NZQA

New Zealand Qualifications Authority

Mana Tohu Matauranga O Aotearoa

Home > Studying in New Zealand > Coming to study in New Zealand

Coming to study in New Zealand

Educational institutions in New Zealand offer a wide variety of courses and New Zealand welcomes
international students at all of its institutions.

If you study in New Zealand you can be assured of earning world-class qualifications.

Quality assurance of education in New Zealand

The New Zealand Government has established strong national quality assurance systems, designed to
help institutions maintain the quality and consistency of training programmes and assessment practices.
NZQA is the quality assurance body for non-university providers, such as English language schools.

Private training establishments must be registered with NZQA in order to offer you an officially
recognised (approved) course. Immigration New Zealand will only issue a student visa if the course,
programme or qualification you are planning to do is approved by a quality assurance body.

For more information, see Quality assurance of education in New Zealand.

Caring for International Students - The Code of Practice

If you are an international student, your provider must be a signatory to the Code of Practice for the
Pastoral Care of International Students. The Code sets the minimum standards of advice and care that
are expected of providers who enrol international students. The Code applies to care and welfare of
students only, not to academic standards.

For more information, see Caring for International Students.

Schooling at secondary level in New Zealand

Secondary study lasts five years and begins when students are 12 or 13 years old. The National
Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) is the main school qualification at this level.

For more information, see Secondary school and NCEA.

Studying at tertiary level in New Zealand

The term tertiary describes all aspects of post-school education and training. New Zealand has a large
number of institutions that teach at the tertiary level. They include universities, polytechnics, wnanga
and private training establishments (PTEs).

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Your rights and protections
As a tertiary student in New Zealand you are protected:

NZQA requires all registered PTEs to have policies and procedures for student withdrawals and
refunds. Your PTE sends you this information before you enrol. For more, see Withdrawals and
refunds
Registered PTEs must protect student fees if they stop offering a course in which a student is
enrolled. This can happen if a PTE becomes insolvent, is de-registered by NZQA and/or partially or
completely loses accreditation. For more, seePTE course closure
If you have any problems with your provider you can make an official complaint to NZQA about
the provider.

For more information, see Tertiary education.

More about New Zealands education system

You can read more about the New Zealand education system at the Ministry of Education website and
Education New Zealands Study in New Zealand website.

Check your visa type before you enrol

The type of visa you get affects the type of course you can enrol in.

Before enrolling in a course, check your visa type.

Visitor visa - If you have a visitor visa, you are only allowed to enrol in a course of 12 weeks
duration or less. Recreational courses of 12 weeks or less do not have to be run by a registered
provider. Even if it is run by a registered provider, it is exempt from course approval. This means
that some protections, such as student fee protection, do not automatically apply.
Student visa - If you have a student visa, you are allowed to enrol in courses of 13 weeks duration
or longer (as well as on shorter courses). This gives you a much greater variety of courses and
providers to choose from.

You can read more about getting your visa and getting ready to come to New Zealand, in the links below.

Apply for your student visa:

A checklist for coming to study in New Zealand:
Three steps for applying to study in New Zealand:
Answers to some commonly asked questions about studying and living in New Zealand;
Immigration New Zealands Get ready for New Zealand

Recognition of international qualifications

If you have a qualification gained outside New Zealand, and you wish to have it recognised in New
Zealand or cross-credited to a New Zealand qualification, seeInternational qualifications.

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