New Zealand Certificate in Tourism (Level 3) with strands in Visitor Experience, Tourism and Travel

The purpose of this qualification is to provide the tourism and travel industry with individuals who can support and enhance the visitor experience, and through their skills and knowledge uphold the importance of tourism to the New Zealand economy.

Graduates will be equipped with the skills and knowledge to work in entry level roles such as:

• visitor attraction assistant
• front office assistant
• reservation consultant
• visitor host
• rental vehicle operator
• ticket sales
• booking assistant
• front desk administration

School Leavers

• 10 credits at NCEA Level 1 in both literacy and numeracy
• Three years minimum secondary education
• Desire to work in the travel and tourism industries

Mature Applicants
Applicants over the age of 20 years at time of enrolment will be considered where they can demonstrate the ability to succeed in a programme. Examples of demonstration of ability to succeed are the provision of evidence of successful completion of a programme of study at Level 1 or above in a related discipline and/or employment in the related sector for one or more years. They may be admitted subject to programme regulations approved by the Head of Faculty in consultation with the Programme Manager as appropriate. Personal commitment and a belief in one’s own ability to succeed are important personal traits and will always be taken into consideration during the selection process.       

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 with no band score lower than 5
TOEFL Paper based test (pBT) - 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 - a) Expiring Level b) Current: a) Level 3 (General) or (Workplace) b) 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

* 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 to be awarded the New Zealand Certificate in Tourism (Level 3) with strands in Visitor Experience, Tourism and Travel, and Aviation – Visitor Experience and Travel and Tourism strands only they must have:

• Completed required practical and theoretical course work and assignments.
• Shown competence to a minimum of 70 credits

While it is expected that students will complete both strands of the qualification as part of this programme, they will have the option of gaining the qualification upon completion of only one strand.

New Zealand Certificate Tourism with strand in Visitor Experience 

For students to be considered to have satisfactorily completed this programme, and to be eligible for award of the qualification “New Zealand Certificate Tourism with strand in Visitor Experience”, they must have shown competence in the following units, to a minimum of 40 credits: 17384, 18226, 18237, 23759, 23769, 497, 23768, 25352, 17788, 23764.

New Zealand Certificate Tourism with strand in Tourism and Travel 

For students to be considered to have satisfactorily completed this programme, and to be eligible for award of the qualification “New Zealand Certificate Tourism with strand in Tourism and Travel”, they must have shown competence in the following units, to a minimum of 60 credits: 17384, 18226, 18237, 23759, 23769, 497, 23768, 25352, 18212, 18228, 18211, 23766, 25504.

(Please note; students failing to attend for 80% of timetabled programme hours may forfeit zero fees entitlement)

Classes are held Monday to Friday, 9.00am-4.00pm at SIT's Invercargill campus. The timetable will be confirmed at the start of the programme.