19 December 2018 at 9:00 am
Consultation on proposed changes to Rule 18
The New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) is proposing to strengthen the evidence international students need to meet the English proficiency entry requirements for studying in New Zealand.
NZQA is consulting on the following proposed changes to the NZQF Programme Approval and Accreditation Rules 2018:
- Removing the student visa decline rate from Rule 18. This would no longer be the measure for when prior schooling with English as the language of instruction could be used as evidence of English proficiency.
- To use this provision, international students would need to have either
- a) completed their schooling in New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the Republic of Ireland, South Africa, the UK or the United States; or
- b) been awarded an internationally recognised qualification taught in English such as an International Baccalaureate Diploma or Cambridge ‘A’ Levels.
Dr Grant Klinkum, NZQA Deputy Chief Executive Quality Assurance, says the proposed changes respond to risks that NZQA and Immigration New Zealand have identified in the tertiary education sector.
“The student visa decline does not reliably reflect English language proficiency, and the countries involved had varying levels of quality within their English medium schooling options.
“We believe using prior schooling where English was the language of instruction will be a stronger indicator of English proficiency.”
NZQA is seeking feedback on the proposed changes, including what steps and how long your organisation would need to adapt to these changes, and if there are any other internationally recognised secondary qualifications taught and assessed in English that you would like to see included in Rule 18.
Consultation closes 11 February 2019.
To find out more and to complete the consultation survey, click here.
