Question 1

What is NCEA AS 91931 about?

Accepted Answer

This is a Level 1 external exam (sat at the end of the year, marked by NZQA) worth 4 credits. It is about how farming and growing practices affect the environment, and whether those practices are sustainable — meaning they protect soil, water, biodiversity, and the climate for future generations. Students pick a primary production system they know (for example, dairy farming, sheep and beef, cropping, or horticulture) and use it to answer questions about specific management practices like irrigation, fertiliser use, pest control, or riparian planting. Students also need to show they understand a relevant Māori concept, such as tiakitanga (guardianship/stewardship), tūhononga (connectedness), or manaakitanga (care and respect), in the context of looking after the environment.

Question 2

What do students need to do for AS 91931?

Accepted Answer

1. Choose a primary production system (e.g. a dairy farm, vegetable growing operation) and use it throughout your answers. 2. Describe specific management practices — things farmers or growers actually do, like applying fertiliser, planting along riverbanks, controlling pests, or irrigating crops. 3. Explain the positive and/or negative impacts those practices have on the environment, focusing on water quality, soil quality, biodiversity, and climate change. 4. Show you understand at least one Māori concept (such as tiakitanga) and connect it to environmental sustainability in your chosen system. 5. For higher grades, weigh up both the good and bad environmental impacts and make clear, logical judgements about which practices are better choices and why.

Question 3

What's the difference between Achieved, Merit, and Excellence for AS 91931?

Accepted Answer

Achieved: You can describe a management practice and explain a basic positive or negative impact it has on the environment — for example, noting that fertiliser use can affect water or soil quality. Your answer is linked to a real production system. Merit: You go further by explaining how and why a management practice leads to a specific environmental outcome — for example, explaining that excess fertiliser causes nutrient leaching into waterways, reducing water quality. You make clear connections between the practice and the environmental process involved. Excellence: You evaluate management practices by discussing both their positive and negative environmental impacts, linking everything clearly to your chosen production system and to specific environmental processes. Your answers are well structured, concise (no repeating yourself), and show strong reasoning about which management choices best support long-term environmental sustainability.

Question 4

What mistakes do students typically make in AS 91931?

Accepted Answer

1. Describing how a management practice is carried out (the method) without saying what impact it actually has on soil, water, or biodiversity — the exam wants the environmental effect, not just the process. 2. Giving long, repetitive answers that say the same thing multiple times in different words, rather than clearly explaining the link between the practice and its environmental impact. 3. Leaving out the Māori concept entirely, or mentioning it without connecting it to environmental sustainability — this is a required part of the exam and missing it costs marks. 4. Giving incomplete answers — not finishing all parts of each question means marks are left on the table. 5. Only talking about one environmental resource (e.g. just water) instead of addressing soil, water quality, biodiversity, and climate where the question asks for them.

Production sustainability

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