NCEA's biggest strength, may also be its biggest weakness

A new study by the Victoria University of Wellington has found students taking algebra and calculus in NCEA Level One and Two ... has dramatically dropped.

In 2018, just over 49 percent of Level One students took Algebra, however in 2013, 82 percent were taking the subject.

Victoria University Education Lecturer Dr Bronwyn Wood says the decline reflects the design of the NCEA system and it being incredibly flexible.

She says it can result in students going down pathways to nowhere, resulting in subject mistakes that they can't fix later on.