- Home
- 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
- Māori and the Future State
- Pasifika
- Ngā Kete Mātauranga
- Equity in STEM Symposium
-
Providers and partners
- About education organisations
- NZQA's quality assurance system for tertiary education organisations
- Guidelines and forms
- 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
- Tertiary and International Learners Code of Practice
- Offshore use of qualifications and programmes
- Reform of Vocational Education
- International Education planning
- International
- About us
University Entrance
Please note: Changes have been made to the requirements for University Entrance in 2022, recognising the impact of student and teacher absences due to COVID-19 and other winter illnesses. Information about the changes is available here.
University Entrance (UE) is the minimum requirement to go to a New Zealand university. To be awarded UE you will need:
- NCEA Level 3
- Three subjects - at Level 3, made up of:
- 14 credits in each of three approved subjects
- In 2022, this requirements is 14 credits in each of two approved subjects, and 12 credits in a third.
- Literacy - 10 credits at Level 2 or above, made up of:
- 5 credits in reading
- 5 credits in writing
- Numeracy - 10 credits at Level 1 or above, made up of:
- achievement standards – specified achievement standards available through a range of subjects, or
- unit standards - package of three numeracy unit standards (26623, 26626, 26627- all three required).
Once you have met the requirements for University Entrance it will appear on your Record of Achievement.
Credits
Credits can be accumulated over more than one year.
If a unit and an achievement standard assess the same learning outcome, only the credits for ONE standard can be counted. In other words they are 'mutually exclusive'. A list of such exclusions is published each year.
Discretionary entrance
When an applicant does not qualify for University Entrance to a New Zealand university, they may be eligible for Discretionary Entrance.
See Universities New Zealand - Discretionary Entrance for more information.
Appeals process for Discretionary and Ad Eundem Statum Entrance
Applicants who are not happy with the decision of a University regarding discretionary entrance may appeal that decision.
Review of University Entrance requirements
During 2016-2017, NZQA reviewed the University Entrance requirements. Please go to the Review page for more information.