华裔哈佛小哥详解新西兰高中四大课程考试特点：选择适合自己的考试是考大学的关键！

上周，新西兰哈佛华裔学霸Ben Zhang（张一彬）为亲自撰写了《新西兰高中生应该如何选课？——第一篇：四大课程内容篇》，本周，我们为大家推出《新西兰高中生应该如何选课？——第二篇：四大课程考试篇》

作者简介

Ben Zhang是哈佛大学的大三学生，专业为分子细胞生物学和统计学（Molecular and Cellular Biology and Statistics）。Ben毕业于奥克兰著名高中Macleans，高中阶段学习剑桥A Level课程，曾连续两年获得Dux学生。在剑桥考试中，获得AS Level物理，A Level化学、英语新西兰地区第一，A Level生物、英语文学科目获世界第一的成绩。

Ben曾获得新西兰剑桥协会（ACSNZ）颁发的“新西兰三大国际最佳A Level奖（Best Across Three Cambridge International A Levels in New Zealand）”。此外，他还获得新西兰NZQA奖学金的Premier Scholar大奖（每年只有10名左右高中生获此殊荣），并获得物理、化学的单科奖学金。Ben还代表新西兰参加了国际化学奥林匹克竞赛和国际生物奥林匹克竞赛，并分别获得了一枚铜牌和一枚金牌。

Ben认为，学习方法和学习效率固然重要，但选课选得对不对，适合不适合自己，才是关键。因为没有一个课程是适合所有人学习的完美课程，因此选课一定要懂得“扬长避短”，选择一种尽量能发挥自己优势，避免劣势的课程学习 ，才能最大程度上取得理想的成绩。

为了让学弟、学妹们在高中第一步就找准适合自己的方向，Ben特别根据自己的学习体会从课程内容、考试方式等逐一分析了新西兰几大课程的特点，亲自撰写了几篇关于选课的系列文章。学霸亲身总结的选课经验，绝对值得一读！

以下为补充资料，新西兰四大课程基本介绍，如果你已经熟悉了这部分内容，可以跳过这个部分直接往下读正文：

IB课程

IB全名International Baccalaureate，是全球国际学校广泛采用的课程体系，至今已有50年的历史。IB课程，由世界性组织IBO来管理，所以课程的设置以及评分标准不受任何国家政府的干预或影响。IB包括从小学，初中到高中，以及职业教育的一系列课程，满分45分。

NCEA课程

NCEA是National Certificate of Educational Achievement（新西兰国家教育证书）的简称。2002年起，新西兰逐年停止从Year 11到Year 13的全国性会考，代之以NCEA课程及其成绩考核制度。学生从Year 11到Year 13，依序通过学分考核并获颁Level 1、Level 2、Level 3的正式学历证书。

剑桥A Level

英国剑桥CIE原名为 Cambridge International Examinations（剑桥国际认证考试），于2017年9月更名为Cambridge Assessment International Education，即CAIE。剑桥证书考试始于 1951 年，隶属于剑桥大学的剑桥国际考试委员会。剑桥国际高中学历考试（CAIE），包括剑桥 IGCSE(Y11), AS Level (Y12) 和剑桥 A Level (Y13)。剑桥IGCSE，AS Level/A Level都是基于学科的证书考试， 通常在高中的最后三年内进行。

Edexcel A Level

Edexcel A Level课程是由新西兰第一所在线高中CGA所引入的新课程，和CAIE剑桥课程同属于A-level 课程。不同的是，CAIE是国际课程，英国以外的国家多采用这种课程，而英国本土则有45%的学校采用Edexcel课程，英国本土很多知名高中也对Edexcel青睐有加。同为A-level 课程，Edexcel和CAIE对知识的难度、宽度相当，课程设置也十分相像，并且两个课程都允许学生重考，而且以最好成绩作为最终成绩。不同的是，二者的重考方式不同：Edexcel的一个科目可以选择不同部分分别重考，而CAIE却不可以部分重考，因此Edexcel可以最大限度地帮助学生获得更加理想的成绩。

新西兰高中生应该如何选课？

（第二篇：四大课程考试篇）

——作者Ben Zhang（张一彬）

Ben从Macleans College校长手中接过Dux奖杯

爱它还是恨它，考试都会存在，无论你对考试这一形式的评估系统是否心存不满，上考场终究是躲不过的。虽然躲不过，但是你可以做的是选择哪种形式的考试，因为你所选择的课程的不同会直接造成你的考试类型不同。新西兰四大课程的考试各有特点。

大家所熟知的在新西兰通常会遇到的三大类型考试是：剑桥A Level考试，即CAIE（之前名为CIE）；International Baccalaureate，IB考试；以及新西兰国家教育成就证书（National Certificate of Educational Achievement），即NCEA。还有我们前面提到的新的一种考试，由CGA引入的Edexcel A Level考试。

让我们从IB课程说起。IB课程，全称International Baccalaureate。IB课程要求学生从六大类科目组中选取6门不同课程并完成相应的评估。评估分为“外部考试”（External Examination）和“内部测试”（internal Assessment）两种，外部考试是在学生12年级（美国/澳洲）或13年级（英国/新西兰）的最后时间进行，而内部测试则分布在学生高中的最后两年以不同的形式进行。

所谓的“外部考试”，即使占总成绩的其中一部分，并且因为“内部测试”成绩也占据一定比例，因此这大大削减了“外部考试”的重要性，但是通常大家都认为最后的这次考试至关重要，因为这一张试卷不仅包含了过去两年所学到的所有知识点，同时这次考试成绩对于判断你是否能取得NZQA奖学金起到了关键作用，因此面对这一锤定音的考试，学生怎能不倍感压力？高中最后一年的这次最后的考试，意味着你只能成功不能失败，因为它没有给你再考一次的机会。

IB的6个学科的每门课程的评分范围均为1（最低）至7（最高），满分是42。除此以外，学生还必须完成Talk\Theory of Knowledge（简称TOK)和拓展性论文(Extended Essay)，这两项将给出一个综合评分Fail / 0-3（3分最高）。将每门课成绩相加得出学生的总成绩，IB的总分满分是42+3=45分。

剑桥A Level（CAIE）和Edexcel A Level均将考试分为两年：第一年叫AS level考试，第二年叫A2 level考试。但是学生成绩仅由每年的这一次考试决定，没有分布在平时的成绩作为参考，即12年级的期末进行AS level考试，13年级的期末进行A2 level考试，然后取两次成绩的平均分得出最终的A level成绩，成绩分别由字母代表，即Fail/E,D, C, B, A, A*。

剑桥课程每年会提供两次考试机会，而Edexcel课程则提供每年三次的考试机会，这让考生可以有更充足的时间准备他们有可能提高成绩的科目。此外，Edexcel的模块化科目结构（modular subject structure）允许学生重考一个学科中的单个科目，而不是像剑桥课程那样必须重考整个学科。

例如，Edexcel 的数学分为两个科目/试卷：Pure Maths（纯数学）和Statistics（统计学）。如果学生在统计学试卷上获得高分，但是纯数学部分的考试不理想，那么Edexcel允许他们在下一次考试中只参加“纯数学”的科目考试。

举例说明

与剑桥A Level相比，这是一个明显的优势。因为如果剑桥考试体系下的学生想获得更好的成绩，就要求学生重新学习并重新复习这两个科目。鉴于一个单科的高成绩往往影响着一个学生是否有可能进入顶尖大学，因此重新安排学科的灵活性非常重要。 

Edexcel的评分方式也要比剑桥更精准，它更能选拔出成绩优异的学生。如果你希望向最有竞争力的大学展示自己的学术能力，那么我觉得Edexcel是一个很好的选择。和IB相比，我个人更喜欢A level的评估方式，因为没有“内部测试”意味着在学期初中期，自己有更多属于自己的时间，而不必担心每两周进行一次的测评（测评成绩会计入我的最终成绩）。这样我就有充裕的时间可以参加两个国际科学奥林匹克竞赛，以及学校的网球和篮球比赛。

最后说一下NCEA课程。NCEA的技能和知识是根据许多成就标准进行评估的。例如，数学的学习标准可能要求学生运用三角形解决测量问题。

NCEA是由平时的“内部测试”和每年年底一次的“外部考试”组成的，外部考试是用来评估学生是否达到这一学年的要求，并且外部考试没有参加重考的机会。当学生达到标准时，他们会获得相应的学分。

学生必须获得一定数量的学分才能获得NCEA颁发的证书 - 在NCEA 3级时需修满80个学分，其中20个学分可以从2级中选择。每项NCEA成就标准均有以下四个等级：Not Achieved（不及格，N），Achieved（及格，A），Merit（良好，M）和Excellent（优秀，E） ，而且这些等级都有相对应的学分。如果学生想拿到单科良好（Merit）或者优秀（Excellenc）的成绩，则需要在这个科目中至少拿到14学分（有的要求18-25学分，取决于学校和科目的不同），如果想拿到总成绩良好（Merit）或者优秀（Excellenc），则要拿到50学分以上。正是因为NCEA的评分方式不是具体的分数制，而是等级学分制，根据预先定好的评分标准，评出N0、N1、N2、A3、A4、M5、M6、E7、E8个等级，对于优等生来说，这样的评分制度他们之间并没有显示出太大的差异，也就不如其他考试系统更能体现出优秀生的优势。

此外，与A Level或IB考试不同，NCEA的评分比较主观，并且“内部测试”在总成绩中占比很大。通常情况下，在等级评分中，对于“优秀”的定义是“证明对此知识学科的精通”。那么显然，每个老师对“精通”会有不同的见解，导致评分的标准和方式不甚相同。这使一些参加NCEA的学生拿到成绩后，感到非常困惑和沮丧，因为他们并不明确地知道取得“优秀”到底需要做什么。

另外，频繁的内部测试以及NCEA更注重每个学科中细节考核的特点，使学生花大量时间应付各种考试，尤其是在STEM学科中，而没有时间专注于更深入的研究和学习更系统的知识。

英文版

Curriculum Choices: 

The Exams

Love it or hate it, everyone has strong opinions about exams and assessments. The exams and assessments you do differ greatly by what curriculum you choose to study. You are likely familiar with the Cambridge A Levels (CAIE, formerly CIE), the International Baccalaureate (IB), and the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA). You may not, however, be familiar with Edexcel A levels. This is an alternative A Level qualification, offered by Crimson Online Academy (CGA), NZ’s first fully certified online high school. Choosing the qualification with the assessment structure that best suits your learning style will help you get the grades necessary for admission into top universities and set you up for your dream career. Here at CGA, we have created a blog series to help you understand the differences of these four educational systems. In this blog, we will be looking at the methods of assessment each educational system uses and which students best fit each system. Understanding assessments is the most important part of choosing a qualification pathway as it will have big implications for winning prestigious scholarships further on down the road.

Let’s start with IB. IB has only one set of external examinations that students take at the end of Grade 12 (US), Year 12 (AUS), or Year 13 (UK/NZ) on all six subjects with internal assessments spread throughout the two final years of high school. These contribute to a small fraction of their final grade, and although internals help lower the stakes of the externals, the fact that students are assessed on materials from two years of learning all at once can be extremely stressful. These high-stakes exams will be on top of trying to apply for university and sitting NZQA Scholarship examinations at the end of Year 13, backloading all the work. Taking exams at the end of your final year also means that you only have one opportunity to do well on your exams, with no opportunity to resit should those exam-day nerves get the better of you. Each of the 6 subjects in IB are graded 1-7 and the EE and ToK grades are combined to produce a score of Fail/0-3. These individual scores are added together to get the students’ IB diploma score out of 45. 

Edexcel and Cambridge A levels are also split up over two years: the AS level in the first year and the A2 level in the second year. However, students’ grades are only determined by the external exams they sit at the end of Year 12 for AS and Year 13 for A2 with no internal assessments. The final A level grade is the average of your AS and A2 on a letter grade scale of Fail/ E, D, C, B, A, A*. While Cambridge offers external exams twice a year, Edexcel offers its exams three times every year. This gives plenty of opportunities to resit subjects where you feel you have the potential to improve your score. Furthermore, Edexcel’s modular subject structure allows you to resit individual papers instead of entire subjects like in Cambridge. For example, Edexcel Maths is split up into two papers: Pure Maths and Statistics. If a student were to score highly on the Statistics paper but achieved a lower score than they were hoping for on the Pure Maths paper, Edexcel would allow them to resit just the Pure Maths paper in the next exam session. This is a clear advantage over Cambridge, which would require the student to restudy for, and resit, both papers if the student wanted a better grade. Given a single higher grade can be the difference between admission and rejection to a top university, this flexibility to resit subjects is highly important.

Edexcel’s mark scheme is also more granular than that of Cambridge, meaning that it is better at separating mid and high achieving students. This is perfect for students wanting to signal their academic ability to the most competitive universities. I loved taking A levels because not having internals means that I have the time to have fun with the content without the stress of biweekly assessments that count towards my final grade. It also suited my time-demanding extracurricular schedule of participating in two International Science Olympiads and playing on the school Premier tennis and volleyball teams. CGA gives even further flexibility on top of all this by adjusting to your weekly schedule to help you get the most out of your education. 

In NCEA, skills and knowledge are assessed against a number of achievement standards. For example, a Mathematics standard could require students to apply trigonometric methods in solving problems. Regular internal assessments and external exams at the end of each year are used to measure how well students meet these standards – with no opportunities for resits in the external exams. When a student achieves a standard, they gain a number of credits. Students must achieve a certain number of credits to gain an NCEA certificate – 80 in the case of NCEA Level 3, with 20 of those credits allowed to be carried up from Level 2. Each NCEA standard is given one of four grades: Not Achieved, Achieved, Merit or Excellence and these grades apply to the credits that the students are awarded. Students can be “endorsed” with Merit or Excellence both at the subject level and at the certificate level. Students need 14 credits of Merit or Excellence in a single subject (out of 18-25 credits dependent on school and subject) to be endorsed in that subject with Merit or Excellence. To get overall endorsed with Merit or Excellence, students need to achieve 50 credits with Merit or Excellence. This means there isn’t really much differentiation of students at the top as there are no numerical grades given. Furthermore, unlike A levels or IB, NCEA grading is very subjective and varies greatly due to its heavy emphasis on internal assessment. Often, the requirement to achieve Excellence in Standards is “demonstration of mastery over the material.” Teachers end up having different definitions of “mastery,” resulting in inconsistent grading patterns. This leaves many students who take NCEA confused and frustrated as they do not know exactly what they need to do to achieve an Excellence grade. Frequent internals combined with NCEA’s focus on covering every detail of a narrow segment within each subject means that students tend to be more focused on studying to the test, especially in STEM classes, rather than retaining the information needed for further studies.

No matter whether you’re in your final years of school or are just starting to decide which high school curriculum is best for you, if you’re looking for the support you need to get into a top international university, we can help!

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