How the National Qualifications Framework works

NQF Standards and Qualifications
Standard Setting Bodies who develop NQF standards
NQF Accreditation for Education Organisations
Education Organisations and National Moderation
Submitting Learner Results to NZQA

Links to NQF documents on the NZQA website:

Registration and Accreditation
Moderation
Forms for Learner Results
Standard Setting - Framework Registration

The National Qualifications Framework (NQF) is designed to provide:

nationally recognised, consistent standards and qualifications
recognition and credit for all learning of knowledge and skills.

NQF qualifications are quality assured and nationally recognised. Administered by NZQA, the NQF is a way of structuring national qualifications.

The NQF is a three-pronged quality system:

national standards are registered
these are used by accredited organisations
a moderation system ensures national consistency.

The NQF was developed through a two-year process of policy development and public consultation in 1990-1991.

For detailed background information on the NQF, see The New Zealand Qualifications Framework

NQF Standards and Qualifications

Each standard registered on the Framework describes what a learner needs to know or what they must be able to achieve.

Unit standards are developed by experts in their fields
Achievement standards are currently used only in school curriculum subjects for the National Certificate of Education Achievement

Because the standards are nationally agreed, learners' achievements can be recognised in a number of contexts. Their knowledge and skills will be transferable between qualifications and providers.

The NQF has 10 levels - 1 is the least complex and 10 the most. Levels depend on the complexity of learning. Levels 1-3 are of approximately the same standard as senior secondary education and basic trades training. Levels 4-6 approximate to advanced trades, technical and business qualifications. Levels 7 and above approximate to advanced qualifications of graduate and postgraduate standard.

NQF qualifications must meet the requirements of the New Zealand Register of Quality Assured Qualifications (The Register). For more information see qualification definitions. For a full description of NQF levels see Level descriptors.

All NQF standards and national qualifications are developed by subject experts within a Standard Setting Body (SSB).

Standard Setting Bodies who develop NQF standards

SSB	Development area
Industry Training Organisations (ITOS)	Develop industry related unit standards and national qualifications
Māori Qualifications Services (MQS)	Develop unit standards and national qualifications for field Māori
National Qualifications Services (NQS)	Develop unit standards and national qualifications for generic skills
Ministry of Education	Develop achievement standards and the NCEA

The NQF is built on a process of consensus. Stakeholders have an opportunity to comment on draft NQF standards that standard setting bodies have developed. Once the final version has been quality assured by NZQA's Framework Registration, the standard is registered on the NQF.

Registered NQF standards are reviewed on a one to five year cycle by experts and stakeholders. Education organisations and individuals may comment on registered NQF standards. Simply view/download the unit standard document and follow the instructions at the end of the standard to submit your comments.

After a NQF standard or qualification is registered on the NQF, they are available for all accredited education organisations. All registered unit standards, achievement standards , and NQF qualifications can be searched for and downloaded from the NZQA website.

All registered standards must have an Accreditation and Moderation Plan (AMAP). This plan states requirements that education organisations must meet to ensure there is national consistency of assessment against the NQF standards.

NQF Accreditation for Education Organisations

In order to be accredited to assess learners against NQF standards an education organisation must be registered as a private training establishment, a government training establishment, or formally set up as an education institution according to the Education Act, 1989.

Education organisations that want to assess learners against NQF standards need to be accredited for those standards. This involves preparing and submitting an application to NZQA. Education organisations prepare any required evidence for submission with their application according to the relevant AMAP criteria. To clarify any industry or sector specific requirements, organisations seeking accreditation should contact the relevant SSB. In some cases an industry specialist may visit the organisation's site to determine the suitability of the organisation for accreditation.

Education Organisations and National Moderation

National external moderation systems ensure that all assessment decisions made across all accredited providers are consistent and to the national standard. Where there is an ITO responsible for the standards, the national external moderation system is run by the ITO. NZQA runs other national external moderation systems, including moderation for general education subjects (mostly offered in schools).

All assessments against NQF standards are moderated through the standard setting bodies national external moderation systems. The moderation information section of an AMAP sets out the national external moderation requirements for the NQF standards listed in the scope of the AMAP. It is the responsibility of accredited organisations to participate in the standard setting body's national external moderation system.

Education organisations can find out the detail of the national moderation requirements by referring to the relevant AMAP.

Submitting Learner Results to NZQA

After learners have been assessed against a standard, the accredited organisation must report results for those learners.

Every learner gaining credits on the Framework receives a Record of Achievement (ROL).

NZQA maintains all NQF learners' results on the record of Achievement. Learner's can access their results over a secure extranet. Schools submit results electronically using a student management system set up with guidance from the Ministry of Education. Tertiary Education Organisations also submit results electronically to NZQA (see NQF circulars for more details).

Links to NQF documents on the NZQA website

To access key documents that relate to the operation of the NQF see the links below, sorted by topic:

Registration and Accreditation

Moderation

Forms for Learner Results

Standard Setting - Framework Registration

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