Fears potential changes to NCEA will leave students behind

The Government's planning of ditching the country's high school qualification system - replacing it with a literacy and numeracy test in year 11 - and certificates the two years after.

Marks will change to letter grades, based on scores out of 100.

Auckland University Education Associate Professor Aaron Wilson says there needs to be a better balance with improving the system whilst keeping subject flexibility.

He says an inevitable consequence is more students will leave school without a qualification, or be put on a vocational pathway too early.