For the full learner eligibility requirements, see the Youth Guarantee funding conditions for the relevant year. Learners must not be simultaneously enrolled in school and a YG funded programme.

Learners must not be enrolled in a YG funded programme and another TEC-funded programme at the same time, eg, Intensive Literacy and Numeracy (ILN), Delivery at Levels 1 and 2 on the New Zealand Qualifications and Credentials Framework (DQ1-2), New Zealand Apprenticeship or Gateway.

A learner who is eligible for ILN-funded programmes is not considered to have the necessary literacy and numeracy skills to be successful in a YG programme.

Limit on prior qualification achievement

The prior qualification achievement limit is to ensure that government funding is targeted to learners with no or low prior qualification achievement, and to enable learners to progress to higher-level qualifications.

In practice this means:

• a new enrolment is the first time that learner has been enrolled in YG at that tertiary education organisation (TEO), and
• the TEO must verify individual learners’ prior achievement before accepting them into the programme.

Level 1 and 2 programmes

TEOs must ensure that learners who already hold a qualification at Level 1 or 2 on the New Zealand Qualifications and Credentials Framework (NZQCF) comprise no more than 10% of new enrolments in a YG programme leading to award of a qualification at that level.

A learner enrolment in a subsequent YG qualification at the same TEO at any level is not considered a “new enrolment”.

Level 3 programmes

To meet the learner eligibility requirements the TEO must:

• not enrol a learner in a YG programme if the learner has already achieved a qualification at Level 3 or above on the NZQCF, and
• prioritise enrolments in YG programmes that lead to award of a Level 3 qualification on the NZQCF for:
  • learners who enrolled in YG with low prior achievement (no qualification or a Level 1 qualification), and
  • learners who have completed a Level 1 or 2 qualification funded through YG.

Age limit for learners

Learners may be re-enrolled in YG, as long as they continue to meet the learner eligibility conditions, including enrolling in no more than 1.5 EFTS provision per calendar year.

Some learners may turn 25 years old during a programme they are enrolled in. These learners remain eligible for YG for the courses required to complete their programme.

YG funding is not available for learners who have already turned 25 to re-enrol in courses they did not successfully complete. Keep this in mind when you enrol a learner who is close to turning 25, as any re-enrolments in programmes or courses will need to be self-funded by the learner or from DQ1-2/Delivery at Levels 3-7 (non-degree) on the New Zealand Qualifications and Credentials Framework and all industry training (DQ3-7) Funds funding.