Meeting the approval and accreditation criteria

The process that tertiary education organisations must follow to meet the criteria for programme approval or accreditation is linked to external evaluation and review (EER) results. NZQA has a policy of incentives and sanctions following EER that aim to improve educational quality and performance by providing incentives for high performance.

The process and templates for submitting applications to NZQA can be found under Applications for programme approval and provider accreditation. Organisations making applications are strongly encouraged to download and read the Guidelines for approval of programmes leading to qualifications listed on the New Zealand Qualifications Framework and accreditation of tertiary education providers. (PDF, 393KB)

All non-university tertiary education providers are placed into one of four Provider Categories based on their external evaluation and review (EER) results. See Incentives and sanctions following external evaluation and review.

The information required in applications for programme approval is tailored to take into account the provider category, with high performing providers having lighter requirements.

The minimum information required from all providers is:

• evidence of academic quality assurance approval e.g. Minutes of Academic Board approval from wananga and institutes of technology and polytechnics or for smaller PTEs detailed records of programme approval by appropriately designated people in the organisation’s quality management system
• agreement to participate in the external quality assurance processes specified as part of the qualification.

Additional information is determined by the provider category:

Category 1: Highly confident

• Where the provider can demonstrate a successful history of delivery in the subject area at the programme level, programme details only need to be supplied to meet the NZQA information requirements.
• For delivery in a new area, or at a level above current accreditations held in the area then the application requires: full programme documentation in alignment with the gazetted criteria, and a self-assessment report of the application for programme approval using the key evaluation questions.

Category 2: Confident

The following are needed:

• full programme and/or accreditation documentation
• a self-assessment report of the application for programme approval using the key evaluation questions.

Category 3: Not yet confident

Applications for programme approval and/or provider accreditation will be considered on a case by case basis according to whether:

• quality concerns in the EER report relate to the subject area, school or faculty where the accreditation or consent to assess is being applied for
• the provider immediately engages with NZQA subsequent to the EER and demonstrates it is meeting post-EER improvement action plan requirements within the required timeframe
• any compliance investigations indicate quality concerns are warranted and/or widespread.

Applications must meet the requirements as for a category 2 provider.

Category 4: Not confident

• New applications for programme approval and/or accreditation are suspended until quality improvements are demonstrated through the satisfactory completion of the post-external evaluation and review action plan.

Providers who have not had an EER and have not been assigned a category

Apply as per Category 2.

Meeting the requirements for programme approval

Programme owners and providers applying for programme approval need to meet the gazetted criteria. The Guidelines (PDF, 393KB) go through each of the criteria for programme approval and provide guidance on the information and/or evidence that must be included in the application to enable the decision for approval to be made.  NZQA recommends programme owners discuss their proposed programme with the qualification developer to ensure it meets the requirements for managing consistency of graduate outcomes.

NZQA must satisfy itself as to the standard and quality of every programme for which approval is sought in regard to the following criteria:

• Qualification to which the programme leads
• Title, aims, learning outcomes and coherence
• Delivery methods
• Acceptability of the programme 
• Regulations 
• Assessment
• Self-assessment, and external evaluation and review

 Subject matter experts

Subject Matter Expert reports no longer have to be supplied by programme owners. NZQA may request a report from an independent subject matter expert in situations where it wants further information to assist in the review of an application.

Meeting the Criteria for accreditation of a tertiary education provider to deliver an approved programme

For accreditation of a tertiary education provider to provide an approved programme, NZQA must satisfy itself in relation to the following criteria:

• Assessment
• Resources
• Self-assessment and external evaluation and review

Section 3 of the Guidelines (PDF, 393KB) outlines and provides guidance on the information and/or evidence that must be included in the application under each of the above headings.

Self-assessment of an application

Programmes owners will also need to show the self-assessment of their programme or revised programme and ensure that the key evaluation questions, outlined in the Guidelines (PDF, 393KB), can be answered. NZQA analysts will be assessing applications using an evaluative approach based on these questions.

For more information refer to the Guidelines (PDF, 393KB) or contact the Service Support team at NZQA.