3ENG

NCEA Level 3 English

Although next year's timetables have yet to be finalised, course selection has now finished. Please contact Ms Saunders if you wish to make changes to your 2025 selections.

Course Description

Teacher in Charge: Mrs A. Smit.

Students need to be aware that success in English in NCEA at all levels requires application throughout the year, in particular, a commitment to completing homework and maximising assessment opportunities.

The course requires a significant homework commitment. Due to the nature of internal and external assessments supporting each other, under NCEA it is not possible to 'cram study' in the few short weeks of the fourth term and still expect to pass well.

Students who apply themselves steadily throughout the year are able to approach the exams confidently.



This course is designed for students who want to further develop their critical literacy and language skills, and should be taken if there is any consideration of tertiary education beyond school.

The course will cover close readings of mainly New Zealand text using a variety of literary lenses. Students will have the opportunity to deepen their study of a chosen genre through individual research critical analysis. Students will be assessed at the appropriate level for any internal assessments and could enter up to two external standards based on their interests.

This course will offer both UE (University Entrance) reading & writing credits for those students studying at Level 3.

Key topics covered include:

  • Creative writing based on read texts (Term One)
  • Short text study (Term One)
  • Race Unity Speech Competition (Term One)
  • Literary Lens (Term Two)
  • Research, Reading & Responding (Term Two)
  • Visual texts (Term Three - NZ focus)

Career Pathways