through past assessment materials and exemplars, and plan a year-long programme of making, reviewing and refining with your teacher.

Students who achieve NZ Scholarship receive a monetary award, ranging 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. Payment requires enrolment in tertiary study at an approved New Zealand provider, and multi-year awards require a 'B' grade average each year.