Assessment rules and procedures for granting the New Zealand Diploma in Business 2009

6 Information about the New Zealand Diploma in Business

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The NZDipBus is a free standing, broadly based business studies qualification that can also lead on to further qualifications.

There are two versions of this qualification currently in operation.

Version one of the qualification has been available under the NZDipBus title since March 1995. Programmes leading to its predecessor, the National Certificate in Business (NCB), were first offered in 1987.

The NZDipBus was reviewed and registered as a level 6 qualification on the New Zealand Register of Quality Assured Qualifications in December 2006. This 2006 version constitutes version two of the NZDipBus qualification.

The last date of award of version one of the qualification is 31 December 2010. Transition arrangements will apply until 31 December 2010 (refer to subsection 6.6.3).

Both versions of the qualification are designed to be completed in two years of full-time study or equivalent part-time study.

Refer to subsections 6.5 and 6.6 for the qualification structure of each version.

6.1 NZDipBus Graduate Profile

A graduate of the NZDipBus will:

  1. in a range of diverse and changing organisational settings, effectively be able to:
    1. add value by applying specific business skills
    2. apply a range of interpersonal and communication skills
    3. apply critical problem solving skills with initiative and judgement
    4. recognise ethical and cultural issues inherent in decision making
    5. work independently and within teams of diverse people.
  2. have appropriate skills, research abilities and knowledge to pursue further study and professional development.

6.2 The National Advisory Committee For Business Studies

The National Advisory Committee for Business Studies (NACBS) advises NZQA on matters relating to NZDipBus.

The terms of reference and membership for the NACBS can be found on the NZQA website.

6.3 Course Approval and Accreditation Requirements

TEOs wishing to obtain a course approval for NZDipBus, or who wish to deliver approved NZDipBus courses, must do so in accordance with the requirements set out in sections 258, 258A, 259, and 259A of the Education Act.

Information about NZDipBus specific course approval and accreditation requirements is available at NZDipBus Course Approval and Accreditation Requirements.

6.4 Local Advisory Committee

TEOs accredited to provide NZDipBus approved courses are required to have one or more Local Advisory Committees for Business Studies (refer to NZDipBus Course Approval and Accreditation requirements (PDF, 501KB), criteria 4 Acceptability of the Course). The membership of Local Advisory Committees must include members of the local business and professional community, members of the teaching staff of the TEO (comprising not more than one third of the membership), and candidates enrolled at the TEO. Each local advisory committee may determine its own membership within these guidelines.

The specific functions of Local Advisory Committees are:

  1. making recommendations through the NACBS to NZQA on improvements to the structure and administration of the qualification
  2. reviewing standards and relevance of NZDipBus courses against the needs of the business community
  3. receiving reports of national moderation of assessments and other quality assurance measures and recommending appropriate follow up actions
  4. receiving reports on assessment results and making recommendations to the TEO where appropriate
  5. preparing an annual report for the NACBS on the activities of the Local Advisory Committees. A report form (DOC, 71KB) is provided by NZQA.

Local Advisory Committees have an important role in ensuring that industry developments and current practices are reflected in teaching programmes. In particular, they can offer valuable comment on draft versions of revised prescriptions that have been circulated to TEOs for comment.

6.5 NZDipBus (Version One)

The last date of award of version one of the qualification is 31 December 2010.

6.5.1 Requirements for the award of version one of the qualification

A candidate has achieved NZDipBus version one when a total of 12 prescriptions has been gained by completion of:

  • six of the seven core prescriptions (refer to subsection 6.6)
  • six elective prescriptions of which at least four must be at 200 level.

Transition arrangements may apply (refer to subsection 6.6.3).

6.6 NZDipBus Level 6 (Version Two)

Candidates who enrol for their first NZDipBus prescription that is to be delivered and assessed in a semester or term that started after 1 January 2009 may complete only version two of the qualification.

Each prescription for the qualification is designated as having 20 credits and as being at level 4, 5 or 6.

The following seven prescriptions are designated core prescriptions:

No

Name

400

Accounting Principles

510

Introduction to Commercial Law

520

The Economic Environment

530

Organisation and Management

560

Business Communication

541

Fundamentals of Marketing

550

Business Computing

All core and elective prescriptions are available on the NZQA website at NZDipBus Prescriptions.

6.6.1 Entry requirements for version two of the qualification

In general, TEOs may enrol students into the NZDipBus in accordance with the entry criteria approved by the relevant quality assurance body for the TEO under accreditation under Section 259 of the Act. The following are some further requirements for specific categories of students.

Applicants less than 20 years old must have -

  • a minimum of 14 numeracy credits at level 1 or higher in Mathematics or Pangarau on the National Qualifications Framework; and
  • fifty credits at level 2 or above with at least 12 credits in each of three subjects including a minimum of 8 literacy credits at level 2 or higher in English or Te Reo Maori; 4 credits must be in reading and 4 credits must be in writing. The literacy credits will be selected from a schedule of approved achievement standards and unit standards. The schedule may be found on the NZQA website at: Literacy requirements for University Entrance.

or equivalent to the above.

International students for whom English is a second language must also have an IELTS score of 6.0 (academic) with no individual band lower than 5.5 or a TOEFL score of 550.

6.6.2 Requirements for the award of version two of the qualification

A candidate has achieved NZDipBus version two when the candidate has:

  • achieved 240 credits of which 80 credits are at level six
  • completed six of the seven core prescriptions
  • completed no more than 60 credits at level four.

A list of the national prescriptions for NZDipBus (version two) and prescription codes (400-600) are available on the NZQA website at NZDipBus Prescriptions

Transition arrangements may apply (refer to subsection 6.6.3).

6.6.3 Transition arrangements

The transition arrangement rules for versions one and two of the NZDipBus are:

  1. Any candidate who has passed 12 NZDipBus version one prescriptions and met all requirements for version one of the qualification, and for which the results were reported to NZQA prior to 1 January 2008, qualifies for the award of version one of the qualification.
  2. Any candidate who enrols for their first NZDipBus prescription that is to be delivered and assessed in a semester or term that started after 1 January 2009, may complete only version two of the qualification.
  3. Any candidate part way through version one of the qualification may elect to complete either version one or version two of the qualification. Any version two prescription completed will be accepted towards the completion of version one of the qualification. The last date for award for version one is 31 December 2010.
  4. For the purposes of awarding version two of the qualification, grades of 'C' or higher for version one core prescriptions that are reported to NZQA prior to 1 January 2009, will be accepted as equivalent to a 'pass' result for the corresponding version two prescriptions. The results will be recorded with version one prescription code and the grade achieved.
  5. Results of 'P' (for explanation of grade, refer to subsection 6.11) for version one prescriptions (awarded through credit transfer or Assessment of Prior Learning) are not acceptable for the purpose of awarding version two of the qualification.
  6. Any candidate part way through version one of the qualification wishing to transfer to vers ion two and who has reported results for elective version one prescriptions that have increased in level (refer table below) will need to attain the corresponding version two elective prescriptions through Assessment of Prior Learning (APL) where this is necessary to meet qualification requirements (refer to subsection 6.6.2).The APL process will be managed by the provider who will determine what additional material, assessments, etc, will be required to achieve a 'P' grade for the version two prescriptions. For elective prescriptions that have not increased in level, results for version one elective prescriptions will be accepted for version two of the qualification.

Elective prescriptions which have changed in level

Code

Title

Level

Credit

501 (101)

Accounting Practices

5

20

570 (170)

Introduction to Banking and Financial Services

5

20

580 (180)

Principles of Tourism

5

20

605 (205)

Internal Auditing

6

20

630 (230)

Leadership

6

20

635 (235)

Employment Relations

6

20

637* (227)

Entrepreneurial Planning

6

20

644 (244)

Buyer Behaviour and Communication Strategies **

6

20

675 (275)

Lending and Securities **

6

20

676 (225)

International Trade and Finance **

6

20

685 (285)

Tourism Industry Management

6

20

Note

* The 637 prescription is not yet available.

** For these three prescriptions (644, 675, & 676), the above rule 6 of this subsection:

  • applies to candidates completing requirements for version two of the qualification after 31 December 2009
  • does not apply to candidates completing version two requirements before 31 December 2009.

6.6.4 Consideration of adverse effect

Candidates who consider that they are adversely affected by these transition arrangement rules may apply in writing to have their case considered by NZQA. An applicant must detail how he or she has been adversely affected. An application should be sent to:

NZDipBus Transition
Tertiary Assessment and Moderation
Qualifications Development and Tertiary Moderation
New Zealand Qualifications Authority
PO Box 160
Wellington 6140

Applications must be received prior to 31 December 2011. No applications received after this date will be considered.

NZQA will endeavour to notify applicants of the outcome within thirty working days of receipt.

6.7 Approved Subjects and Prescriptions

A list of the national prescriptions for NZDipBus and their prescription codes are available on the NZQA website at NZDipBus Prescriptions.

6.8 Assessment Procedures

Subject to these Rules and Procedures, candidates will be assessed against prescription requirements by the TEO. Assessment procedures not covered in these Rules and Procedures will be in accordance with the TEO's academic rules and procedures.

6.9 Moderation Requirements

6.9.1 National external moderation

A TEO's engagement in national external moderation is a requirement of their accreditation to provide NZDipBus. Information and advice for TEOs on the moderation process may be found on the NZQA website at Moderation of NZ Diploma in Business.

Note: TEOs who do not engage in national external moderation will be non-compliant with accreditation requirements. NZQA will notify this non-compliance to the relevant quality assurance body for action.

6.9.2 Other moderation

An audit of TEO moderation processes for low volume papers is conducted by NZQA, usually annually. Low volume papers are those offered by only a few TEOs or those for which reported results are below 200 over a period of a few years.

Note: Information and advice for TEOs on low volume paper moderation requirements and audit may be found at Moderation of NZ Diploma in Business.

TEOs reporting results for low volume papers who have been selected for audit and who do not submit requested materials will be non-compliant with NZDipBus moderation requirements, and therefore with accreditation requirements. NZQA will notify this non-compliance to the relevant quality assurance body for action.

6.10 Credit Transfer, Assessment for Local Prescriptions, and Assessment of Prior Learning

TEOs must have documented internal policies and procedures relating to credit transfer as appropriate and required by their accreditation.

TEO staff must possess relevant expertise and knowledge in the subject area to be able to evaluate applications. Staff should also be aware of the internal policies and procedures of their TEO relating to credit transfer.

Candidates must have ready access to information from the TEO on how they can apply for credit transfer and, if their application was unsuccessful, appeal or review the decision of the evaluation.

The following rule came into effect from 1 January 2006 and remains effective.

A candidate may be credited with a maximum of ten prescriptions (200 credits) using:

  1. a maximum of eight national prescriptions through specified credit transfer (160 credits)
  2. a maximum of one unspecified credit transfer (20 credits)
  3. a maximum of two local prescriptions as unspecified credit (40 credits).

The following three options for credit transfer and unspecified credits are available:

 

Maximum number of national prescriptions (credits) by specified transfer from other qualifications

Maximum number of prescriptions (credits) by unspecified credit transfer in relation to the NZDipBus graduate profile

Maximum number of prescriptions (unspecified credits) by assessment for local* prescription(s)

Option 1

8 (160 cr)

Nil

2 (40 cr)

 

OR

Option 2

8 (160 cr)

1 (20 cr)

1 (20 cr)

 

OR

Option 3

7 (140 cr)

1 (20 cr)

2 (40 cr)

* Local (TEO) prescriptions must be endorsed by the NACBS and approved by NZQA before they may be recognised for unspecified credit to the NZDipBus.

Candidates who completed the NZDipBus qualification requirements prior to 1 January 2006 are not eligible for award of the NZDipBus under this rule.

Credit transfer schedules for version one and version two of the NZDipBus are available on the NZQA website.

Further information can be found in the booklet Guidelines on Credit Transfer and Unspecified Credit 2006 (PDF, 89KB).

6.10.1 Reporting credit transfer and unspecified credit results

TEOs are required to report to NZQA any credits awarded as a result of credit transfer (specified or unspecified credit transfer) or assessment for a local prescription (unspecified credit). Correct prescription codes must be applied in the reporting of candidate results; these are specified in Appendix I of the Guidelines on Credit Transfer and Unspecified Credit 2006.

A 'P' grade (for explanation of grade, refer to subsection 6.11) must be used for reporting successful results from specified credit transfer, unspecified credit transfer, or assessment in local prescriptions.

For further information, contact Tertiary Records.

6.10.2 Assessment of prior learning (APL)

There is no limit on the number of prescriptions any candidate may be credited as a result of assessment of prior learning. A 'P' grade must be used for reporting successful results from APL.

6.11 Grades

A letter grade will be allocated to each candidate as follows:

A+ = 85-100

A = 75-84

B+ = 70-74

B = 60-69

C = 50-59

D = 40-49

E = 0-39

A 'C' grade or better will be a pass.

A grade 'P' may be used to indicate a level of achievement that is ungraded but sufficient for the award of credit; such a level of achievement must be assessed as being equivalent or superior to a 'C' result. The grade 'P' will be used when awarding a credit transfer, local prescription, or assessment of prior learning result.

A grade 'F' may be used to indicate a level of achievement that is ungraded but not sufficient for the award of credit.

 
 
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