On this page:

• Funding for micro-credentials and qualifications
• What is excluded from funding?
• What is or isn’t considered within the 51% threshold?
• Conditions for delivery at Levels 1 and 2 on the NZQCF
• General guidance for WDCs

Funding for micro-credentials and qualifications

WDCs need to be aware that micro-credentials and qualifications must meet the Tertiary Education Commission’s (TEC’s) funding conditions to be eligible for funded delivery by tertiary education organisations (TEOs).

Funding conditions include requirements relating to the eligibility of programmes and micro-credentials. For information on funding conditions, see funding conditions for the relevant year.

Why this matters

If TEC funding conditions are not met, the cost of delivery will need to be covered by employers or learners.

We encourage WDCs to engage with the TEC early in the development process, if they intend for a micro-credential or qualification to be delivered by a TEO using public funding.

Funding is only available where micro-credentials and qualifications meet the base and fund-specific funding conditions.

The two main funds used by TEOs delivering WDC-developed micro-credentials and qualifications are:

• Delivery at Levels 1 and 2 on the New Zealand Qualifications and Credentials Framework (DQ1-2)
• Delivery at Levels 3 to 7 (non-degree) on the New Zealand Qualifications and Credentials Framework and all industry training (DQ3-7).

What is excluded from funding?

Two exclusions may mean a WDC-developed micro-credential, or qualification is ineligible for TEC funding:

• Health and safety or regulatory compliance learning
• Post-entry health-related professional qualifications or micro-credentials.

Health and safety or regulatory compliance learning

Under DQ1-2 and DQ3-7 funding, the TEC cannot fund a TEO for a programme or micro-credential where:

• we consider on reasonable grounds that a majority of the programme relates to health and safety, or regulatory compliance learning, and
• that learning would displace the responsibility of employers to provide training necessary to mitigate their health and safety risks – or meet their regulatory compliance obligations.

Note: 51% or more is how we define ‘majority’ for the purposes of assessment.

We focus on content that displaces an employer’s legal responsibility, eg, requirements under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 that keep workers and those impacted by business operations safe and well.

What is or isn’t considered within the 51% threshold?

This content does not contribute to the 51% or more threshold:

• health and safety and regulatory compliance content that is embedded in broader occupational or technical skill development
• content that supports transferable industry wide skills.

This content does contribute the 51% or more threshold:

• stand-alone health and safety or regulatory compliance training that exists primarily to meet legal obligations
• general or theoretical compliance learning not linked to practical skill development
• site- or employer-specific training (eg, inductions, emergency procedures). 

Health-related professional qualifications or micro-credentials

TEC funding can only be used for post-entry health-related professional qualifications or micro-credentials if they meet specific conditions regarding their academic or research nature and clinical components.

Programmes, micro-credentials, and/or their component courses are eligible for funding if they:

• lead to the award of a post-entry health-related professional qualification or micro-credential, and
• are of an academic or research nature and have a clinical component of 30% or less. 

Programmes, micro-credentials, and/or their component courses are not eligible for funding if they:

• lead to the award of a post-entry health-related professional qualification or micro-credential, and
• have a clinical component of more than 30%, and either
  • require clinical education or training, or
  • have an emphasis on specialist clinical professional skills. 

Conditions for delivery at Levels 1 and 2 on the New Zealand Qualifications and Credentials Framework (NZQCF)

There are some additional requirements to be aware of for delivery at Levels 1 and 2 on the NZQCF, funded through DQ1-2:

• A micro-credential must be at least 20 credits in size.
• Programmes and micro-credentials must include embedded literacy and numeracy (except for programmes in English language or te reo Māori).

Note: These requirements apply to provision funded through DQ1-2, which supports provider-based delivery. If a Level 1 or 2 programme or micro-credential is delivered in a work-based setting (ie, the learner is employed and training occurs in the workplace), it is instead funded through the DQ3-7 fund. WDCs should take care to align the intended delivery mode with the appropriate fund when developing qualifications and micro-credentials at Levels 1 and 2.

As stated above, restrictions on health and safety and regulatory compliance apply under both DQ1-2 and DQ3-7 across work-based and provider-based modes of delivery.

General guidance for WDCs

• Engage early: Contact TEC if you intend for a qualification or micro-credential to be eligible for funding.
• Be aware of funding conditions: Be aware of the conditions that are imposed on the fund that a qualification or micro-credential would be funded under.
• Be mindful of thresholds: TEC uses a 51% rule to assess whether health and safety or regulatory compliance content is the dominant purpose of a credential, therefore making it ineligible for funding.