Certificate in Early Childhood Teaching (Level 6) - Bachelor of Education stream

A New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA)-approved program

The New Zealand Tertiary College (NZTC) Certificate in Early Childhood Teaching (Level 6) is a two year program. 

The first stage is the same as the Certificate in Early Childhood Education (Level 5).

The second stage of the program builds on the knowledge learned in the first stage, and equips you with fundamental writing and research skills to prepare you for higher level study.

Courses

The program is divided into two stages of study, with 10 courses in each stage. Each stage is a full-time study year of 40 weeks.

These courses also comprise the first two stages of the Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood Education).

Stage 1

Stage 2

* The EFTS column shows the Equivalent Full-Time Study proportion of each course. 1.00 EFTS is equal to one year of full-time study.

Modes of study

The Certificate in Early Childhood Teaching (Level 6) is approved by NZQA for three modes of study:

• College based (lectures)
• Blended learning (a combination of online learning and lectures), and
• Distance learning (including NZTC Online). Please see our NZTC Online page for more information about studying online.

NOTE: International students in the distance learning mode of study are required to attend minimum of 16 hours a week in an approved and licensed centre under the supervision of an associate teacher. International students are also required to attend a further four hours of tutorials a week on campus.

Start dates

Our next available start date is July 2013. Distance learning students can start at any time.

Assessments

All courses are internally assessed. There are no exams.

Textbooks

PDF versions of all required readings will be available in our online environment for you to access after you have enrolled.

Fees

See our Fees page (Education programs) for our current tuition fees.

Entry Criteria

The below entry criteria are for students who are New Zealand citizens or permanent residents.  If you are an international student, please see our International Student Entry Criteria.

You must:

• Turn 17 within one month of starting the program
• Have completed four years of secondary schooling (if under 20 years old)
• Have achieved a score of 20 or less in four Sixth Form Certificate subjects (one of which must be English or Māori with a score of 5 or better) or achieved 48 NCEA credits at Level 2 or better across four subjects (one of which must be English or Māori) with a minimum of 12 credits in each subject 
• if you are a student with English as an Additional Language (EAL), prove your English proficiency with an IELTS (Academic) score of 6 overall with no band score lower than 5.5
• Succeed in a personal interview (if required)

Adult applicants (over 20 years of age)

We welcome applications from New Zealand citizens and permanent residents aged 20 years and over who may not have the formal high school qualifications required for entry. We will assess your work and life experience and make a judgement about whether you can meet the academic standards the program requires.

Pathways 

This program has pathways into higher level courses in both Education programs and Teaching programs.  For more details, see our Pathways (Teaching programs)* and Pathways (Education programs) pages.

* Please note: if it is your intention to enter this program in order to transfer into the Bachelor of Teaching (Early Childhood Education), you must let us know at the time of your initial application.  For more details, please see our Bachelor of Education FAQs (PDF, 91KB).

How to apply

See our How to apply (Education programs) for application forms and details about the application process.