Eligibility

For details of tertiary education organisation (TEO) eligibility, programme eligibility, and learner eligibility please see the funding conditions for the relevant year.

Funding conditions by year

For information about Employer-led Workplace Literacy and Numeracy (EWLN) funding, see the Employer-led Workplace Literacy and Numeracy Fund Finder.

Employer-led Workplace Literacy and Numeracy Fund

Learner eligibility

For the specific learner eligibility criteria please see the funding conditions for the relevant year.

Funding conditions by year

For information on other valid domestic enrolments, please see the Other valid domestic enrolments webpage.

Other valid domestic enrolments

TEO-led WLN is intended for individuals in the paid workforce. This includes employees as well as contractors and temporary staff working for the employer.

Employees who participate in the programme must have low literacy and/or numeracy skills. This may manifest as difficulties in:

• understanding written and/or verbal instructions,
• completing forms (such as health and safety forms),
• reporting verbally and/or in writing,
• understanding and/or completing basic calculations, and
• expressing literacy and numeracy through digital devices necessary for work.

These difficulties may be exacerbated by having English as a second language.

Changes to learner eligibility from 1 January 2024

For learners to be considered to have low skills in literacy, numeracy, or literacy and numeracy for the purposes of the Fund they must:

• present at Step 3 or lower on the Learning Progressions for reading, and/or step 4 or lower on the Learning Progressions for numeracy when assessed using the Literacy and Numeracy for Adults Assessment Tool (LNAAT); and
• either:
  • have fewer than 121 credits on the NZQCF (or equivalent); or
  • have more than 120 credits on the NZQCF (or equivalent), and have fewer than 31 credits in literacy and/or numeracy in unit standards and/or achievement standards (or equivalent); and
• not have an undergraduate, postgraduate, or Level 5 or above Qualification gained in New Zealand or that is listed on the NZQCF.

Learner eligibility requirements for literacy and numeracy provision were updated for 2024 onwards.

TEOs can only enrol learners with Level 5 or above qualifications in literacy and numeracy funds in exceptional circumstances, with prior written approval from us.

For information on how to apply for an exemption to enrol a learner with a Level 5 or above qualification due to exceptional circumstances, see Exemptions and exceptional circumstances.

Literacy and Numeracy for Adults Assessment Tool (LNAAT)

The LNAAT is an online adaptive tool that provides robust and reliable information on the reading, writing and numeracy skills of adults.

Following Ministerial approval of the 2024 funding mechanism, the funding conditions were updated to require using the LNAAT to determine learner eligibility for the TEO-led WLN fund.

Learners must present at Step 3 or lower on the Learning Progressions for reading, and/or step 4 or lower on the Learning Progressions for numeracy when assessed using the LNAAT.

We also recommend you use the LNAAT at the beginning of the programme to identify employees’ literacy and numeracy skill levels.

For more information about using the LNAAT see the 2024 LNAAT Guidelines.

2024 LNAAT Guidelines

Programme eligibility

Changes to programme eligibility from 2025

TEO-led WLN must be delivered face-to-face (for example, not delivered online or via distance learning), unless you have received our prior written approval for another form of delivery due to exceptional circumstances. 

For information on applying for an exemption to deliver TEO-led WLN extramurally, see Exemptions and exceptional circumstances.

Intensity of delivery

The intensity of literacy, numeracy, or literacy and numeracy, tuition received by each learner enrolled in a TEO-led WLN programme with a TEO must be 40 hours over any 10 to 40 week period (or portion of the period). Alongside that programme duration the delivery model is as agreed among the employer, employee and the TEO delivering the programme.

The reason for this approach (rather than a range of hours per week) is to provide flexibility for TEOs to ensure the delivery model meets both employer and employee needs. Delivery could, for example, be weekly, or it could be in blocks with breaks of several weeks between.

Example:

Calculating time period for delivery for a 25-hour TEO-led WLN programme:

25 hours/40 hours = 0.625 (proportion)

0.625 x 10 weeks = 6.25 weeks (shortest 25-hour programme duration)

0.625 x 40 weeks = 25 weeks (longest 25-hour programme duration)

The 25-hour programme must be delivered over at least 6.25 weeks (rounded up to the nearest whole day) and over no more than 25 weeks.