April 2008

In the Weekend Herald recently, the 2007 school league tables were published. Using only NCEA data the Herald tried to give an idea of how well schools performed in the 2007 examination session. In so doing, however, they have misrepresented the situation so badly that it rendered their table meaningless.

The problem has been created once again by NZQA releasing statistics into the public domain knowing full well that they are totally incorrect in many cases. By carelessly assuming that all students at every school in NZ enter only for NCEA, both the Ministry of Education and NZQA manufacture percentage pass rates for the three levels of NCEA.

At AGS 60% of our senior students enter for CIE exams. This is not taken into account in the statistical analysis done by NZQA and hence the pass rates for AGS, and other schools who enter students in CIE exams, are skewed negatively.

I have written to the Ministry and NZQA several times regarding this and I have come to the conclusion that these two government quangos don't care about the schools under their aegis that have shown some independence of spirit, some initiative and some genuine concern for the students in their care because my letters have fallen on deaf ears every year.

I fear that the bureaucrats in Wellington do not seem to understand the significance of publishing incorrect statistics as fact. Auckland Grammar School takes examination results seriously. We archive our results meticulously and these form part of the history of our School.

In Auckland Grammar School's case, the statistics published indicate that we have pass rates of 22% at Level 1, 31% at Level 2 and 26% at Level 3.

In actual fact 84% achieved either Level 1 or the equivalent score in CIE, 93% achieved either Level 2 or the equivalent score in CIE and 86% achieved either Level 3 or the equivalent score in CIE.

Hence the discrepancy is indeed significant. When you add in that Auckland Grammar School achieved 103 Scholarships (second in New Zealand to St Cuthbert's) the true academic profile of our School looks very different to the information published by NZQA and the Ministry and printed in the Herald.

John Morris
Headmaster