New Zealand Certificate in Information Technology Essentials

Although the intention of this qualification is to provide a pathway to further IT study, graduates will be equipped with the skills and knowledge to work in a range of entry level support roles, such as business support or retail roles, and some roles in the IT industry under broad guidance.

School Leavers

All applicants should be over the age of 16 years and have successfully completed one of the following :

• A minimum of NCEA Level 2: 60 credits at Level 2 or above. Subjects must include English, Mathematics, a science related subject and one other of choice as well as 20 further credits at any level in a subject of choice
• New Zealand Certificate in Computing (User Fundamentals) (Level 2) 
• New Zealand Certificate in Computing (Intermediate User) (Level 3) 
• New Zealand Certificate in Business (Administration and Technology) (Level 3) 

Mature Applicants (20 years of age and above)
Evidence of successful completion of recent study in the last five years to a minimum of Level 2 on the NZQA framework. Examples include successful completion of one of the following:

• New Zealand Certificate in Computing (User Fundamentals) (Level 2) 
• New Zealand Certificate in Computing (Intermediate User) (Level 3) 
• New Zealand Certificate in Business (Administration and Technology) (Level 3) and/or 
• Demonstration of interest and aptitudes in the field of information technology which show potential for success. Examples may include a history of successful employment for two or more years in the computing and information technology related workforce

English Language Requirements

Applicants, whose first language is not English, or who come from a country where the language of instruction in schools is not English, are required to provide evidence of having achieved one of the following

NCEA Level 3 with University Entrance, or

an International Baccalaureate Diploma or Cambridge A- level qualification for which the teaching and assessment was conducted in English; or

Cambridge Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (CELTA),or Trinity College London Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (CertTESOL);or

Successful completion of all primary education (being the equivalent of New Zealand primary school years 1 to 8) and at least three years of secondary education (being the equivalent of three years from New Zealand secondary school years 9 to 13) at schools in either New Zealand,,Australia,Canada, the Republic of Ireland, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States one of the countries listed in Rule 18.5 where the student was taught using English as the language of instruction; or

Successful completion of at least five years of secondary education (being the equivalent of New Zealand secondary school years 9 to 13) at schools in either New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the Republic of Ireland, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States where the student was taught using English as the language of instruction; or

Successful completion of a Bachelor's Degree, Graduate Certificate, Graduate Diploma, Bachelor Honours degree, Postgraduate Certificate, Postgraduate Diploma, Masters' Degree or Doctoral Degree, the language of instruction of which must be in English and which must be from a tertiary education provider from New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the Republic of Ireland, South Africa, the United Kingdom or the United States or

Successful completion of one of the following internationally recognised proficiency tests listed below to the level required of the programme of study and with all scores achieved in a single test during the two years preceding the proposed date of enrolment

IELTS test - General or Academic score of 5.5 with no band score lower than 5
TOEFL Paper based test (pBT) - Score of 530 (with an essay score of 4.5 TWE)
TOEFL Internet based test (iBT) - Score of 46 (with a writing score of 14)
Cambridge English Examination - B2 First or B2First for schools with a score of 162. No less than 154 in each skill.
OET - Minimum of Grade C or 200 in all sub-tests
NZCEL - a) Expiring Level b) Current: a) Level 3 (Academic) b) Level 3 (Applied)
Pearson Test of English (Academic) - PTE (Academic) score of 42 with no band score lower than 36
Language Cert - B2 Communicator IESOL (LRWS) with PASS and no less than Pass in each skill
Trinity ISE - ISE II with no less than pass in any band

* New versions of some NZCEL qualifications, and in some cases new qualifications, were published on 13 June 2017. These are intended to replace pre-existing versions and qualifications, which have been given expiring status until discontinued on 31 December 2019. (a) denotes expiring (b) denotes current

For students to be considered to have satisfactorily completed this programme, and be eligible for award of the qualification, New Zealand Certificate in Information Technology Essentials (Level 4), they must have successfully met all assessment requirements and successfully completed all four 15 credit papers, This amounts to successful programme completion of 60 credits.

Please note that students failing to attend 80% of the timetabled programme hours may forfeit zero fees entitlement.