Senior students evacuated mid-way through NCEA exams on Thursday, say they are “upset” about having to rely on previous grades for their end of year results.

On Thursday, 15 “concerning” emails were sent to several institutions around the country including schools and hospitals.

The threats continued on Friday and resulted in the closure of up to 22 schools around Auckland. The High Court was also evacuated after being sent bomb threat emails.

St Kents student, Macey Hirst was in her NCEA level two biology exam on Thursday, when her room was evacuated.

“Probably just a little over an hour into the exam we got an alarm. We thought it was a fire alarm, so we were told to leave all our exam papers on our desks, take our bags and evacuate to the field,” she said.

Hirst waited on the field for about an hour before her father picked her up, but students were still waiting as she left.

“When I found out it was a bomb threat it was incredibly scary.”

On Friday, the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) confirmed students unable to complete their NCEA exams are being advised to apply for a ‘derived’ grade.

Derived grades are evidence-based grades awarded to students who can’t attend an examination, or whose performance is impaired.

It’s based on evidence such as a student’s performance in a formal practice assessment at school.

Hirst told Stuff several of her peers were feeling unhappy about relying on their past grades as they felt they would’ve done better in the end of year exams had they not been disrupted.

“Lots of people are unhappy about it,” the 17-year-old said.

”I definitely wish I could have been able to finish my exam. I felt I was doing a lot better than the mock,” she said.

“But some people are okay with it because they did really well in their mocks and there are others who failed and are feeling quite sad.”

NZQA deputy chief executive, assessment Jann Marshall​ said each school had its own processes for handling a security lockdown, and these applied during the exam period.

“Students who are unable to sit an exam, or whose performance is impaired because of a security incident, can apply for a derived grade, or their school may apply for derived grades at scale to apply,” Marshall said.

“Other local schools were able to support some St Kentigern College students to sit afternoon exams [on Thursday] and these students will be awarded the better of the grade they receive through the exam and the derived grade supplied by St Kentigern’s,” Marshall said.

​ She said students concerned about their derived grade are advised to talk to their teachers.

On Thursday, there were a total of 168 St Kentigern College students who entered to sit an exam. Some of those students were able to sit their afternoon exam at another school.

On Friday, there were a total of 201 students from Long Bay College and 94 students from Orewa College who entered for exams.

Schools closed on Friday

• Ōrewa College – In an alert on their website, Auckland’s Ōrewa College said due to health and safety, the school was to be closed immediately.

• Ōrewa Primary School – Ōrewa Primary School has also been instructed by police to close for the day.

• Stella Maris Catholic Primary School – Stella Maris Catholic Primary School, also in Auckland, confirmed to parents it had received a threat and will be closed on Friday. “While it is considered a low level threat, we are erring on the side of caution”.

• Murrays Bay Intermediate School – Murrays Bay intermediate sent an email to parents, stating they had received a threat, and to not send kids to school until the school said it was safe to do so.

• Silverdale School

• Waitoki School – Waitoki School in Kaukapakapa, to the north of Auckland city, informed parents it had received a bomb threat. The school was closed but would reopen from 9am.

  “The police have advised us that the school has been thoroughly searched and there is no threat.”

  The school will begin lessons at 9.30am and parents are asked not to drop off their children until 9am.

• Mairangi Bay School – Mairangi Bay School also received a threatening email and is closed. “We have procedures in place and the safety of staff and students is our priority” a notice on the school website read.

• Oteha Valley School

• Browns Bay School – An alert on the school’s website states the school is closed due to a bomb threat.

• Stanmore Bay School

• Whangaparāoa Primary School – A Facebook post by Principal Kevin Cronan states that the school had received a threat, and asked parents and caregivers to keep children at home.

• Dairy Flat Primary School – An email sent to parents stated the school had received a threatening email, and asked that students not be sent to school.

• Murrays Bay Primary School

• Long Bay College

• Gulf Harbour School

• Snells Beach School – “The school is in the process of being checked, however, due to the spread-out nature of our design, this is a labourious process,” the school said, thus it would close for the day. “The police consider the threat low, but definitely not zero, and we are not prepared to take any risk at all with our student or staff lives.”

• Helensville School

• Riverhead School – School is closed. “We ask that you come and pick up your child as soon as possible so we can evacuate our buildings.”

• Matakana School – Parents are asked to collect their children from the back field.

• Glamorgan School – A notice on the school website asked parents to collect their children from their classroom. “School is closing today but we will look after any children who cannot be collected.”

• Matua Ngaru School – Principal Michelle Holly thanked the school whānau for its support after it received the threat and closed for the day. “We have placed all learner belongings (school bags and devices) that were on bag hooks in a secure location.”