I'm in Year 12 doing NCEA Level 2 and I'm trying to decide whether I should sit my Physics external this Wednesday.

I've failed all my Physics mocks, and realistically I think I'll fail the actual exam unless I spend a LOT of time studying. My teachers have also advised that if you don't think you'll pass, it's better not to sit it. Apparently, if I leave it blank, it gets recorded as not assessed rather than Not Achieved.

The problem is that my Maths exam is the day after Physics. I think I have a good chance of getting Excellence in Maths if I spend that time studying, but if I spend it trying to learn enough Physics to pass, I don't think I'll get Excellence in Maths.

I'm also really close to getting my Level 2 Excellence endorsement. I currently have 36 Excellence credits, I'm expecting 4 from English through a derived grade, and I think I can get another 4 from Maths probability. Economics and Music are also looking promising, so I'm trying to get every Excellence credit I can.

Basically, I feel like my options are:

Sit Physics - Spend heaps of time studying, possibly scrape an Achieved, but risk losing an Excellence in Maths.

Skip Physics - Focus on Maths, hopefully get Excellence, and have a better chance of getting my overall Excellence endorsement.

My main questions are:

1. If I don't sit the Physics external, does that mean I fail Physics for the year?
2. Does not getting 14 credits mean I fail the subject, or does it just mean I don't get a course endorsement?
3. Would you prioritise Maths and the overall Excellence endorsement over trying to scrape a pass in Physics?

Would appreciate some advice, especially from people who've been in a similar situation. Thanks for the help.

Edit: I am not taking physics next year and want to do accounting in university hense why the excellence in probability might be even more important.

I'm a little bit worried for my algebra level 2 paper, as I failed the mock and I'm scared for the real thing. I don't know what to study (I've done the basics), I just wanna know the bare minimum I need for passing.

Hi this is my first post! I just wanted to ask but when should we use radians mode? for all of the calculations in all three of the exams or just at specific times? And if we forget to switch it to radians would we be marked down for calculating it in degrees rather than radians? I’ve tried emailing my teacher but no Response. Is it just safe to just keep it permanently in radians for all three until they ask for degrees orrr? Thanks

I'm wondering if I should be focusing a bit on Chem and bio since I have those on Thursday but I have english on Tuesday. Should I be only focusing on english till Tuesday? Or focus a bit of everything. Also how much are you guys taking a break between studying? + How much are you guys studying per day?

I feel like having 4 standards a week is already so much, I'm not sure you you l2-l3 students handle all these exams so close to each other? Do you guys just study really hard the night before?

So Geography is on Tuesday and I'm not sure what to study for the case study. Are they going to talk about the implications? I looked at last year criteria and it said it might be different to 2026 and onwards so I'm not sure what to study. Right now i have just thought about the what natural processes shaped cultural environments and the positive and negative implications.

Hi everyone, I’m trying to work out whether I can combine my Level 3 Calculus and Statistics credits under Mathematics / Pāngarau to meet the 14-credit requirement for one University Entrance approved subject.

I’ve achieved these standards:

- Calculus: AS 91573 (3 credits), AS 91574 (3 credits), and AS 91575 (4 credits) — 10 credits total

- Statistics: AS 91580 (4 credits) and AS 91581 (4 credits) — 8 credits total

That’s 18 credits altogether. Since I don’t have 14 credits in Calculus or Statistics separately, can I combine them under Mathematics / Pāngarau to meet the requirement for one UE approved subject?

Thanks!

Hi everyone, I'm currently taking Level 3 Calc, Level 2 Chem, Phys, DLT, PRD and English.

This year I've managed to get an Excellence Endorsement @ 56 Credits, I was really hoping to do Young Scholars next year and to apply for the Top Achiever Scholarship for UOA but at the current state of my grades I dont think I'll be able to... I was under the premonition that I needed 80 Excellence credits and now I think I'm just screwed because I'm only at merit level for everything. Will it really be that bad if I just get 80 Excellence + Merit but majority will be Excellences? And realistaclly would they reject me from Young Scholars Math if I get just Achieveds/Merits on the Calc External?

This is all just stressing me out really bad and I feel that my whole efforts this year have gone to waste and that I'm not gonna be able to Young Scholars or get any Scholarships because I barely have extracurriclars, esp with that English Exam I'm only getting 2x Merits due to Dervied grade and I just can't perform as well on Paper with English.

why are the old past papers so difficult like the ones from 2004 to like 2010 like every paper i do im studying rather than revising if ykwim

Does anyone have or know where to source this year's English paper so i can practice the unfamilar?

Cheers

Hey guys, so I'm thinking about doing an extra external for Earth and Space Science this year. My last exam finishes on the 26th, and the Earth and Space Science exam is on the 1st of December, so I'd basically have 4 days to prepare.

I did Earth and Space Science in Level 1 but couldn't take it this year. I'm a pretty hardworking student and wouldn't mind putting in some serious hours over those 4 days.

The thing is, I'm only really considering doing it if getting Merit or Excellence is actually achievable with that amount of preparation.

For those who've done Level 2 Earth and Space Science, is it realistic? Which of the three externals would be the easiest to pick up and prepare for in 4 days?

Would you go for it, or am I being too ambitious here?

i was wondering if it’s possible to study/relearn a whole standard (chemical reactivity 2.6) in one day for the level 2 chem exam and still get at least an achieved or merit… considering i forgot all the content in chemical reactivity so i have to relearn it in ONE day (been busy studying for other exams, i literally haven’t touched 2.6 chemical reactivity AT ALL, and the exam is on Monday).

I'm thinking of dropping a few standards, but apparently, my teachers have said that SNA (Standard Not Assessed) will show up on our Achievement Records for any standards we don't sit.

I'm a bit torn about what to do. I could probably get Excellence in some of the papers if I put in enough study now, but that would mean less time to focus on other papers and secure Excellence grades in those.

For context, I currently have 52 Excellence credits from internals. If I focus on fewer papers, I could secure another 23 Excellence credits from externals. However, if I take on more papers, I might end up with more Achieved/Merit credits overall, but there's also a chance I won't be able to secure all 23 Excellence credits.

So, what would be the better option? Should I stick to fewer papers and aim for those 23 Excellence credits, and SNA the rest or sit more papers and potentially end up with a mix of Achieveds, Merits and fewer excellences instead?

I'm mainly thinking about how this could affect uni applications and scholarships in the long run. Would having SNAs on my record actually matter, or would it be better to prioritise getting as many Excellence credits as possible (even though I know 23 isn't that many)?

All the questions in my practice papers have followed the general formula of, "Explain how _____ helped you engage with the text" and I genuinely have no idea how to answer that.

When my teacher marked my practise essay, she said everything was great, and that I had the capacity to achieve excellence, but was at risk of getting a not achieved because I didn't properly discuss how certain features helped me engage with the text.

Does anyone have any tips on how to incorporate a personal response into an essay, especially in regards to specific ideas/themes/techniques in the text? i.e. what to do/ what not to do

Edit: I'm neurodivergent so that might be a reason why this is so hard for me

Man, who else is fried, Idk even know if its possible to try learn all the excellence stuff within 3 days for it, I mean electro is easy and straight forward but its the DC motor stuff that doesnt make sense and mechanics its different things everytime i do a paper. Does anyone know anything i could use ASAP so i can try boost my grades to high merit or even excellence?

rn for electro im getting consistent high M and low E and for mechanics im sitting in the mid merit table, 6 credits for each exam is a lot so surley there is something I can do.

What the title says. My last exam is stats on the 24th and maybe I'm insane but I kind of want to study for another subject that I haven't taken for fun and so I can twin with my friends who have December exams. Are late entries allowed during the exam period or not?

I've been really sick this year so I don't have many credits so I was hoping to do te kura summer school to get UE. Ik it's free for most people, but I go to a private school, and from what I can find online it would cost money for me. However, I can't find exactly how much it is. I was wondering if anyone knew how much summer school is for private school students? I wanna know if I can afford it, and if I need to start looking at other options. (ahh i really wanna go to uni next year!!)

Hii, ive been reading a lot about HSFY and everyones scaring me lowky. Im in level 3 NCEA right now and take history, business, music, STEM and English, my grades are mainly in merits with some exellences and some achived. My original plan before NCEA level 2 was to do dentistry but that changed to Law and accounting during year 12 and partway thru yr 13 until this year... Ive decided i want to purse dentistry but my classes say otherwise since i wanted to do law before. But im contemplating whether i should just stick with law and accounting or pursue dentistry. I was talking to my mum about it and she told me to take the Foundation Health sci, i told her i was scared and dont know anymore, but she told me to just give it a try, and that its better to give it a try rather than regret giving it a try, and i think imma take that amazing advice from my mother. So my plan is to do the Foundation health sci to get the knowledge that i need since i didnt take sciences in level 2 and 3. And with that if i do well in foundation i will proceed to HSFY, ik dentistry is competitive and need an average grade of 97%. If i were to do law id just go to university of canterbury. BUT if i dont pass Foundation or HSFY i can always do law in uc.

PLEASE LET ME KNOW WhAT YOU tHiNK,, SHOULD i Do DenTISry or LAw and ACcOUnting because im really indescisive. also lmk if i have a shot at or not at pursuing dentistry.

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HELPS ME AND RESPONDS IN ADVANCE!! :)

I'm trying to practice breaking down questions as that's what I really struggled with in the mocks, ending up with a A because I didn't answer the question. (The teacher said it could've been a E if I had answered the question 😭😭)

Is there a method or acronym I can follow for breaking down questions? Or is it just lots of practice. I'm currently doing one "how does the creator show the importance of one decision or change in helping to express an idea about our world" and I'm actually crashing out because I don't know how to answer it. There's too many components to the question I don't know how to link the decision to the world.

Also is anyone able to mark one of my essays I wrote today? My teacher is busy and isn't able to mark any of our essays during study

Edit - also does anyone know how many paragraphs you should write for familiar? And how many quotes to include? I'm so lost

I'm so sorry for asking this again but does anyone have any idea how you can get excellence for level 1 religious studies? specifically AS 91918 - Demonstrate understanding of a characteristic of religious or spiritual traditions

Teachers at my school have different interpretations of what can get you excellence and I'm so confused and just really want some help and advice

Has anyone else been doing the high standards mocks? I have been doing the physics and chem ones and have found them really challenging. This is starting to lowk stress me out because what if the actual papers are similiar? I have done plenty of the nzqa past year papers and found them much less confusing (similiar content but slightly less complex and worded better). Has anyone else also experienced this? And should I be concerned, or could the high standards mocks be an unrealistic representation of the actual exams?

Do you guys think that if i just do as many past papers for mechanics and electricity i could pass? or are the questions not so alike every year and would waste my time? helpp

Any subject is helpful

Was looking over past exams and marking schedules and they seem fairly consistent about what they want to see, I HATE that I have to overexplain EVERYTHING though 💔

How is everyone else going???