- Home
- Studying in New Zealand
- Qualifications and standards
- NCEA
-
Māori and Pasifika
- Field Māori Assessment Support Materials
- Field Māori programme development support
- Mātauranga Māori qualifications and assessment standards
- Te Hono o Te Kahurangi quality assurance
- Māori providers
- Te Kōkiritanga 2020-2023
- NCEA and the Whānau
- Māori and the Future State
- Pasifika
- Ngā Kete Mātauranga
- Enabling Māori and Pacific Success in STEM
-
Providers and partners
- About education organisations
- NZQA's quality assurance system for tertiary education organisations
- Quick links to NZQF documents
- Consistency of graduate outcomes
- Approval, accreditation and registration
- Monitoring and Assessment
- Self-assessment
- External evaluation and review
- Assessment and moderation of standards
- Submitting results and awarding qualifications and micro-credentials
- The Education (Pastoral Care of Domestic Tertiary Students) Interim Code of Practice 2019
- The Education (Pastoral Care of International Students) Code of Practice
- Offshore use of qualifications and programmes
- Guidelines and forms
- Reform of Vocational Education
- About us
NZNC, a former PTE, pleads guilty to six charges
24 Nov 2020
Universal Education Group Limited, trading as New Zealand National College (NZNC), has pleaded guilty to six charges of theft by a person in a special relationship, under sections 220 and 223 of the Crimes Act 1961. The charges were filed on 5 August 2019 by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) following an investigation into abnormalities identified in student refunds.
NZNC was a registered private training establishment (PTE) until NZQA cancelled its registration in December 2017, due to concerns about programme delivery and assessment quality.
Following the deregistration process, NZQA identified serious and significant breaches of its Student Fee Protection Rules, which require PTEs to protect student fees with an approved trustee. NZNC was found to have misappropriated student fees, which led to a deficit in the money available for pro-rata refunds to students affected by the deregistration.
NZQA identified instances where NZNC intentionally failed to deposit some fees to trust after they were received from students, while other students’ fees were used to conceal missing balances in trust.
NZNC pleaded guilty on 20 November 2020 during a hearing at Auckland District Court. Sentencing is due to take place on 14 January 2021.
Chief Executive, Dr Grant Klinkum said breaches of the Student Fee Protection Rules were a serious matter.
“Where providers have breached the rules and are not meeting the standards we expect of them, NZQA will take action to uphold the law and ensure the integrity of New Zealand’s tertiary education system. That is exactly what we have done in this case and these convictions are a pleasing outcome.”