There were tears and frustration on the first day of NCEA exams this week with some students saying questions were poorly written, confusing and not connected to the curriculum. 

The New Zealand Qualifications Authority is defending the quality of its exams, but says it will review the concerns raised to ensure no students were disadvantaged. 

The secondary school exam season kicked off on Tuesday with National Certificate of Educational Achievement Level 2 maths and biology causing distress for some students. 

Teachers voiced concerns about the excellence question for maths, with one telling the Herald it was “impossible to pass.” 

Gillian Frankcom from the New Zealand Association of Mathematics Teachers said she had not yet seen the level 2 maths paper but had heard teachers were unhappy with the excellence question. 

However, another teacher said his students had coped well with the exam – and said the excellence question should be difficult. 

A parent from central Auckland said she had serious concerns for the confidence of the young people who had studied hard for maths, then were in tears over the difficulty of the questions. 

“Calculus had new excellence questions that were drastically different from the previous year and the algebra section contained very difficult questions compared to past papers,” she said. 

The parent said questions since 2020 had all been notably easier and she questioned how wildly the standard had suddenly changed. 

“The gap between what students were prepared for and what was assessed seemed alarmingly wide,” the mother said. 

Other students, who had achieved excellence and merit marks throughout the year, also found the maths paper extremely difficult. 

“It was ... because of how the questions were posed – they didn’t make any sense,” one student said. 

“I went through six years of papers during my study and had a tutor but it was all hard. My friends said the same thing.” 

The girl’s mother - from Auckland’s North Shore - said even the mock exams were confusing, with their experienced maths tutor also finding questions difficult to decipher. 

“You wonder why our pass rates are plunging rapidly,” she said 

Students who sat the level 2 biology paper said a question about sex-linked genes in cats was not part of the curriculum and made no grammatical sense. 

NCEA and scholarship exams started this week. 

The central Auckland mother said unfair exams could have a lasting impact. 

“University applications and career opportunities are often contingent upon their exam results,” she said. 

“This has created an environment where students are second-guessing their abilities.” 

Another parent said students should be challenged – but not blindsided. 

“I believe it’s crucial for NCEA to maintain a consistent difficulty level in their exams that reflect the material being taught in the classroom, rather than suddenly increasing it.” 

In a statement, Jann Marshall, NZQA deputy chief executive, assessment, defended the exams, saying, “Exam papers are developed and quality assured by writing teams that include experienced subject teachers at that NCEA Level. 

“We have not received any complaints about either mathematics or biology. However, we will look into both concerns. If the concerns are verified, we will refer the details to the relevant marking panels so action can be taken during the marking process to ensure students aren’t disadvantaged. 

“It would be inappropriate to comment any more specifically while exams are yet to be marked,” she said. 

However the central Auckland mother said that she and several other parents and teachers have complained to NZQA about the exams. A petition has also been set up calling for consistency in NCEA exam content.