Qualifications and standards

International Qualification Assessment (IQA)

IMPORTANT NOTICE

If you submitted an application before 10 February 2020, please click here for information on your application.

An International Qualification Assessment (IQA) is an assessment of a tertiary or vocational upper-secondary qualification awarded outside of New Zealand. The process includes checking the recognition status of your overseas qualification and the details of the qualification, including the regulations in the country of award and if relevant, in the country of study*. The IQA compares your overseas qualification to a level on the New Zealand Qualifications Framework (NZQF), and where possible, to a New Zealand qualification type.

*This is relevant to trans-national education (TNE) where study is completed in a different country to the country awarding the qualification.


Timeframe	25 working days from the date you submit your application with all required information and documents. Please note that this does not include weekends nor public holidays. Note that in some cases it may take longer to complete your assessment depending on the complexity of your application or if the evaluator requires additional information.
Application	One qualification assessed per application
Cost	NZ$445 Note: There is an additional cost of NZ$275 for qualifications completed prior to 1998. Add-On Assessments In addition to the standard assessment of your qualification, you can request an add-on (at an additional cost) that assesses your qualification against criteria for a specific purpose. • Skill Shortage List Assessment Add-On: NZ$165 • Teaching Assessment Add-On: NZ$301 (after you submit an IQA, you will be able to submit two additional IQAs free of charge within 48 hours for other qualifications you hold) Please select a purpose at the bottom of this page to determine if you require an add-on. Add-on assessments can be added to your application up to 12 months after completion of our IQA.

Are you an agent (immigration advisor, lawyer)? Please note that we no longer have agent accounts. If you are an agent applying on behalf of a client, you will need to enter your client's details in the online application form when registering. Please do not enter your details as the applicant. There is a section in the application form for agents to enter their details as the authorised contact for the applicant. Click here for more information for agents (PDF, 137KB).

Requirements for your overseas qualification to be assessed

For NZQA to assess your qualification, it must meet the following minimum requirements:

It must be a tertiary or vocational upper-secondary qualification – we do
not assess academic secondary/high school qualifications.

It must be a complete programme of study – we cannot assess partially
completed programmes.

It must be awarded by a provider that is nationally recognised and
accredited by the responsible government or government-mandated authority
in the country of award and if relevant, in the country of study. We recommend
you check this with the relevant authorities before applying.

It must be a minimum of 400 notional learning hours (equivalent to
approximately 10 weeks of full-time academic study)

We reserve the right to request additional documents to support the recognition of your qualification.

Qualifications awarded through Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)

If your qualification has been awarded (fully or partially) through RPL, we require additional information to be sent from your provider. This includes details of your work experience and/or credit recognition transfer considered by the provider towards the qualifications and the outcome of the formal assessment. This information must be sent directly from your provider to qrs@nzqa.govt.nz.

Qualifications we cannot assess

Please note that we do not assess the following. If you submit one of these, we will not be able to assess it and you will incur an administration charge.

Certificates of attendance

Certificates of proficiency (if they do not include formal learning programmes)

Letters or certificates of work experience

Apprenticeships without formal training programmes

Professional or specialist training certificates (e.g. CISCO or Microsoft expert
awards)

Membership certificates issued by chartered bodies, unless they are formally
recognised by the relevant government or government mandated education
bodies in the country of award, at the time of award

IMPORTANT:

We do not assess work experience unless it was a component of the qualification. Please do not submit evidence of work experience with your IQA application (e.g. letter of employment, CV, etc.) as we do not require this to assess your qualification.
Our IQA assessments are designed to compare overseas qualifications to the New Zealand Qualifications Framework. You may hold other assessments completed by authorities or professional bodies in other countries (e.g. WES, VETASSESS, CAANZ, etc.), and we cannot advise if those assessments can be used for your purpose. Please check with the person or organisation where you intend to use your assessment to check if you require an IQA or if you can use the assessment you already have. We also cannot use these assessments to assess your qualification.

Application Process

Please read the information below carefully before you apply.

Purpose of your IQA

To assess your qualification, we need to know the purpose of your assessment.

Click below to select the purpose of your IQA. You will then be provided with information on what add-ons to select (if any) during the application process.