On this page:

• Limit on prior qualification achievement
• Learners studying extramurally or outside New Zealand

For the full learner eligibility requirements, see the Funding Conditions Catalogue for the relevant year. 

Refer to the base funding conditions and DQ1-2 specific conditions.

Limit on prior qualification achievement

The aim of funding programmes leading to qualifications at Levels 1 and 2 on the New Zealand Qualifications and Credentials Framework (NZQCF) (DQ1-2 funding) is to provide a low-cost way for learners to build essential skills that will help them progress to higher-level study and/or move into skilled work.

Level 1 and 2 provision needs to be applied to learners who will benefit from completing an entry-level tertiary qualification. Research has shown that learners are most likely to benefit from foundational level learning when they do not already have a Level 2 qualification.

The Minister for Vocational Education issues the funding mechanism. The Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) must ensure that DQ1-2 funding is only allocated to tertiary education organisations (TEOs) for provision that targets learners who have no, or low, prior educational achievement.

Funding condition: Prior achieved qualifications and 10% limit

To meet the requirement in the funding mechanism for DQ1-2, a funding condition applies that restricts funding for learners who already hold a qualification at Level 2 or above.

The funding condition is expressed in two parts:

1. Restrictions on claiming funding for individual learners

You cannot claim DQ1-2 funding for a learner who enrols with you and already holds a qualification at Level 2 or higher on the NZQCF.  

There are two exceptions to this rule:

1. They are enrolling in an English language or te reo Māori programme.
2. Their prior achieved qualification at Level 2 or higher is more than five years old (as at the date of achievement shown on their NZQA Record of Achievement [NZRoA]).

These exceptions recognise that:

• some learners may enrol in a Level 1 or 2 qualification to acquire English or Māori language skills, with no expectation of study progression or employment
• some qualifications have a limited useful lifespan, and a learner may wish to update their qualification after a period of time or retrain in another area at a foundational level.

2. A maximum limit that applies across your organisation

You are permitted to enrol a maximum of 10% of learners with higher qualifications. No more than 10% of learners enrolled across programmes for which you receive DQ1-2 funding can hold a prior achieved qualification at Level 2 or above on the NZQCF (excluding the exceptions listed above).

This means you can decide to enrol a learner with a higher-level qualification, but you must ensure you stay under the 10% overall limit allowed for your organisation under the funding condition.

Practical guidance to stay under the 10% limit

All TEOs (and secondary schools) are given 90 days to upload credits and qualification completions to the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA). This can create a time delay between a learner’s previous provider updating a learner’s NZRoA, and them enrolling with you. It is possible the learner may have achieved a qualification that is not yet showing on their NZRoA.  

You can assess a learner’s eligibility for funded provision based on the information showing on their NZRoA on the date you accept their application. You must retain dated evidence for audit purposes. You should also ask the learner about their immediate prior study, to assess if they may have achieved a qualification at Level 2 or above before enrolling with you.  

We suggest you retain a dated pdf or printed copy of a learner’s NZRoA, showing there were no prior qualifications at Level 2 or above listed at the time you accepted their application, and that you made reasonable enquiries with them about their immediate past study. Evidence of a reasonable enquiry may be a dated file note with a statement such as “Asked learner about past study – confirmed no quals in addition to what is shown on NZRoA”.

Evidence should be kept on the learner’s file. In the event of a TEC audit, where there is satisfactory evidence to show there was no prior qualification showing on the NZRoA and you made reasonable enquiries with the learner, we will exclude that learner from your organisation’s 10% limit.

Organisational level checks

You need to monitor your enrolments to ensure you do not exceed your 10% limit. How you do this is up to you, but you may want to consider the following guidance: 

• It may be useful to pre-calculate the maximum number of learners allowed, based on your anticipated enrolments. You would need to adjust this frequently based on your actual enrolment figures as individual learners are enrolled. We recommend you take a conservative approach.
• Closely monitor learners who enrol with you but hold a prior achieved qualification at Level 2 or above. From this total, you may exclude learners who fall into one, or both, of the two exclusion categories (if a learner falls into both categories they are only counted once). These exclusions will reduce the total enrolments contributing towards your 10% limit, but again, will need to be frequently monitored, especially during peak enrolment periods.

If you discover significant numbers of your learners fall into a cohort or category that impacts on your 10% limit, we encourage you to collect relevant data and information to discuss with us. 

If your TEO is found to have exceeded the 10% limit

We undertake monitoring across all TEOs regularly and will contact you if your organisation has exceeded the 10% limit. We may take steps to enforce the funding condition through funding recovery.

Learners studying extramurally or outside New Zealand

You may deliver to learners studying outside of New Zealand and/or extramurally with prior written approval from us. Approval will only be considered in exceptional circumstances. For more information, please see the funding conditions for DQ1-2.

To request an exception to deliver to a learner studying outside New Zealand and/or extramurally, please contact our Customer Contact Group on 0800 601 301 or customerservice@tec.govt.nz.