Planning on studying at university, or know someone who is? Find out how university entrance works, and figure out what you need to do to get into the university programme you want. Universities have moved on from ‘bums on seats’, where eventually everyone could get into university. In the past you either got 3 C’s in bursary, or turned 20. Now funding has gone down, and there are caps on how many students universities can enroll. Students need to know what is required or they could miss out.

Planning on studying at university? Find out how university entrance works and how to get into the programme you want. 

How does NZ University Entrance work?

I’ll look at University of Auckland entrance criteria, Victoria University of Wellington (VUW) entrance criteria and Otago University entrance criteria. I focus mainly on those students who will complete NCEA. There are similar criteria for students taking Cambridge and IB, for more information contact us.

In this post I examine the general entrance criteria for a range of universities in New Zealand. Over the last few years NZ university entrance has got tougher, and it will continue to do so.

As a student or a parent you need to be aware of the new and changing standards for university entrance so you have the most options possible.

Universities have moved on from 'bums on seats', where eventually everyone could get into university. You either got 3 C's in bursary, or turned 20. Nowadays funding has gone down, and there are caps on how many students universities can enroll. In fact, in some cases if universities enroll too many students, they actually lose funding.

The difference between university entrance and a guaranteed entrance score

When I refer to a university programme I'm referring to subject areas that you can focus on. For example engineering, management, medicine, marketing, and physiology are all programmes of study. When you study at university you generally focus on one or two subject areas. Some universities use different terms, but for our purposes programme is useful.

University entrance consists of getting a certain number of credits that makes you eligible to enter into university, but does not mean you will get a place. What you really want to focus on is your guaranteed entrance score.  A guaranteed entrance score means you are guaranteed a place in the programme that you apply for. Different programmes (e.g. health, science, engineering, arts) have different guaranteed entrance scores.

Currently the minimum university entrance score isn’t enough to guarantee you a place at a number of universities.  Therefore to get into the programme you want you need to make sure you get the guaranteed entrance score, otherwise you will be on a waitlist and unlikely to get in.

Calculating university entrance scores

If you are doing NCEA then university entrance consists of getting a certain amount of credits at levels 1, 2 and 3. You need to get some credits in maths, some in reading and some in writing. You also need some credits at level 3 in subjects approved for university entrance. See the image below for a breakdown of these credits.

(Source: www.careers.govt.nz)

What this means is that you need a total of 42 credits at level 3. Of these credits 14 need to come from one approved subject, 14 from another approved subject, with the final 14 coming from no more than two different approved subjects.

You also need to meet literacy and numeracy standards, which are:

• For literacy, a minimum of eight credits at Level 2 or higher in English or Te Reo Māori. Four credits must be in reading and four credits must be in writing.
• For numeracy, a minimum of 14 credits at Level 1 or higher in Mathematics or Pāngarau.

Calculating guaranteed entrance scores

(Note that the score is calculated from the best 80 credits, therefore some of the achieved credits are left out of the calculation. If you have less than 80 credits at level 3 then all your credits will be counted)

These scores are different from the university entrance score. At the University of Auckland, Victoria University of Wellington and Otago University you must achieve a guaranteed entrance score (GES) in order to be certain that you will be accepted into your chosen programme. Your GES is calculated from your best 80 credits from up to five approved university entrance subjects. No more than 24 credits can be used from any one subject. The GES is weighted according to whether your credits are achieved, merit or excellence as follows:

• Excellence credits are worth four points
• Merit credits are worth three points
• Achieved credits are worth two points

Try this awesome GES calculator from Otago University to see what kind of score you might be able to get.

Below is an example taken from the University of Auckland website:

(Note that the score is calculated from the best 80 credits, therefore some of the achieved credits are left out of the calculation. If you have less than 80 credits at level 3 then all your credits will be counted)

What does this mean for me?

A key point is that your excellence credits are multiplied by four, and your merit credits multiplied by three. This means that credits endorsed with merit or excellence can really help boost your GES score. You should target your approach to assessments to achieve merit and excellence in NCEA. Entry criteria are absolutely achievable for all students, they just need to keep it in mind throughout levels 1, 2 and 3.

While most universities use the same scoring system, they do different things with the score. Each university has its own minimum GES requirements to guarantee you entry into your chosen programme. The score is higher for more popular and challenging programmes, and lower for less popular or less challenging programmes.

Just getting university entrance by achieving 42 level 3 credits would get you a score of 84, but you really need about 140 to ensure a place  in a degree programme. It's not as daunting as it sounds, remember that you need 80 level 3 credits to pass NCEA level 3, and if those were all in endorsed achieved and inapproved subjects then your GES or rank score would be 160. Also keep in mind that you need to score above 180 – 220 to take science subjects, engineering, and health sciences. You can check the specific score requirements at the relevant university websites.

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About the author

Jesse Pirini is the head tutor at Pencilcase Tutoring in Auckland. Pencilcase delivers one-to-one tutoring to high school and university students in their own homes. Jesse and other tutors cover the Auckland region and tutor Maths, English, Science and other subjects for NCEA, Cambridge and IB. Get in touch to find out how Pencilcase tutors can help you or your child reach academic goals this year.