New Zealand Certificate in Construction Trade Skills (Level 3) - Carpentry

The purpose of this qualification is to provide the wider construction trades sector with work-ready people who are able to enter the construction trades as a labourer or an apprentice, who have developed essential transferable skills and underpinning knowledge applicable to a wide range of construction-related trades.

This qualification is suitable for people new to, or intending to enter, the construction trades sector.

Applicants should be a minimum of 16 years of age and able to complete the physical requirements of the programme.

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

Certificate at Level 3

IELTS test - General or Academic score of 5 with no band score lower than 5

TOEFL Paper based test (pBT) where the test was carried out prior to 1 October 2017 - Score of 500 (with an essay score of 4 TWE)

TOEFL Internet based test (iBT) - Score of 35 (with a writing score of 14)

Cambridge English Examination – B2 First or B2 First for schools with a score of 154. No less than 154 in each skill.

OET - Minimum of Grade C or 200 in all sub-tests

NZCEL - Level 3 (General)

Pearson Test of English (Academic) – PTE  (Academic) score of 36 with no band score lower than 36

Language Cert - B1 Achiever International ESOL Written (LRW) PASS with no less than 25/50 in each skill and Spoken (S) PASS

Trinity ISE - ISE I with no less than distinction in any band

• You will be supplied with a high quality set of hand and power tools to use on the course, during your industry work experience and also to keep for your apprenticeship
• A broad range of knowledge and practical trade skills while building a house from start to finish
• Valuable commercial experience working up to two days per week for a local building firm
• Work ready skills, reliability and discipline
• A great head start for a successful career in the industry.

To satisfactorily complete New Zealand Certificate in Construction Trade Skills (Level 3) - Carpentry programme and be awarded the New Zealand Certificate in Construction Trade Skills (Level 3) with strand in Carpentry qualification, the student must successfully achieve:

• A minimum of 120 credits in accordance with the programme schedule for the New Zealand Certificate in Construction Trade Skills (Level 3) - Carpentry.
• The student will normally be expected to complete the New Zealand Certificate in Construction Trade Skills (Level 3) - Carpentry full-time over 34 weeks or part-time over two years with prior approval. 

Please note: students failing to engage in study as per programme requirements may forfeit zero fees entitlement.

To be confirmed, however the course generally runs three days per week. Students are also expected to undertake industry work experience and study for a further 2 days each week.