Domestic school candidates may be eligible for financial assistance, which subsidises the cost of NCEA and New Zealand Scholarship. Financial assistance applications must be made to schools using the Application for Financial Assistance form. Forms and accompanying fees must be given to the school by Friday 17 August 2018. The school needs time to process applications in its web entry or Student Management System (SMS) to meet the NZQA due date.

The purpose of financial assistance is to ensure that fees are not a barrier to participation in national qualifications for domestic students in low-to- middle income families.  Each year the government provides limited funding for eligible students to assist with the cost of NCEA and New Zealand Scholarship fees. This means that eligible students will pay a reduced administration fee rather than full NZ domestic rates.

Eligibility categories

To be eligible for financial assistance, the applicant (normally the parent or guardian of the candidate) must be the fee-payer and must apply under one of the following application categories/types:

Benefit-based

This includes those already receiving a Work and Income or Study Link benefit. The fee payer must have provided their benefit/Work and Income (WINZ) Client number or Community Services Card (CSC) number in section C on their completed application form.

Income-based

This includes those that do not have CSC, but have a joint family income that would entitle the applicant to receive a CSC. The fee payer ticks the box in section D on the application form to confirm their income qualifies. For more information regarding the income limits for receiving a CSC, see Work and Incomes community services card income thresholds.

Family-based (multiple candidate)

This includes fee-payers with two or more children who are entered for national secondary school assessment, where the total fees to pay would otherwise be more than the $200 multiple candidate maximum. The fee payer ticks the box in section E to confirm the multiple candidates listed in section B are family* members.

Financial Assistance forms are available from the school office.