Our current funds
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We manage a variety of tertiary education funds. On this page, you’ll find a brief description of each of our funds and its purpose.
We manage a variety of tertiary education funds. On this page, you’ll find a brief description of each of our funds and its purpose.
Some funds have more than one purpose, but they’re listed in just one category.
Click on the title of a fund you’re interested in for more in-depth information. Or visit our funding overview page to learn more about how, who and what we fund.
Capability and development funding
Adult and Community Education Professional Development
Adult and Community Education (ACE) Professional Development builds sector capability by supporting ACE providers to gain additional teaching skills.
Adult Literacy Educator Grants
The Adult Literacy Educator (ALE) Fund supports building an effective literacy and numeracy teaching workforce by increasing the capability of educators and trainers to teach literacy and numeracy skills to adults.
Centres of Asia Pacific Excellence (CAPES)
A CAPE is a university-led centre of excellence for languages, culture, politics and economics of the Asia-Pacific region.
Centres of Research Excellence (CoREs)
The Centres of Research Excellence (CoREs) Fund was established in 2001 to encourage the development of excellent tertiary education-based research that is collaborative, strategically focused and creates significant knowledge transfer activities.
Entrepreneurial Universities is a competitive fund for co-investment with universities to attract world-leading entrepreneurial academics to New Zealand, so that students can learn from their skills and experience.
National Centre for Tertiary Teaching Excellence
The National Centre for Tertiary Teaching Excellence (the Centre) contributes to excellent educational outcomes for learners by working with tertiary education organisations (TEOs) to enhance the effectiveness of teaching and learning.
Performance Based Research Fund (PBRF)
The purpose of the Performance-Based Research Fund (PBRF) is to ensure that excellent research in the tertiary education sector is encouraged and rewarded. This means assessing the research performance of tertiary education organisations (TEOs) and then funding them on the basis of their performance.
Wānanga Research Capability Fund
The Wānanga Research Capability Fund supports research capability building within wānanga, particularly in the area of wānanga specialisation in mātauranga Māori/Māori knowledge.
Industry funding
Industry training is a partnership between government and industry and is delivered to people in employment. Industry training helps support the development of skills that meet industry needs
Literacy and Numeracy and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) funding
Adult and Community Education Fund
The purpose of the Adult and Community Education (ACE) Fund is to provide community-based education, foundation skills, and pathways into other learning opportunities that meet community learning needs.
Immigration Levy funding provides for one-to-one English language tuition, social English classes, English for migrants’ programmes and English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) literacy classes.
Intensive Literacy and Numeracy (ILN)
The Intensive Literacy and Numeracy (ILN) Fund supports the intensive provision of high quality, fees-free literacy and numeracy learning opportunities for learners with low-level literacy and numeracy skills.
Intensive Literacy and Numeracy – English for Speakers of Other Languages (ILN – ESOL)
The Intensive Literacy and Numeracy Fund - English for Speakers of Other Languages (ILN – ESOL) supports the intensive provision of high quality, fees-free ESOL literacy and numeracy learning opportunities, to help adult learners gain the literacy and numeracy skills needed to progress to further study or the workplace.
Intensive Literacy and Numeracy - Refugee English Fund
The Intensive Literacy and Numeracy – Refugee English Fund (ILN Refugee English) supports refugees to reach a level of English that will allow them to enter employment, or undertake their choice of vocational or degree-level education.
Pre-purchased English Language Tuition (PELT) (previously known as English for Migrants)
This PELT fund, administered by the TEC, enables migrants to pre-purchase English language tuition to help them settle into New Zealand communities or the workplace, or to further their education.
Workplace Literacy and Numeracy – Employer-led
Workplace Literacy and Numeracy (WLN) Employer-led funding supports the provision of literacy and numeracy programmes for employees to increase their literacy and numeracy skills, and contribute to workplace productivity.
Workplace Literacy and Numeracy – TEO-led
Workplace Literacy and Numeracy (WLN) – TEO-led funding supports the provision of literacy and numeracy programmes for employees to increase their literacy and numeracy skills, and contribute to workplace productivity.
Teaching and learning funding
Student Achievement Component (SAC) Levels 1 and 2
SAC 1 and 2 funding helps to provide essential foundation skills at a low cost to learners studying at levels 1 and 2 on the NZQF. Funding is allocated through an Investment Plan.
Student Achievement Component (SAC) Level 3 and Above
The Student Achievement Component (SAC) is the Government’s contribution towards the cost of teaching and learning services for students enrolled at a tertiary education organisation (TEO). Students must be studying towards a qualification listed on the New Zealand Qualifications Framework (NZQF).
Targeted funding
The Adult and Community Education (ACE) Fund provides for community-based education that meets community learning needs. The Search and Rescue (SAR) (ACE) Fund supports volunteers in the field of search and rescue to achieve the relevant class and level of training and accreditation they need to perform search and rescue operations.
The Adult and Community Education (ACE) Fund provides for community-based education that meets community learning needs. The Emergency Management (ACE) Fund supports volunteers in the fields of civil defence emergency management and fire-fighting to achieve an appropriate class and level of training and accreditation to perform emergency management operations.
The DualPathways Pilot aims to improve the transition of students from school to work by providing a wider range of learning opportunities, making better use of the education network, and creating clear pathways from school to work and study. The DualPathways Pilot partnership model transitions students from secondary school to employment-based tertiary education.
Equity funding supports tertiary education organisations (TEOs) to improve access, participation, and achievement of Māori and Pasifika learners at higher levels of the tertiary education system, as well as participation and achievement of students with disabilities.
Gateway funding enables secondary schools to give senior students access to structured workplace learning integrated with school-based learning. Students’ learning is assessed in the workplace and they can achieve credits on the New Zealand Qualifications Framework (NZQF) towards their National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA).
Māori and Pasifika Trades Training (MPTT)
Māori and Pasifika Trades Training (MPTT) funding provides fees-free tertiary places for Māori and Pasifika learners aged between 16 and 40 to achieve in pre-trades training and progress to sustainable trades or trades-related employment (including New Zealand Apprenticeships), other successful industry training programmes at Level 3 and above on the New Zealand Qualification Framework (NZQF), and managed apprenticeships.
Medical Trainee Intern Grants are paid to the University of Otago and the University of Auckland to provide a stipend for domestic medical students working as interns as part of their sixth year of study.
Special Supplementary Grant for Special Education
The Special Supplementary Grant for Special Education (SSG – Special Education) is available to institutes of technology and polytechnics (ITPs) that already teach students with special needs.
Trades Academies funding supports trades and technology programmes for senior secondary school students to provide a transition between school and tertiary education.
Youth Guarantee initiatives improve the transition from school to work, by providing a wider range of learning opportunities, making better use of the education network, and creating clear pathways from school to work and study.