NCEA and Scholarship · 2026
Your exams start on 10 November.
That date is the same for everyone sitting NCEA this year. Here is how long you have got, and what to do with it.
One dot is one day, one for every day left until your exams. You are already inside the 12-week plan, with eight weeks and one day of it still to go.
Tue, 10 November to Fri, 4 December · the whole exam period
9:30 am or 2:00 pm · every session starts at one of these
Mid-January 2027 · results come out
Eight weeks and one day. That is the count to the first exam of the period, not to your own paper.
Your revision path
Twelve weeks, cut into five bits
Pick your level and the subjects you are sitting. The order below does not change with the subject, and that is deliberate - it is the order that works for all of them.
Level
Subjects you are sitting
Your Level 2 plan
You are here: stage 1 of 5 - Get the list12 weeks out
From Tue, 18 August
Get the list
Write out every standard you are sitting, subject by subject. Not notes yet, just the list, so nothing turns up in November that you had forgotten about.
8 weeks out
From Tue, 15 September
Find the weak ones
Mark each standard red, orange or green, honestly. Then spend this whole month on the reds only. The greens will keep.
4 weeks out
From Tue, 13 October
Past papers, properly
One full past paper per subject per week. Timed, notes shut. Mark it against the schedule afterwards, because that is where the marks actually are.
2 weeks out
From Tue, 27 October
Cut it right down
Turn each subject into one page you would actually read the night before. If it does not fit on the page, it does not go in.
Exam week
From Tue, 10 November
Sleep, then turn up
Sessions start at 9:30 am or 2:00 pm. Check your own dates on NZQA, get there early, and do not learn anything new on the day.
Getting help
Every week you wait is one lesson you do not get.
At one lesson a week, this is simply what is left between now and Tue, 10 November. Nothing else, just the calendar.
Find a tutor for your subjectsFree to send a request, and you are not committed to anything by sending one.
Start this week
8 weeks until Tue, 10 November
8
Start 1 October
6 weeks until Tue, 10 November
6
Lessons counted at one a week up to Tue, 10 November 2026.
Why there is no subject-by-subject table here
Every subject has its own date and session somewhere inside that exam window, and we do not list them on this page. An earlier version did; three of the four dates we spot-checked were wrong, and a wrong exam date is worse than no table at all.
NZQA publishes the real one and keeps it up to date. Check yours there, then come back and use the plan above.
Open the official NZQA exam timetable →Questions people ask
When exactly do the 2026 exams run?
The national NCEA and Scholarship exam period runs from Tuesday, 10 November 2026 to Friday, 4 December 2026.
What time does my exam start?
One of two times. Morning sessions start at 9:30 am and afternoon sessions start at 2:00 pm. Which one you get depends on the subject, so check yours on NZQA.
Can you tell me the date of my Chemistry exam?
No, and we would rather say that than guess. Per-subject dates live on the NZQA timetable and that is the only copy that is guaranteed current.
When do I start revising?
Twelve weeks out is about right for a plan you can keep to, which puts the start around Tue, 18 August. Later than that is not a disaster, it just means fewer weeks on the standards you find hard.
When do results come out?
Mid-January 2027, through your NZQA learner login.
Fifty-seven days is enough, if you use them.
Tell us the subjects you are sitting and we will show you the tutors who teach them. You can see what has been checked on each one before you say yes to anybody.
57 days to exams
8 lessons left at one a week