Students face 'derived grades' process after online glitch disrupts NCEA English exam

The NZ Qualifications Authority (NZQA) will use a 'derived grades at scale' process to assess students affected during this week's online exam glitch.

About 40,000 students were sitting NCEA level 2 English on Thursday - many of them online - when the malfunction disrupted the exam, forcing many to revert to using paper exams.

While many students were given additional time to complete their exams, others will now be judged on internal work or assessments throughout the year.

NZQA has posted on social media to reassure these students about the process.

"You don't need to apply like with an individual derived grade," it said.

"Your school will submit this on your behalf.

"Your school will handle the evidence. This will come from the recent practice/mock exams or other stand-specific work.

"Your best result will count. If you complete the exam, we will compare your exam result with your school-assessed grade and award whichever is higher."

NZQA said Friday's Microsoft email outage had slowed communication, but assured students the process was underway with their schools.

Derived grades at scale are designed for "extraordinary circumstances" like earthquakes, flooding, blocked roads, medical emergencies or power cuts.

NZQA deputy chief executive Jann Marshall said, despite extensive testing, the online assessment platform used didn't perform as it should have.

"We are sorry for the disruption and the stress that students, as well as teachers and parents, experienced," she said.

"It's unacceptable.

"Students have worked hard for the examination and recently expected the platform to perform well."

She said their vendor had assured them that glitches that "slowed" and "locked people out" of the system would not happen again.

Secondary Principals' Association president Louise Ānaru told Morning Report that students had shown amazing resilience in the face of this setback.

"The good news is, of course, there are systems in place to make sure they're not disadvantaged," she said.

"From what I'm hearing, many went straight into sitting the exam with a paper copy. They were given extended time, and others will be waiting for a derived grade."