It's crunch time for thousands of Bay secondary school students as NCEA exams get underway across the region this morning.

The first exam, which started at 9am, is maths.

Students across the region begin their exams this morning. Photo: File.

More than 40,000 students are sitting NCEA level 1 mathematics, with thousands more taking their level two English exam this afternoon.

Nearly 150,000 high school students are sitting exams this year.

The examination season began with scholarship drama on Friday, and continues until December 4.

It's expected around 1750 markers will review the papers by Christmas and results will be released from mid-January, 2016.

SunLive wishes all Bay of Plenty students the best of luck in their exams.