On this page:

• Admission and enrolment process
• Admission
• Fees
• Inducement to enrol
• Enrolment
• Verification of learner identity and eligibility
• Recognition of prior learning/achievement
• Student loans and allowances
• Withdrawals

Admission and enrolment process

We recommend that your admission and enrolment process includes the steps below: 

Note: We expect you to inform each learner during the enrolment process about all planned learning activities leading to the award of the qualification the learner has enrolled in. “Planned learning activities” includes self-directed learning activities the TEO expects the learner to engage with/participate in. It does not include self-directed activities the learner initiates.

For the full requirements when enrolling learners in YG provision, see the funding conditions for the relevant year.

Admission

We expect you to publish admission information before the start of each of your programmes. This should include: 

• admission requirements
• criteria and process for selecting learners for entry into restricted entry courses (if relevant)
• criteria and process for assessing and recognising prior learning
• criteria and process for cross-crediting courses across qualifications
• documents a learner must submit (for example, a learner's academic transcript or record from another TEO)
• your enrolment processes
• minimum attendance and code of conduct requirements
• withdrawal requirements and process, including refunds
• process for travel assistance funding, and
• student support services available including pastoral care.

Fees

YG provision is fees-free. You must not charge tuition fees or student services fees to any YG learners. 

See the funding conditions for the relevant year.

Inducement to enrol

An enrolment is not a valid domestic enrolment if the learner has been induced to enrol.

We recommend that you contact our Customer Contact Team, phone 0800 601 301 or email customerservice@tec.govt.nz, before offering any incentive to learners to enrol with you.

Enrolment

For the full requirements when enrolling learners in YG provision, see the funding conditions for the relevant year.

Enrolment application 

To enrol in a programme leading to award of a qualification, a learner needs to apply by completing and submitting an enrolment form, and providing evidence to enable you to:

• verify their identity, and
• determine their eligibility.

Enrolment form

An enrolment form should collect all of the information you are required to report in the Single Data Return (SDR) to determine whether the learner is eligible for YG. 

To ensure an enrolment form collects all of the necessary information, you need to be familiar with the SDR Manual. If you wish, you can use the generic enrolment form provided in Single Data Return (SDR) resources.

We recommend that you publish your enrolment form.

Privacy statement

Once you have assessed a learner as eligible, you must provide them with a privacy statement explaining that you are holding their personal information for specified purposes and that you have disclosure obligations.

For more information about what you must provide in your privacy statement, and a template for you to use, see Privacy statement requirements for TEOs.

The template privacy statement is also included in the generic enrolment form at Single Data Return (SDR) resources.

Verification of learner identity and eligibility

For the full requirements for verification of learner identity and eligibility, see the funding conditions for the relevant year.

You must ensure that learners are eligible to be enrolled in YG funded programmes. To comply with the reporting requirements under the Education and Training Act 2020, you must verify the learner's identity when they enrol for the first time.

Note: You must sight either an original or a certified copy of the original.

• Originals must be in hard copy format.
• Certified copies can be in either hard copy format or digital format (photograph or scan).

For audit purposes, you must retain copies of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) New Zealand Record of Achievement (NZRoA) that was used when they first enrolled, to determine eligibility.

Recognition of prior learning/achievement

Recognition of prior learning/achievement refers to previous study or experience relevant to the programme the learner is about to enrol in, or is currently studying. It enables a learner to proceed with their study without repeating aspects of the qualification previously studied, or re-learning skills they have already achieved through past work or other experience.

Recognition of prior learning (RPL), and credit recognition and transfer (CRT), are forms of recognising learning/prior achievement. For information and guidelines for TEOs, see Guidelines for the recognition and award of learning for credit – NZQA.

It is your responsibility to recognise each learner’s prior learning and adjust the courses in their programme. You cannot claim YG funding for RPL or CRT, or for delivering tuition where the learner already has prior learning (ie, skills and/or knowledge).

This means you are responsible for:

• undertaking a preliminary evaluation of the learner and identifying whether they are likely to have the knowledge, skills, and attributes that can contribute to the graduate outcomes of the qualification
• seeking evidence of prior academic achievement, including using the NZRoA when each learner enrols, and
• for Level 3 qualifications, carrying out a National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) qualification check with NZQA to see each learner's full NCEA achievement.

For the full requirements when enrolling learners into Youth Guarantee provision, see the funding conditions for the relevant year.

For information on the prior achievement requirements refer to Learner eligibility – Youth Guarantee – Limit on prior qualification achievement.

If you have any questions about the RPL or CRT process, please contact the NZQA Qualifications Data and Data Analysis team on 0800 697 296.

Student loans and allowances

A Youth Guarantee learner who is under 18 years old is not eligible for a student loan under the Student Loan Scheme. A learner who is aged 18 to 24, however, may be eligible to access course-related costs and living costs as part of the Student Loan Scheme.

Note: Learners who turn 18 while enrolled in a Youth Guarantee funded programme are not eligible for course-related costs or living costs until their next programme (qualification) enrolment.

You must ensure that your learners understand they need to confirm their eligibility for a student loan or student allowance with StudyLink as part of deciding to undertake study (using the tools on the StudyLink website). It is important that learners make good study decisions based on all the relevant information. 

Notes:

• For learners to be able to access any part of the Student Loan or Student Allowance Schemes, the qualification(s) the learner is enrolled in must meet the loan entry threshold (LET) and be approved by us in DXP Ngā Kete.

• You must add the appropriate source of funding to the Verification of Study (VoS) provided to StudyLink. For all YG enrolments, SoF code 22 should be added to the VoS.

• You do not need to use concurrent qualifications to indicate to StudyLink the type and age of learners enrolled. Concurrent qualifications will only be used where a learner is enrolled in multiple qualifications simultaneously and the full study load (equivalent full-time student [EFTS] value of the qualifications) needs to be advised to StudyLink.

Enrolment changes

If a learner's enrolment changes for any reason, you must update your records to reflect the changes. We recommend you send updated enrolment information to the learner. 

We suggest you specify the period in which a learner can change their enrolment or withdraw from a course (so it is clear on their academic record, and they do not incur unnecessary course-related costs). 

Withdrawals

A withdrawal is when a learner ceases to participate in a course or programme, either:

• by providing notice to you that they wish to withdraw participation, or
• as a result of non-attendance or non-participation in their learning.

Disengaged learners who have not formally withdrawn

A learner may have disengaged from the programme but not have formally withdrawn. For example, they may fail to attend face-to-face courses or fail to log in for online learning. 

You should determine at the earliest opportunity if a disengaged learner is a withdrawal. You need to apply a deemed withdrawal date to any enrolment that meets the criteria above and report it in the Single Data Return (SDR).

If the learner’s enrolment continues to be reported and is unsuccessful, it will be counted as a course non-completion for the calculation of Educational Performance Indicators (EPIs). 

For full withdrawal requirements, see the funding conditions for the relevant year.

Advising StudyLink of learner withdrawal

When a learner who is receiving a student loan and/or allowance withdraws from a programme, you must also notify the date of withdrawal to StudyLink.