Senior Courses

In programmes designed to meet the needs of individuals, students may study at an appropriate level to prepare for the National Qualifications Framework (NQF), Level One (Year 11), Level Two (Year 12), Level Three, University Entrance, Level Four Scholarship (Year 13), and develop skills necessary for the modern workforce and practical experience through Skills Pathways.

• NB Year 12 Chemistry, Physics and Biology require at least Year 11 Science; Year 13 Statistics and Calculus require Year 12 Mathematics.
• * Courses with an * indicate that progression of this subject would be through the Correspondence School
• S The subject can be started for the first time at this level
• C This course relies on skills taught the previous year and therefore cannot be started at this level
• C/S Subjects can be started for the first time, if approved by HOF. They may require prerequisites and previous experience is preferred.

Year 11

Religious Education and Physical Education are compulsory, as are an English and a Maths course.
Science is strongly recommended and students must consult the HOF Science and HOF Further Education for careers advice before dropping it.
Yr 11 students must choose a total of five subjects over and above RE and PE.
All subjects contribute credits towards the National Qualifications Framework.
To advance to Level 2 a student must achieve 12 to 15 credits in each subject (minimum of 80 credits in total with up to 20 more credits carried over to Level 2).

Year 12

Religious Education is compulsory.
No other subject is compulsory but there is a Level 2 literacy requirement for University Entrance, therefore an English course at Level 2 is strongly recommended.
Yr 12 students must choose 5 subjects over and above RE which can be at either Level 1 or Level 2.
All subjects contribute credits towards the National Qualifications Framework.
To advance to Level 3, a student must achieve 12-16 credits at Level 2 in each subject (minimum of 80 credits in total, 60 of which must be from Level 2 or above).

Year 13

Religious Education is compulsory.
No other subject is compulsory but there is a Level 2 literacy requirement (4 reading and 4 writing credits) as well as an increased Level 1 numeracy requirement for University Entrance (14 credits).
Yr 13 students must choose 5 subjects over and above RE which can be at either Level 1, Level 2 or Level 3.
To be eligible to enter 5 Level 3 NCEA courses a student requires 60 credits at Level 2 including a minimum of 14 Achievement Standard credits in any 4 Level 2 courses. Entry into individual Level 3 courses may have their own specific criteria which must be met (check subject information).
All subjects contribute credits towards the National Qualifications Framework at their specified level.

NCEA Scholarship

Students in a secondary school in New Zealand have the opportunity to win a Scholarship.

Level 4 NCEA Scholarship assesses students against challenging standards, and will be demanding for the most able students in each subject. Scholarship students are expected to demonstrate high-level critical thinking, abstraction and generalization, and to integrate, synthesise and apply knowledge, skills, understanding and ideas to complex situations. The best students nationally in each of the 27 Scholarship subjects will be awarded Scholarships.

Preparation for Scholarship assessment at St Bede’s is structured according to each subject’s requirements. As much scholarship level achievement depends on a student’s independent thought and application of ideas, scholarship course are tailored to individual needs and interests. Small group tutorials and individual guidance complement the whole-class teaching at Level 3 classes.