Online programme approval application

This user guide is intended to support online users during the application process for programme approval.

About the application

The online application form replaces the current paper application and programme and qualification details forms only. A full application includes documentation that demonstrates how your application meets the gazetted Criteria for Programme Approval.

There are six sections in the application form. You must complete each section in order before progressing to the next, even if zero is inserted. Each section must be fully completed before submitting the application to NZQA for assessment.

Category (a) All applications under section 258 of the Education Act 1989 for programme approval.

Section 1: Contact details
Section 2: Programme overview
Section 3: Assessment standards
Section 4: Qualifications
Section 5: Application documents
Section 6: Comments

At any time, you can delete the application or return to TEO applications. If you return to TEO applications, any sections you have completed will not be lost. You can resume filling out the application at a later stage.

The application process

When you submit this application, you will receive an auto generated email quoting an NZQA reference number. Use this number in future, if you need to email or speak to a member of staff.

You will be notified when your application has passed through pre-assessment. Pre- assessment determines if an application has sufficient information to be processed further. You should expect a response within five working days.

Your application will then be allocated to an analyst in the Service Delivery team who may contact you to discuss your application further, if necessary.

You will be invoiced on a regular basis for ongoing work on your application at a rate of $150 per hour plus GST.

For further information see Course approval and accreditation.

Please direct any queries about this application to our administration and service team. Remember to include the NZQA reference number on all correspondence.

Before you get started

Before you begin this application, check you have:

Finished the development of the programme; and
The necessary accreditation for any unit standards that may be included in the programme, and
Made an application for any unit standards you don’t have accreditation for.

References

Throughout this guide, two booklets are regularly referenced. You should have these handy when filling out your application form. They are:

Guidelines for approval of programmes of study leading to qualifications listed on the New Zealand Qualifications Framework and accreditation of tertiary education providers (PDF, 393KB) (referred to as Criteria throughout this guide)
The New Zealand Register of Quality Assured Qualifications (PDF, 765KB) (referred to as the Register policy throughout this guide)

Navigation hints

Click the Return to application overview link to leave the section you are in and return to the application summary screen.

Click the Return to TEO applications link to leave the application and return your TEO applications summary page. Any sections you may have completed will be saved and you can resume filling out the application later.

Complete all fields marked with an asterisk (*), as these fields are mandatory.

Filling out the form

Section 1:

Contact details

Enter the name of the key contact person for this application.

If NZQA requires more information, this is the person they will contact. An email address is required because auto-generated communications will be sent there.

Section 2:

Course overview

Enter the details of the programme being applied for. These details may be amended throughout the application process and will provide a record of the approved programme.

Title: The title of the programme must provide an accurate indication of the subject area. Refer to Section 1 of the Criteria and the information on designators and qualifiers.

Type: For an explanation of the types of course, go to Section 5 of the Register policy.

Level: If the programme does not lead to national qualification, you can check the level in Appendix A of the Register policy.

NZQF and non-NZQF credits: Note when filling out this section that one credit represents 10 notional hours of learning. See Section 2 of the Criteria for more information.

Aim: The aim should be appropriate to the nature and level of the qualification to which the programme leads. See Section 2 in the Criteria and Register policy for more information.

Content: In this section, you should describe the content of the programme. This could include component titles or similar.

Outcome: The course outcome should summarise the learning of the programme. See Section 2 of the Criteria for more information.

Entry requirements: Entry requirements should be appropriate to the level of study. See Section 2 of the Criteria for more information.

At the end of this section there is a choice of 3 boxes that can be checked. These are optional and should only be checked if the proposed programme leads to one of the registration types.

Section 3:

Assessment standards

All assessments require standards. In this section, the information required relates to unit standards or New Zealand Diploma in Business (NZDipBus) prescriptions only. Searches for NZDipBus prescriptions can only be made by prescription title. If the course is local, further information is necessary about the assessment in the course documentation.

Section 4:

Qualifications

This section asks you to identify the qualifications the proposed programme leads to. Qualifications can be national qualifications or local qualification. See Section 1 and 2 of the Register policy. Note that any course under 40 credits will not be considered a qualification.

If the programme relates to a national qualification, all you need to do is search for it. If the programme leads to a local qualification, the process for approval to develop, followed by approval to list a new qualification, must have been undertaken.

Go back to the programme overview section to populate the information about content, outcome and entry. These details may be amended throughout the application process and will appear on KiwiQuals once the programme is approved.

Section 5:

Course documents

You must supply the two types of documents mentioned below. These documents must demonstrate that your application meets the gazetted Criteria, and are essential before an analysis can be made.

1. Programme Structure

You must provide a document that covers the makeup of the programme (i.e. units, lessons, modules assessments) and the topics covered in each component. It should also provide an outline of the course delivery, showing how much time is spent (hours per day, or hours per week) covering the course material.

2. Supporting Evidence

Please also attach any other evidence that you meet the criteria for programme approval. Suitable documents include, a Student handbook, Course brochure, Letters of support etc.

Section 6:

Comments

Please add any comments about the programme or process here.

Submitting your application

Before submitting your application you will be asked to review the full application form. Please note that all sections of the application form will appear even if they are not applicable to the application to be submitted.

You are now ready to submit your application. Before you do, check:

The two types of documents requested in Section 5 have been attached to your application or are ready to be posted to NZQA; and
You have accreditation for any unit standards that are included in the programme.

Finished!

When you click Submit Application, your application will appear in the TEO applications table. You can View your completed application, or Withdraw your completed application until such time that an outcome has been reached.