Entry criteria for international students

If you're an international student and wish to study an early childhood qualification at New Zealand Tertiary College (NZTC) in New Zealand, you must meet the following entry criteria.

Academic

You must:

• Have the equivalent high school qualification to NCEA (National Certificate of Educational Achievement) in New Zealand. Please see the Equivalent Entry Criteria Chart (PDF, 61KB) to check if you have the equivalent qualification from your country (if your country is not on the chart, please contact our international team on international@nztertiarycollege.ac.nz).

• (For Graduate Diploma only): Have a Bachelors degree qualification equivalent to Level 7 in New Zealand. Qualifications obtained outside New Zealand must be assessed by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) .

• Meet English language requirements for your program of study. The required IELTS (Academic) scores for entry into each program are:

* You must have an IELTS (Academic) score of at least 7.0 overall to enter the Graduate Diploma in Teaching (Early Childhood Education), unless you are eligible for one of the below exemptions. But even if you enter the program with an score of 7.0 overall, you must you get a score of 7.0 in each component in order to be eligible to graduate.  You must provide evidence of this score to NZTC prior to graduation. 

Exemption criteria from IELTS for Graduate Diploma students:

• You have completed five years of their secondary school education in New Zealand and:
  • you have gained University Entrance and
  • you have eight, level 2 NCEA University Entrance literacy credits (4 credits in reading and 4 credits in writing) and
  • you have studied fully in English in a New Zealand tertiary education organisation (TEO – university, institute of technology, polytechnic, wānanga or PTE) and
  • you are a graduate at degree level (7) or higher.  OR
• You are a registered teacher with the New Zealand Teachers Council and hold a current Practising Certificate.

Personal

You must:

• Be over 18 years of age 

• Meet New Zealand Teachers Council criteria for registration as a teacher.

• Satisfy New Zealand Immigration Services (NZIS) requirements . It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that their visa or permit remains valid throughout the program of study.

Medical and travel insurance

You must hold current medical and travel insurance while studying in New Zealand. You can purchase both medical and travel Insurance through NZTC – please email enrolments@nztertiarycollege.ac.nz for details.

Interview

You will be required to have an interview (via telephone or face-to-face) before being accepted into your program.