Students entering Class 3 this September will become the first cohort to undergo the transition to secondary school under a new two-year assessment model, as Ministry of Education Transformation officials sought to reassure anxious parents during a town hall meeting at Alexandra School in St Peter on Tuesday night.

The new approach, which replaces the traditional one-day Common Entrance format for future cohorts, will see students accumulate marks over Classes 3 and 4 through a combination of continuous assessment and standardised tests.

Education minister Chad Blackman said the changes reflected a need to move beyond a system that judged children based on a few hours of testing.