Education Minister Hekia Parata has congratulated students and schools on achieving the best-ever results in NCEA.

'The hard work of our teachers, principals and kids is paying dividends,” Ms Parata says. 'Every year more of our young people leave school with the tools they need for adulthood.”

Final results for 2015 show roll-based Level 1, 2 and 3 NCEA achievement rates rose by between 1.5 and 3.2 percentage points last year to 74.4, 76.4 and 62.7 per cent respectively.

The proportion of students gaining University Entrance also increased, by 3.1 percentage points, to 48.6 per cent.

'Since this Government took office in 2008 Level 2 achievement rates have risen 16.6 per cent. That means thousands more kids every year are gaining the skills and qualifications they need to undertake further training or education and enter the workforce,” Ms Parata says.

'The continuing rise in achievement is great news. However, we won't be satisfied till every kid is getting the educational start they need in life. That is why we have created Communities of Learning to encourage systematic collaboration between educators, and why we are updating the Education Act, reviewing education funding systems and strengthening the teaching profession.

'We are refashioning the system into one which puts kids' learning at the centre of everything we do.”

A more detailed breakdown of the final NCEA results will be available when the New Zealand Qualification Authority issues its annual report on NCEA and New Zealand Scholarship at the end of the month.

SOURCE: Office of Hekia Parata