Introduction

In recent years it has become very important to be forward thinking and innovative in considering what we can do to maintain our strength as an academic school and to continue to put a rigorous and challenging curriculum before our students. It was for precisely these reasons that in 1999 the Board of Trustees determined that Auckland Grammar School should introduce international qualifications, after exhaustive research by the Headmaster and Director of Studies.

Motives

It would be fair to say that the Board's decision was primarily a response to the unveiling by the Government of its plan to develop and introduce a new national qualification, the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA). Two major concerns emerged at this school regarding the proposed new system: firstly, that it will fail to challenge and extend students, particularly our most able; and secondly that the nature of standards based assessment in general, and the significant degree of loosely moderated internal assessment in particular - both integral features of the NCEA - will undermine the validity and thus the national and international credibility of the qualification. This assessment was subsequently supported by several independent academic analyses of the NCEA.

However, it would be a mistake to think that the decision to introduce international qualifications was only made as a negative response to the new national qualification. The Board of Trustees was also motivated by a number of positive considerations:

• Internationalisation is an already growing trend in tertiary education and in the future will almost certainly be reflected more strongly in senior secondary school curricula.
• Increasing numbers of our students want to study overseas. They need a more widely recognised and 'portable' qualification than either University Bursary or the new NCEA.
• International benchmarking is another growing trend. Participation in international qualifications offers our students a local opportunity to be internationally competitive. It also provides a measure of the school's achievement in a global context.
• By becoming the first school in New Zealand to offer international qualifications on a significant scale, Auckland Grammar School is both maintaining its differential as an academic school and enhancing it's reputation as a leader in New Zealand Secondary education.

Investigation

Having decided that Auckland Grammar School would introduce international qualifications the Board of Trustees then directed the Director of Studies, Mr Vella, to identify and investigate a range of options. Over a fifteen month period he researched a number of international qualifications including the International Baccalaureate (IB), Advanced Placement Courses (APC) and several British based examining bodies, in particular the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES).

The Board was looking for a set of qualifications that were:

• Provided by a reputable examining board;
• Based on rigorous worthwhile syllabuses, providing challenging courses of study;
• Assessed externally (generally by formal written examination);
• Affordable for students and the school
• Recognised nationally and internationally
• Initially, the Board was interested in the International Baccalaureate. The IB programme is well established and widely recognised around the world. While personally attracted to both the philosophy behind the IB and the courses of study it offers, ultimately Mr Vella recommended to the Board that we should not pursue registration as an IB school on two main grounds. Firstly, the direct and indirect costs involved would be prohibitive for a state-funded school; and secondly, the highly prescriptive nature of the IB curriculum and course structure would prove extremely difficult to integrate into our senior courses of study.

Our attention then focused on qualifications offered by the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate. A non-profit educational institution established in 1863, UCLES is one of the oldest and largest examining bodies in the world. It operates one of the three domestic British examining boards, the OCR (Oxford, Cambridge and Royal Society). The international branch of UCLES is Cambridge International Examinations (CIE). This organisation administers examinations taken by over 2 million students each year from over 150 countries around the world.

After some preliminary research into CIE qualifications Mr Morris recommended that the Board support a fuller investigation. Initially our interest focused on the AICE Diploma, a group-subject award based on a five subject course of study, roughly equivalent to University Bursary. Analysis of AICE syllabuses by the School's Heads of Department revealed an encouraging degree of curriculum overlap between international and New Zealand courses of study in several subjects.

Following discussions in both the Board's Education sub-committee and the full Board it was decided that Mr Vella should visit a cluster of schools in Buenos Aires and Argentina that were offering AICE. There he was able to observe the administration and delivery of CIE programmes. His hosts explained what they saw as the strengths and weaknesses of CIE qualifications and support services, and offered advice regarding the approaches that a large and complex school like Auckland Grammar School might take to integrate international qualifications into its senior courses of study.

Early in 2000 CIE announced that they were restructuring the AICE programme and that from 2002 the qualification would be based on International Advanced Subsidiary (AS) and Advanced Level (A Level). This was both good news and bad news. The initial attraction of AICE was that it was based on a simple five-subject course of study that we could have relatively easily integrated into our Form 7/Year 13 programme. On the other hand, closer analysis of the AICE syllabuses had revealed that they did not provide sufficient academic rigour. By contrast, introducing AS and A Level courses posed great logistical challenges but offered qualifications that had even wider international recognition and status, and which were based on syllabuses that would challenge our best students.

At this point Mr Vella prepared a full report for the Board on his findings to date. Although he identified a number of issues that would need to be addressed and resolved prior to full implementation, he concluded that CIE qualifications basically met all of the criteria that had been set by the Board and recommended that Auckland Grammar School apply for registration to become a Cambridge International Examination centre. The Education sub-committee of the Board discussed these recommendations and resolved that, prior to submitting a formal application to CIE, a delegation consisting of the Headmaster, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees and the Director of Studies should visit UCLES to meet key personnel, discuss the nature of the future relationship between AGS and CIE and negotiate a number of conditions or accommodations that would be necessary for New Zealand schools to be able to participate in Cambridge International Qualifications.

Cambridge International Partner

We were warmly received at Cambridge and CIE proved to be extremely reasonable and accommodating during our negotiations. They looked to remove potential obstacles and offered workable solutions to problems. As a result Auckland Grammar School and Cambridge International Examinations concluded a formal relationship. Auckland Grammar School was offered International Partner status. It is worth noting that Auckland Grammar School is the first school to be offered partner status. This is usually reserved for institutions that act as national or regional administrative organisations or agencies such as the British Council.

As a CIE International Partner we:

• Are registered as a CIE examination Centre (number NZ033);
• Are able to offer the entire suite of CIE qualifications;
• Are able to recruit other centres to offer the qualifications;
• Will act as a pivot for CIE operations in New Zealand and a 'parent' centre for any other institutions wishing to offer these qualifications.
• It is not the intention of CIE, or our desire, that Auckland Grammar School should have a monopoly or controlling influence in New Zealand. Rather, we see our role as supporting and facilitating the involvement of other New Zealand schools in CIE qualifications.

CIE Qualifications

CIE provides three general secondary qualifications: the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) at Form 5/Year 11; International Advanced Subsidiary (AS) at Form 6/Year 12; and International Advanced Level (A Level) at Form 7/Year 13. Together they constitute a fully integrated set of secondary qualifications.

A range of assessment methods are used but with the emphasis strongly on external examinations. Coursework, and thus internal assessment, is part of many subjects, either as a compulsory element or as an option. Coursework marks and samples of student work are submitted to Cambridge for external moderation to ensure accuracy and comparability of assessment.

IGCSE provides a strong foundation for higher level, pre-university courses of study. AS courses are essentially the first half or core component of full A Level courses. (The second, more advanced component, is known as A2). They allow staged assessment in the A Level programme; the opportunity to build up to a full A Level in a subject. At the same time they constitute a worthwhile, stand-alone qualification for those who choose not to take a full A Level. By passing a number of AS courses students of lower-to-average ability are able to gain an entry qualification for tertiary study. Full A Levels are based on rigorous challenging courses. Internationally they are regarded as a 'gold standard' qualification.

Universities around the world recognise AS and A Level as University Entry Qualifications. Recently the New Zealand Vice-Chancellors' Committee confirmed that New Zealand students will be able to use CIE qualifications to gain entry to New Zealand universities.

It must be stressed that these are not British qualifications. While they are provided by a British organisation and their form and structure are modelled on

British secondary qualifications, CIE qualifications are based on separate syllabuses designed for international use and which seek to avoid national or cultural bias. Critics or our initiative do not seem to be willing or able to grasp this fact.

The Dual Pathway

From 2002 CIE qualifications were progressively phased in at AGS. In effect we were offering a dual qualifications pathway. Students have the opportunity to achieve both national and/or international qualifications. And from 2004, students leaving Auckland Grammar School were able to use either an NCEA or a CIE qualification to gain employment or entry to a tertiary education institution.

Neither NCEA nor CIE courses will be appropriate for all boys. Students and their parents will choose which qualification they wish to enter on the basis of ability, aptitude, and philosophical viewpoints, but essentially boys in the upper band will study CIE and those in the lower band NCEA. In introducing the dual pathway the school is explicitly embracing the principle of differentiated learning programmes.

Growing New Zealand Involvement in CIE Programmes

New Zealand involvement in CIE Qualifications is rapidly expanding. Over 40 schools from around the country have now registered as CIE examination centres. These schools represent a range of New Zealand secondary schools; state, private, co-educational and single sex.

CIE has responded by appointing Mr Simon Higgins as their Australasian Regional Representative with an office based in Auckland. His function is to provide administrative support to schools already registered with CIE and to assist those that are interested in registering.

In order to provide a network of support for all CIE schools in New Zealand the Association of Cambridge Schools of New Zealand (ACSNZ) was established in 2002. The Association Executive comprises senior staff from Auckland Grammar School, the Academic Colleges Group and Macleans College. The Association aims to foster the common interests of CIE schools, co-ordinate course and resource development, organise in-service training, liaise with the local CIE office in Auckland, and promote excellence, high achievement, and good practice in Cambridge courses.

CIE continue to provide a high level of support to Auckland Grammar School and other New Zealand schools preparing to implement CIE qualifications on a significant scale. The work done on our behalf and guidance provided by Christine Cayley, former CIE Director Asia-Pacific, has been invaluable. In particular, she has been instrumental in providing teacher-training opportunities for New Zealand schools.

John Morris
Headmaster