Funding, payments and learner fees – DQ7-10

Tuku pūtea, ngā utunga me ngā utu ākonga – DQ7-10

This page provides information about how Delivery at Levels 7 (degree) to 10 on the New Zealand Qualifications and Credentials Framework (DQ7-10) Fund funding is set, payments are made, and learner fees.

On this page:

Funding mechanism

The responsible Minister(s) issues the DQ7-10 funding mechanism. It sets out the purpose of the Fund, and authorises the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) to administer the funding. Funding is agreed through your Investment Plan (ie, on-Plan funding). When you receive DQ7-10 funding, you must comply with:

requirements of the Education and Training Act 2020, and
funding conditions for the relevant year.

The overall amount of DQ7-10 funding available is set through the Government’s annual budget process. We determine the appropriate amount of DQ7-10 funding for each tertiary education organisation (TEO) through the annual investment process and through additional funding if available.

For more information see:

Fee limits and regulations

Courses delivered via DQ7-10 are regulated under the following regulations:

Ensure you familiarise yourself with these regulations before proposing or changing fees.

Funding allocation and payments

Funding allocations, including any amendments, are available through My Allocations and Payments on DXP Ngā Kete.

DQ7-10 funding is paid in equal monthly instalments. For the calculation of indicative allocations, see the methodology from the relevant year at Indicative allocations for on-Plan funding, by year.

For more details regarding your specific allocation, please contact customerservice@tec.govt.nz or your Relationship Manager.

Funding calculation

We calculate your consumed funding using:

the number of valid domestic learner enrolments, measured by equivalent full-time learners (EFTS), and
the qualifications, and their component courses, in which a valid domestic learner is enrolled.

To calculate your consumed DQ7-10 funding, we use the following elements:

the metric (EFTS value)
delivery classification
funding category
funding rates
learner enrolments.

Step	Funding calculation	Example
1	Assign the qualification an EFTS value	A Certificate in Communication Studies obtained through one full-time academic year’s study has a value of 1.0 EFTS.
2	Disaggregate the qualification into courses Calculate the EFTS factor of each course Classify the courses	It comprises four courses. The EFTS value of the qualification is disaggregated among the four courses. For this example, each course has an EFTS factor of 0.25 EFTS. The delivery classification prescription classifies this subject as # 03 (eg, arts, humanities, language). The course classification can be found in the funding mechanism.
3	Apply the funding category	The funding category alphabetic code in the funding mechanism gives the category of the course as A (arts and social sciences). The funding category numeric code in the funding mechanism gives the category of the course as 1 (non-degree course with no research requirement).
3	Apply funding rates	Apply the funding rate for the applicable year. For example, for 2026, the rate for A1 courses is $7,287 (excl. GST) per EFTS.
4	Multiply the funding rate by the number of valid enrolments	For 100 learners on each of the four courses, each course attracts DQ7-10 funding of $182,175 (excl. GST) (0.25 x $7,287 x 100).

Example: Re-enrolling a DQ7-10 learner

Where a DQ7-10 learner requires further study to complete their qualification, this study can be only to complete courses not yet passed (content not yet studied or content studied and assessed, but requiring a re-sit).

Example

You enrol a learner in all courses linked to a 60-credit (0.5 EFTS) qualification. The sum of the course EFTS factors is 0.5 EFTS.
The learner achieves 30 credits from the 60-credit course enrolments. You are funded 0.5 EFTS, for the 60 credits of courses they were enrolled in.
You re-enrol the learner for the remaining 30 credits not yet achieved and are funded 0.25 EFTS for those 30 credits.
The learner successfully completes the courses and is awarded the qualification.
The learner has received 0.75 EFTS worth of provision (90 credits), and you are funded 0.75 EFTS (0.5 + 0.25 EFTS), assuming funding conditions are met for each course enrolment.

Note: You will report 0.25 EFTS (30 credits) as unsuccessful course completions, and 0.5 EFTS (60 credits) as successful course completions.

Calculating EFTS remaining vs consumed

To work out how much EFTS a returning learner has left, use this formula:

Qualification EFTS value - (credits completed / total qualification credits x qualification EFTS value) = remaining EFTS.

Example: 0.5 - (30 / 60 x 0.5) = 0.25 remaining EFTS.

Funding rates

For information on DQ7-10 funding rates, see Funding rates by year.

For detailed information on the Delivery Classification Guide and how it is used for funding see Delivery Classification Guide.

Flexible funding

If you are a qualifying TEO, we may allocate additional DQ7-10 funding provision above the amount you have been approved to deliver, to provide flexibility to meet additional learner demand. See flexible funding conditions in the relevant Funding Conditions Catalogue to confirm you are a qualifying TEO. Flexible funding:

is payable for provision towards:
- qualification courses we have agreed to fund in your Mix of Provision (MoP) (for private training establishments [PTEs]), or
- New Zealand Standard Classification of Education (NZSCED) volumes of provision that we have agreed to fund in your MoP (for tertiary education institutions [TEIs])
does not change your approved funding allocation
is still subject to the conditions imposed on your funding
is calculated using the December Single Data Return (SDR), with payment made in March of the following year, and
uses the greater of 2% of your approved funding allocation, or 10 EFTS of delivery calculated using the average EFTS rate of a TEO’s total actual delivery (funded and unfunded), as determined by us.

The external evaluation and review (EER) category referred to in the funding conditions will be the highest published EER category for the TEO during the funding year to which flexible funding is being applied.

The table below shows examples of how flexible funding is calculated (assuming a generic funding rate of $10,000 per EFTS to illustrate).

Funding allocated	Plan-agreed EFTS	Delivered EFTS	Delivery value	Flexible funding paid	Percentage of EFTS delivered	Percentage of funding paid (including flexible funding)
$200,000	20	22.6	$226,000	$26,000 (Example 1)	113%	113%
$200,000	20	20.2	$202,000	$2,000 (Example 2)	101%	101%
$2,000,000	200	226	$2,260,000	$100,000 (Example 3)	113%	105%
$5,500,000	550	570	$5,700,000	$110,000 (Example 4)	103%	102%

Worked examples

Example 1 – Allocation $200,000

Actual delivery: 22.6 EFTS (value $226,000)
Over-delivery value: $226,000 - $200,000 = $26,000
Threshold comparison:
- 2% of allocation ($200,000) = $4,000
- 10 EFTS value: $226,000 / 22.6 = $10,000 x 10 = $100,000
Higher value = $100,000 (maximum payable)
Flexible funding amount (lesser of over-delivery or maximum payable) = $26,000

Example 2 – Allocation $200,000

Actual delivery: 20.2 EFTS (value $202,000)
Over-delivery value: $202,000 - $200,000 = $2,000
Threshold comparison:
- 2% of allocation ($200,000) = $4,000
- 10 EFTS value: $202,000 / 20.2 = $10,000 x 10 = $100,000
Higher value = $100,000
Flexible funding amount (lesser of over-delivery or maximum payable) = $2,000

Example 3 – Allocation $2,000,000

Actual delivery: 226 EFTS (value $2,260,000)
Over-delivery value: $2,260,000 - $2,000,000 = $260,000
Threshold comparison
- 2% of allocation ($2,000,000) = $40,000
- 10 EFTS value: $2,260,000 / 226 = $10,000 x 10 = $100,000
Higher value = $100,000
Flexible funding amount (lesser of over-delivery or maximum payable) = $100,000

Example 4 – Allocation $5,500,000

Actual delivery: 570 EFTS (value $5,700,000)
Over-delivery value: $5,700,000 - $5,500,000 = $200,000
Threshold comparison:
- 2% of allocation ($5,500,000) = $110,000
- 10 EFTS value: $5,700,000 / 570 = $10,000 x 10 = $100,000
Higher value = $110,000
Flexible funding amount (lesser of over-delivery or maximum payable) = $110,000

For the calculation of funding wash-ups, see Funding wash-ups by year.

Suspending or revoking funding

Under clause 16 of Schedule 18 of the Education and Training Act 2020 (the Act), we may suspend or revoke some or all funding given under section 425 of the Act if we are satisfied on reasonable grounds that:

when measured against performance indicators, you have not achieved, or are not achieving, an outcome anticipated in your Investment Plan for a tertiary education programme or activity in relation to which funding has been given under section 425 of the Act
you have not complied, or are not complying, with a condition on which funding has been given under section 425 of the Act, or
you have not provided, or are not providing, adequate and timely information required by us or the Ministry of Education under section 425 of the Act.

If you have your funding approval revoked in accordance with clause 16 of Schedule 18 of the Act, the unspent portion of funding is repayable to us.

We may arrange to offset the amount against any funding payable to you.

Subcontracting

Subcontracting refers to a situation where you may use funding provided by us to pay another organisation to deliver teaching or assessment on your behalf. This does not include:

teaching and learning activities contracted to individuals or employers (for example, an employee on a fixed-term contract, an honorary staff member, or a contract for teaching and learning services with a subject-matter expert for part of the programme such as for first aid provision)
research activities or postgraduate research supervision, and
learning that occurs within vocational placements such as workplace placement or practicum.

You must not subcontract any DQ7-10 funded activities without prior written approval from the relevant quality assurance body, and without our prior written consent. You need to apply for approval as part of your Investment Plan. If we approve your subcontracting arrangement, it will be for the term of your Plan. When your Plan expires, you will need to obtain written approval again.

Subcontracting obligations

If you have received approval to subcontract delivery to another party, you must:

comply with all conditions we set as part of the approval subcontract, and
ensure the subcontracted party does not subcontract any functions further, and
be accountable for how DQ7-10 funding is used, including meeting all legislative and funding condition requirements.

Student Loan and Allowance Scheme payments

We approve each qualification for access to Student Allowance and Student Loan Schemes. StudyLink determines the eligibility of individual learners. A qualification must be approved for DQ7-10 funding before a learner can access student allowance and student loans for that qualification (approval is not backdated).

If you are applying for DQ7-10 funding for a new qualification, you must provide all necessary information to us at least four weeks before tuition starts. This ensures your learners can access financial support if they are eligible.

For further information on eligibility visit StudyLink.

Requesting tuition fees payment from StudyLink

If a learner is paying their fees through the Student Loan Scheme, you should:

obtain the learner’s authorisation to pay from their loan account
send a Verification of Study (VoS) to the Ministry of Social Development (StudyLink)
wait for confirmation StudyLink has accepted the learner’s loan application, and
inform the learner in writing about how their fees will be paid.

When you request tuition fees from StudyLink, you must ensure that the amount you request matches the learner, reported programme(s) and study period(s) listed in the VoS response.

Recognition of prior learning

When requesting tuition fees from StudyLink, request only the amount that matches the learner’s actual course of study after any recognition of prior learning (RPL) or previously awarded credits (CRT) has been applied (ie, only the components the learner is still required to pay for and study). Do not request full tuition fees from StudyLink and then refund to the learner after RPL has been applied.

Programme delivered full-time

A DQ7-10 funded qualification is only approved for Student Allowance and Student Loan Scheme access if it is quality assured by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) or Universities NZ, delivered full-time, runs for a minimum of 12 weeks, and has an EFTS value of 0.3 or higher.

Programme delivered part-time

A programme of less than 0.3 EFTS is classified as part-time and not normally eligible for student loan or student allowance access. We may approve access for a DQ7-10 part-time programme if it meets one of the following criteria:

it runs for 32 weeks or more and has an EFTS value of at least 0.3 EFTS, or
it runs for fewer than 32 weeks with an EFTS value of between 0.25 and 0.3 EFTS.

Micro-credentials

Micro-credentials are not eligible for Student Allowance and Student Loan Schemes access.

Loan entry threshold

The loan entry threshold (LET) sets the minimum EFTS value required for a learner’s individual study programme to be deemed full-time for Student Allowance and Student Loan Scheme purposes. A qualification can still be funded through DQ7-10 even if it does not meet the LET. The LET is determined by matching gross weeks (including recess) to a range of EFTS values.

A gross week is the total length of enrolment in a programme of study, including holiday weeks (recess).

The table below shows this relationship. Qualifications of less than 0.3 EFTS may still be eligible for learner access to the Student Allowance and Student Loan Schemes.

Loan entry threshold table
Length of enrolment (Gross weeks)	Loan entry threshold (EFTS)
12	0.3
13	0.3
14	0.3
15	0.3
16	0.4
17	0.4
18	0.4
19	0.4
20	0.5
21	0.525
22	0.55
23	0.575
24	0.6
25	0.625
26	0.65
27	0.675
28	0.7
29	0.725
30	0.75
31	0.775
32-52	0.8
53 or more	1.0

Student allowances – paid practical work

Learners who undertake paid practical work as part of their course of study are not entitled to any student allowance payments for the week(s) they undertake that work. It is important that you discuss this with your learners.

For more information on allowance entitlements and paid practical work please see StudyLink.