See all of the Industry Training Fund (ITF) funding conditions for requirements when enrolling learners in ITF funded programmes. This includes but is not limited to the following funding conditions.

• Condition: Learner eligibility
• Condition: Programme eligibility
• Condition: Provision of industry training and charging of fees
• Condition: Recognised prior learning
• Condition: Records
• Condition: Financial contribution
• Condition: Minimum performance standards
• Condition: Codes of practice for New Zealand Apprenticeships

Enrolment application

To enrol in a programme, the learner needs to apply to the industry training organisation (ITO) by:

• completing and submitting the ITO’s enrolment form, and
• providing evidence to enable the ITO to:
  • verify the learner’s identity, and
  • determine the learner’s eligibility (see ITF funding conditions, including Condition: Learner eligibility and Condition: Programme eligibility).

Changes to an enrolment

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

Enrolment records

In relation to record-keeping under Schedule 18, clause 13 (or, for off-Plan funding, Schedule 18, clause 25) of the Education and Training Act 2020, to demonstrate that a tertiary education organisation (TEO) is using funding for the purposes for which it is provided, the TEO must keep enrolment records for each learner that specify:

• programmes or qualifications in which the learner has been enrolled
• the learner’s details including name, date of birth, citizenship, residency (if relevant)
• if the learner is in New Zealand on a visa or work permit, the learner's variation of conditions
• that the TEO has verified that the learner the meets the criteria of:
  • an industry trainee (see Condition: Learner eligibility), or
  • a New Zealand Apprentice (see Condition: Learner eligibility)
• the learner's national student number (NSN)
• the learner’s previous academic achievement or evidence of recognition of prior learning
• changes (if any) made to an enrolment
• whether the learner has withdrawn from his or her programme of study and the date of the withdrawal
• the current training status of the learner, and
• the period for which the learner is enrolled.

A training agreement is part of the employment agreement between the employee and employer, and must be completed in order for the learner to be eligible for enrolment.

TEC requires that a training agreement contains:

• details of the training programme
• details of the parties (learner, employer, or principal contractor for self-employed learners)
• signatures of the parties (learner, employer, or principal contractor)
• a training agreement signed date, and
• the learner’s national student number.

The Industry Training and Apprenticeships Act 1992 refers to ‘training contracts’ and ‘apprenticeship training agreements’. We call both of these ‘training agreements’.

Electronic signatures can be used in the training agreement, as long they meet the legal requirements. See the Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017.

If the date the training agreement was signed is later than the date the training started, the training agreement signed date entered into the Industry Training Register can be backdated to match the start date. To do this, the industry training organisation (ITO) must have evidence (such as credit achievement and/or contractual agreements with the employer) that the training actually started on the participation start date.

An ITO does not need to see a learner's employment agreement, but is responsible for ensuring that learners meet the employment criteria in the funding conditions.

To comply with reporting requirements under section 159YD of the Education Act 1989, an industry training organisation (ITO) must verify the learner’s identity when the learner enrols for the first time.

See Condition: Verification.

If the identity of the learner is verified, the ITO can then check if the learner is eligible to be a learner.

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

• Where an original is sighted, it must be received by the ITO in original hard copy format.
• Where a certified copy is sighted, it may be received by the ITO in either hard copy format or digital format (photograph or scan).

In either instance the ITO remains responsible for verifying the learner’s identity.

Matching data fields on the National Student Index (NSI)

In order to use the national student number (NSN) to verify a learner’s identity for industry training, the learner must provide the following information and these must match exactly against the same data fields in the NSI:

• surname
• forename(s)
• date of birth, and
• gender.

In addition:

• the ITO must verify that the Name and Date of Birth fields match those supplied by the learner, and
• the learner must declare to the ITO if the NSN is theirs.

If one or more of the NSN fields do not match the information supplied by the learner, the NSN cannot be used to verify the learner’s identity. For example, if the learner provides correct forenames, correct date of birth but an incorrect surname (such as because they got married), then the fields do not match and additional identification is required.

When additional identity verification is required

We expect an ITO to have a clear identity verification policy that informs staff and learners about when additional evidence of identity is required (for example, police checks or referee checks). We recommend that ITOs familiarise themselves with the Department of Internal Affairs' Evidence of Identity Standard.   

Verification of learner eligibility

ITOs must ensure that learners are eligible to be enrolled in ITF funded programmes.

See Condition: Industry trainee eligibility and Condition: New Zealand Apprenticeship eligibility.

Recognition of prior learning / prior achievement

Recognition of prior learning (RPL) relates to previous training or experience (prior achievement) relevant to a programme that a learner is currently undertaking. RPL enables a learner to proceed with their training without repeating aspects of the programme previously studied, or re-learning skills the learner has already achieved through past work or other experience.

It is the ITO’s responsibility to recognise each learner’s prior learning and adjust their programme. An ITO must not claim ITF funding or fees for recognising prior learning, or for arranging training where the learner already has prior learning (ie, skills and/or knowledge).

See Condition: Recognised prior learning. 

Therefore the ITO is responsible for seeing evidence of prior academic achievement using the learner’s New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) Record of Achievement (ROA) at the time of enrolment. In addition, to see each learner’s full NCEA achievement and paid and unpaid credits, carry out an NCEA qualification check with NZQA. If ITOs have any questions about the process, please contact the Qualifications Data and Data Analysis team at NZQA on 0800 697 296.

See Recognition of prior learning / prior achievement on the Funding and payments page, under Funding calculation.

Supplementary credit programmes enable learners to extend their existing qualifications in a changing work environment because of:

• technology changes
• regulatory changes
• changes in the structure of qualifications 
• change in work focus, or
• their need to gain additional skills.

To be eligible to enrol in the supplementary credit programme, the learner must have completed either the qualification the supplementary credit programme is drawn from, or an equivalent level qualification.

See Condition: Supply and use of information and Condition: Records.

We recommend an ITO keep learner records for seven years (to be consistent with the period for keeping employment records).

We expect ITOs to hold records of completed New Zealand Apprenticeships permanently so they can be accessed in the future. Records can be either in electronic or hard copy form.

ITOs also need to meet New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) requirements. Please refer to NZQA’s New Zealand Qualifications Framework Industry Training Programme Approval Rules 2012, specifically “8.1(b): there is a permanent and accurate record kept of trainee enrolment and achievement.”

A “withdrawal” is when a learner ceases to participate in their programme (regardless of whether they have been refunded any fees), either:

• by providing notice to your organisation that they wish to withdraw participation, or
• as a result of low or no credit achievement for any reason.

Fees refund

Process fees refunds in a timely manner.

If an ITO refunds all or some of a learner’s fees, the ITO must refund the learner in the manner in which the original fee was paid. This could be either to the employer, or directly to the learner.