International Qualification Assessment (IQA)

An International Qualification Assessment (IQA) is an in-depth 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 in the country of award and analysing the details of the qualification. 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.

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 qualification to be assessed

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

  Tertiary or vocational upper-secondary qualification – we only assess
      tertiary and vocational upper-secondary qualifications (i.e. we do not assess
      academic secondary/high school qualifications).

  Complete programme of study – we can only assess programmes of study 
      that have been fully completed. For example, if you only partly completed a 
      programme that did not result in the awarding of a qualification, we cannot 
      assess it.

  Awarded by a provider that is nationally recognised or accredited by the 
      responsible government or government-mandated authority in the country of 
      award, at the time of award. We recommend you check this with the relevant 
      authorities before applying.

  A minimum of 400 notional learning hours (equivalent to approximately 10 
      weeks of full-time academic study) – programmes shorter than this cannot be 
      assessed.

  Achievement of a set of learning outcomes through a formal programme of 
      instruction or learning.

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.