NCEA Level 1 Physics, Earth and Space Science: standards and exam

NCEA Level 1 PESS standards

That is 10 external and 10 internal credits, 20 in total. These standards came in with the new Level 1 in 2024 and replaced the earlier Level 1 Physics standards, AS90935 to AS90939. NZQA's past exams and assessment schedules are on its PESS past exams page.

The NCEA Level 1 PESS exam

NZQA's 2027 assessment specifications say the exam is on printed paper and you may use an approved calculator. Each standard has three questions. For 92046 you answer using the resources provided as well as your own knowledge, and annotated diagrams can be used. For 92047 the three questions focus on mechanical, thermal and electrical energy, answers are supported by diagrams, graphs and calculations, and the paper contains all the formulae you need.

What each external covers

The Sun and the Earth-Moon system (92046)

The interactions are the positions of the Sun, Earth and Moon relative to each other, the tilt of the Earth, the Earth's orbit around the Sun, the Moon's orbit around the Earth and the Earth's spin. The patterns you explain are tides, day and night, seasons, Moon phases, lunar and solar eclipses, and how each varies with latitude or over time. Excellence answers discuss how the effect varies on the Earth, linking science ideas with observations.

A physical system using energy concepts (92047)

A physical system is a defined space with an object or interacting objects, such as a vacuum flask, an insulated home, a simple electrical circuit, or an object being lifted or falling. You describe and explain a change to the system using energy transfer, conservation of energy and forms of energy (mechanical, thermal and electrical), and for Excellence you examine the implications of the change.

Worked examples

Energy: a falling ball

A 0.50 kg ball falls 2.0 m. Taking g = 9.8 N kg⁻¹ (use the value on your paper), the gravitational potential energy it loses is:

With no air resistance, all of this becomes kinetic energy, so ½mv² = 9.8 J and the ball lands at v = √(2 × 9.8 ÷ 0.50) = 6.3 m s⁻¹. With air resistance, friction warms the air and the ball a little, so less kinetic energy is left and the ball lands more slowly. Energy is still conserved.

Energy: a kettle and its efficiency

A 2000 W kettle runs for 3.0 minutes. The electrical energy it uses is E = Pt = 2000 × 180 = 360,000 J. The 1.0 kg of water inside warms by 70 °C, which takes 1.0 × 4200 × 70 = 294,000 J of thermal energy, so the efficiency is 294,000 ÷ 360,000 = 82%. The rest heats the kettle and the air around it.

Sun, Earth and Moon: seasons in Aotearoa

The Earth's axis is tilted about 23.5° to its orbit. In December the Southern Hemisphere tilts towards the Sun, so the Sun is higher in the sky, its rays strike the ground more directly and spread their energy over a smaller area, and days are longer. That is why New Zealand has summer in December while the Northern Hemisphere has winter.

Sun, Earth and Moon: spring and neap tides

Spring tides, with the largest range between high and low tide, happen at new Moon and full Moon, when the Sun, Earth and Moon line up and their pulls on the oceans combine. Neap tides, with the smallest range, happen near the quarter Moons, when the Sun and Moon pull at right angles.

Work out the energy an appliance uses and what it costs in our Electricity course, then press Mark to check your answer in the course:

Grades, credits and endorsements

Every NCEA standard is graded Not Achieved, Achieved, Merit or Excellence, and earns its credits at whatever grade you reach. Achieved shows you meet the standard, Merit shows deeper understanding, and Excellence shows it applied to harder, unfamiliar problems.

• The certificate: NCEA Level 1 needs 60 credits at Level 1 or above, plus the 20-credit literacy and numeracy co-requisite, which you can gain any time before you leave school. Since 2024 you can no longer carry 20 credits over from the level below.
• Certificate endorsement: 50 credits at Merit or better gives a Merit endorsement; 50 at Excellence gives an Excellence endorsement.
• Course endorsement: 14 or more credits at Merit or Excellence in one subject in one year, with at least 3 from internal and 3 from external standards in most subjects.

Use the daily paper as a practice exam

Uni-Sine publishes a free daily paper on the NCEA Level 1 PESS track. It is a short timed paper: 8 questions worth 25 to 35 marks, marked instantly, with worked answers. It is not a full NCEA exam and it is not written by NZQA, so treat it as a quick daily practice test alongside NZQA's past papers.

• What it covers well: energy and specific heat capacity, electrical power, series and parallel circuits and stopping distances, which support 92047, plus some space physics.
• What it does not cover: most of 92046: the space questions are about orbits and stars, not tides, seasons, Moon phases and eclipses. It misses the internals too, and includes the electromagnetic spectrum, radioactivity, pressure and momentum, which are not Level 1 PESS externals.

A good routine is one daily paper under timed conditions, then a careful look at every mark you dropped, then one NZQA past paper a week in the weeks before the exam.

NCEA changes for 2026, 2027 and beyond

NCEA still applies in 2026 and 2027, so the standards on this page are the ones you will sit. In 2028, Year 11 moves to a new foundational award focused on reading, writing and maths, and NCEA Level 1 ends. The Government agreed the structure of the new qualification system on 26 March 2026, and the Ministry of Education confirmed further details and the timeline on 16 May 2026.

Common mistakes in NCEA Level 1 PESS

• Saying seasons come from the distance to the Sun. They come from the tilt of the Earth's axis.
• Saying energy is used up or lost. Energy is transferred to other forms, often thermal energy in the surroundings.
• Forgetting the resource. In 92046, use the data, tide tables or images you are given as evidence.
• Calculating without explaining. Merit and Excellence need the energy change explained and its implications discussed, not just a number.

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