2027 Course Selection Information
2027 Year 9-10 Course Information
Senior College 2027 Course Information
Course Subject Charges
To ensure we continue delivering the high-quality education that our students and staff value, we rely on a combination of Special Character Voluntary Donations, school fundraising efforts, and the International College programme. Unfortunately, the State funding alone does not cover the full cost of our curriculum and programmes.
The school has made every effort to avoid imposing general subject charges as part of the core curriculum. Students will have the opportunity to excel using the resources provided by the school. * However, to enhance the range of activities, projects, and experiences available, there are likely to be additional costs associated with some optional subjects and extracurricular activities. Caregivers are emailed a link with required stationery later in Term 4.
Permission for these optional activities must be obtained in advance and costs may be charged to your child’s school account, or in some cases, payment must be made before the event. If you agree to these activities, any charges may be enforced by our finance department to honour our own agreements.
Please review our updated terms and conditions to avoid unnecessary charges.
Your generous donations play a crucial role in helping us maintain the standard of education our school is known for. We sincerely encourage you to contribute to this fund, via any suggested contributions or donations, as it directly benefits your child, enriching and enhancing their learning experience. Participation in any optional activities is therefore encouraged, but no student will be academically disadvantaged for choosing not to participate.
Thank you for your continued support and commitment to our school community.
* Faculty Leaders have identified the minimum amount of photocopying required by a student to achieve excellence in their subjects. This photocopying credit will be given to students on a ‘Photocopy Account’. If students exceed this amount, then the student and family must pay for further printing.
Helpful information for selecting courses
- All advanced scientific and technical occupations require Mathematics to NCEA Level 3. You need to continue with Mathematics if you are interested in careers such as Accountancy, Physical Education, Psychology, Medicine, Consumer Science, Health and Physical Sciences.
- If you want to keep a scientific, engineering, many technical or medical careers open as a possibility, you should take Mathematics, Chemistry and Physics.
- Most Science careers require Biology with Chemistry or Physics with Chemistry.
- If you are definitely not interested in any of the above careers, you should consider breadth of option choice to keep doors open. The inclusion of Mathematics in your course increases the range of career opportunities which may be open to you.
- If you are not sure what you wish to do, Mathematics with two/three Science subjects plus a language-rich subject will open entry into *most* university courses.
- Attaining high standards in English and communication skills is essential for some career areas and is useful for
- Students heading in the direction of medical sciences need to remember that an arts course is required.
- If your career interest requires a specific course such as Art, Music, a language, etc then this must be included in your option choices.
Understanding University Entrance 
Due to the complexity of establishing a consistent standard for entry to a NZ University it is important
that all students are aware of the entry criteria. It may impact on the units of study you choose to include in your course at Level 3.
Please familiarise yourself with our handbook on The National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA). This is designed for parents and students to understand how we manage NCEA at Middleton Grange School.
For NZ Permanent Residents and Citizens
NCEA Level 3 is required for entry into university. This must include at least 14 credits in each of 3 approved subjects and the literacy and numeracy requirements.
IMPORTANT: Some courses are not on the Approved Subjects list at Level 3. You can check the NZQA website for an up to date list here: University Entrance – Approved Subjects and Standards
Alternative Entry Pathway
For students who do not achieve entry to university in Year 13, University of Canterbury has a Certificate of University Preparation. Other universities also offer this entry method.
In addition to gaining a university entrance qualification, students need to meet specific criteria. A rank score has been introduced to raise the bar and this is different for each faculty/programme. This is called GES (Guaranteed Entry Score) or RES (Rank Entry Score) and is used in some courses, in some universities.
Your Guaranteed Entry Score (GES) is based on your best 80 credits at Level 3.
Excellence = 4, Merit = 3 and Achieved = 2. Unit standards = 2 points
When making subject choices – a minimum of four UE approved subjects is strongly recommended.
If in doubt, check with the Careers Department on an individual basis to see if your situation meets the requirements to enter a chosen university.
Please note: The benchmark is changing all the time and is different for each university. Consult their website for further details.
Important information for students entering Year 13
Please note the following:
- Universities have limited entry to some courses. Therefore, even if you have met the minimum requirements, you may not have entry to the courses you wish to take.
- Some programmes, for example fine arts and music, have additional requirements, like an audition, interview or portfolio of work.
- Some commerce, medicine and engineering courses have additional academic requirements.
- IELTS cannot be used for University Entrance. If you have studied at a New Zealand School, you must use NCEA University Entrance minimum literacy.
- International students are required to have at least the same qualifications as a New Zealand born or Native English-speaking student.
- Some courses may require more credits for students for whom English is their second language.
- Te Pūkenga and other colleges, and some private providers also offer Diploma and Degree courses, and you need to be aware of their entry requirements.
- Check with the careers staff or appropriate Head of Faculty which subjects you should take in Year 13 for further study.
MOST IMPORTANT:
- You need to check EARLY in the year the entry requirements for the course and institution you wish to attend. These are constantly changing at all tertiary institutions.
- Do NOT wait until November – you may miss out!
- Attend the career information visits and speakers.
- See the teacher in charge of the Tertiary and Vocational Department.
Helpful Careers Advice
- Mrs Wilson, the Tertiary and Vocational Coordinator at school – careers.gateway@middleton.school.nz
- Middleton CareerWise for all up to date careers news, jobs, scholarships apprenticeship opportunities, links to all the major New Zealand Tertiary Institutions and careers sites such as
UC Careers, Just the Job and Money Hub - Careers NZ for an extensive jobs database and great tools to help you discover your best career option.
- The Course Selection and Mini Careers Expo in Term 3 in the school gym.
- The tertiary liaisons who visit the school in Terms 1 and 3.
- Computer Programmes are available in the school library to provide information (and a printout if desired) on various careers, necessary tertiary courses of study, and the institutions that provide such courses.
New Zealand Scholarship
Scholarship is a monetary award that recognises top students. It does not attract credits, nor does it contribute towards a qualification; but the fact that a student has gained a Scholarship will appear on the Record of Learning.
The assessment for New Zealand Scholarship is standards based (but not using achievement or unit standards) and all assessments are external.
Scholarship is awarded to the best students in each of the 33 Scholarship subjects.
Scholarship enables students to be assessed against challenging standards and is demanding for the most able students in each subject.
A student who achieves scholarship will have demonstrated, within complex situations, higher level critical thinking, abstraction and generalisation and the ability to integrate, synthesise and apply knowledge, skills, understanding and ideas.
Depending on the area of study, a student will display a range of:
- Comprehensive content knowledge (breadth and depth)
- Effective communication
- Original or sophisticated solutions, performances, or approaches
- Critical evaluation
- Flexible thinking in unfamiliar/unexpected contexts.
If you have achieved numerous standards with excellence throughout your school studies and are doing level 3 standards at school, you may want to be assessed for the New Zealand Scholarship.
Scholarship assessments include content covered across all NCEA levels, so a separate course is not needed. However, individual subjects run a tutorial outside of class time to prepare students for the rigour of Scholarship.
Eligible candidates can deter taking up their monetary rewards for one year. A candidate needs to attain 3 or more Scholarships IN THE SAME YEAR to be eligible for the awards of Scholarship, Outstanding Scholarship, or Premier Scholarship.
Results will show that the Scholarship standard has been achieved (=S).
Assessment and Certification Rules and Procedures for Secondary Schools
The Scholarship Monetary Awards will comprise:
| Single Subject Awards | For candidates who get Scholarship in up to two subjects
A ‘one-off’ award of $500 per subject (maximum payment $1000) |
| Top Subject Scholar Award | For candidates who are top in one of the 33 Scholarship subjects
$2,000 each year for up to three years as long as candidates maintain a ‘B’ grade average in tertiary study |
| Scholarship Award | For candidates who get Scholarship in three or more subjects
$2,000 each year for up to three years as long as candidates maintain a ‘B’ grade average in tertiary study |
| Outstanding Scholar Award | For the top 40-60 candidates. The minimum eligibility requirement to be considered for this award is three Scholarships with at least two at “Outstanding” level or more than three Scholarships with at least one at “Outstanding”. The number of recipients for this award is restricted and achieving the minimum requirement will not guarantee an award.
$5,000 each year for three years as long as candidates maintain a ‘B’ grade average in tertiary study |
| Premier Award | For the very top 5 to 10 candidates. The minimum eligibility requirement to be considered for this award is at least three Scholarships at “Outstanding” level. The number of recipients for this award is restricted and achieving the minimum requirement will not guarantee an award.
$10,000 each year for up to three years if candidates maintain at least a ‘B’ grade average in tertiary study |
Note
Some subjects at Middleton Grange School offer special classes to prepare students for the Scholarship exams. Ask your Head of Faculty what assistance is offered in the subjects you might consider for the Scholarship award. International fee-paying students attending overseas universities are not eligible for the national Scholarship monetary awards. They may enter the examinations and will have their Scholarship success recorded on their Record of Learning.