Your Education High School Exchanges Brochure 2020 YOUR EDUCATION BROCHURE | Page 12

GOING ON A HIGH
SCHOOL EXCHANGE
AND MANAGING NCEA
Are you considering going on a semester or year exchange but
worried about how it will affect your NCEA credits? If you are
prepared to work hard and you have the support of your school,
it’s possible to go on a longer exchange without having to repeat
any NZ schooling. Read below some of the feedback from past
Your Education students about how they went on a semester or
year exchange and successfully managed their NCEA credits. 
Olivia went to the USA on an Academic Year
programme during her Year 12. Adam went to the USA on a Semester
programme during his Year 11.
"My American exchange was for my second year of
NCEA, level 2. Before I left, I had several meetings
with my deans to make sure that my school would be
able to accommodate me leaving for a year. The
outcome of these meetings decided that I was able to
effectively “jump” over level 2 and progress to level 3
when I returned. The side effect to this is that instead
of bringing the 20 credits from level 2 that students
are allowed, I had to achieve 80 level 3 credits, instead
of 60, in order to pass. “I completed my exchange as a Year 11 student.
Although I missed Year 11 end-of-year exams, I
was able to complete my semester abroad and
come back to New Zealand as a fully eligible
Year 12 student. This was because I acquired the
Literacy and Numeracy credits necessary to
begin Year 12. Although I technically did not
pass Level 1 NCEA (as you need 80 credits to
pass and I was only able to get 45 before I left),
my dean said due to my excellent academic
results prior and my ability to self-manage and
prioritise my studies before and after my
exchange, she saw no issue in allowing me to
take part in the Your Education High School
Exchange programme.
As the American school system was very different,
there was no way to bring credits from that to NCEA.
The only downside to this was that for application to
universities, I could only use my level 3 credits. This
meant that I was unable to apply for certain
scholarships that required the use of level 2 credits
e.g. the Victoria University Excellence Scholarship.
Fortunately, there are many other scholarships
available for many other criteria so this was not much
of a problem for me.
Although this worked out for me, this may differ
for your high school. My advice would be to talk
to your school dean and get them to discuss
with you the best possible options that suit your
relevant needs, wants and desires regarding your
programme.”
Overall, it just meant that I needed to work a little bit
harder in order to pass my final year of high school
and guarantee my place in tertiary study."
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