Rule SAC041: EFTS value of qualifications - information provision

Type:
Rule or condition
Where the following circumstances apply in relation to national certificates and diplomas, the tertiary education organisation (TEO) must take the action stated in the table below:
Exception Action
Qualifications that have credit totals that vary by more than 5% from the standard specified in the qualification prescription for the national certificate or diploma. TEOs must not class this qualification as a national certificate or diploma. It is a local qualification that requires appropriate quality assurance approval before the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) approves it for Student Achievement Component funding.
A TEO that offers two or more qualifications, when one or both are national certificates or diplomas within a single programme of study. A new local qualification code must be entered on the TEC Qualifications Register. The EFTS value must be set for the (usually reduced) total credit value of the combined qualifications.
A total programme of study that comprises two quality-assured qualifications that the TEO is already accredited to deliver. Tertiary education institutions (TEIs) must follow their approved internal qualification approval process for the combined qualification when the TEI has the appropriate delegated authority. Private training establishments must obtain New Zealand Qualifications Authority approval. While TEOs must add the combined programme of study to the TEC Qualifications Register, TEOs must not make an award additional to the two awards for the original qualifications.
TEOs that deliver part of a national certificate or diploma, e.g. off-the-job training components. The TEO must follow one of the two options below:
  • If the TEO is accredited to deliver the whole national qualification, they can add a national certificate or diploma to the TEC Qualifications Register with the correct name, EFTS value, and years and/or weeks needed to complete it. Learners can enrol in any combination of courses or unit standards
    • TEOs must demonstrate that learners have structured and clear pathways to complete the qualification through other means, e.g. by industry training organisation-facilitated on-the-job training, or formal staircasing arrangements to or from another TEO
    • The TEC funds the TEO for validly enrolled learners in the part of the qualification that they are delivering
  • Develop a local qualification with a local qualification code and provide the TEC with the total credits and length of the qualification. The qualification must receive the appropriate approval - see Approving qualifications for funding.
  • Last changed: 17 December 2010
  • Last verified: 17 December 2010