Each qualification, and the courses within it, must be submitted to us to be approved for access to Youth Guarantee funding. Programme approval for separate qualifications does not mean the TEO can deliver a combined programme (concurrent qualifications) unless NZQA approval has been obtained for the combination programme.

Qualifications and courses are assigned an equivalent full-time student (EFTS) factor as part of the approval process.

Qualification and course approval is carried out through our section of the Services for Tertiary Education Organisations (STEO) website. Through this website each TEO:

• registers and maintains qualifications and courses for funding
• updates qualification, course and delivery site details, and
• submits its Single Data Return (SDR).

The STEO User Guide (Word, 7.8 Mb) provides technical information on using STEO to obtain approval for qualification eligibility to access funding.

A TEO approved to receive Youth Guarantee funding may request to deliver alternative or additional qualifications to those in its Investment Plan.

When submitting a new qualification, we recommend that you:

• consider whether the qualification aligns with:
  • the strategic direction outlined in your organisation's Investment Plan
  • the Tertiary Education Strategy
• consider whether the qualification meets the eligibility requirements of Condition: Programmes and qualifications for Youth Guarantee funding.
• check on availability of funding, particularly if:
  • funding is being sought for level 3
  • there will be a change in the type of delivery (trades/non-trades funding), or
  • delivery is being proposed at a new delivery site, and
• complete external quality assurance body requirements in a timely manner (this will ensure that each student who is enrolled in the approved qualification will have timely access to student allowances and the Student Loan Scheme, if eligible).

Review the Loan Entry Threshold (LET) table (in the Approving a qualification for Student Allowances and the Student Loan Scheme below) for information about ensuring qualifications can be approved for student loans and allowances.

Resources

• Changing your Plan
• Plan Guidance
• Investment Toolkit

Process

When you submit the qualification through the Services for Tertiary Education Organisations (STEO) website, remember to provide approval documentation from the external quality assurance body. Please see the SDR Manual for more information.

Once we have received the necessary information, we will decide whether or not the qualification meets the eligibility requirements of Condition: Programmes and qualifications to access Youth Guarantee funding, and how well it aligns to our investment priorities. 

If we approve the qualification as eligible for funding, you may need to request a significant Plan amendment to add the qualification to your Youth Guarantee mix of provision (MoP). We will release your MoP so you can add the qualification and submit it to us for approval.  

Enrolling students in a newly approved qualification

You can start enrolling students in the programme leading to the new qualification, and access funding, after:

• the qualification has been listed in your MoP with regions of delivery and EFTS, and
• we have approved your MoP.

To enable us to determine whether or not to approve a qualification as eligible to access Youth Guarantee funding, we require the following information when the qualification is submitted for approval through the Services for Tertiary Education Organisations (STEO) website:

• the provider code (EDUMIS number) of the TEO seeking the approval
• the qualification code used on the New Zealand Qualifications Framework (NZQF)
• the title of the proposed qualification
• the number of learning hours each week in the qualification
• the number of full-time teaching weeks each year required to complete the qualification
• the equivalent full-time student (EFTS) value of the qualification calculated using the following methods:
  • credits
  • learning hours
  • full-time weeks, and
• the approval documents from the relevant quality assurance body, including Programme Details if applicable.

We will not backdate approval for access to student allowances and the Student Loan Scheme. Therefore, we require this information from you at least four weeks before the start of tuition for the qualification. This will ensure that each student who is enrolled in an approved course or programme can access financial support if eligible.

A detailed description of the required information is set out below.  

TEO / provider code

You must give us the four digit code assigned by the Ministry of Education to uniquely identify your TEO. A list of the four-digit code assigned to each TEO is set out in Appendix 1 of the SDR Manual.  

Qualification code

Before we can approve a qualification as eligible for Youth Guarantee funding, you must supply the qualification code.  The format of the qualification code is alphanumeric, usually two letters followed by four numbers.  The two letters are a standard code, for example NZ (New Zealand Certificate) or NC (National Certificate), or PC.

If you intend to offer a New Zealand Certificate or National Certificate listed on the NZQF, use the NZQF code for the qualification for all references to the qualification.

A TEO can submit its New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) approval for one programme that leads to a NZ qualification in STEO. When additional programmes are approved by NZQA that lead to the same NZ qualification, you must send the approval to the TEC so we can agree the delivery (do not submit the documentation through STEO). Programmes leading to NZ qualifications should not be submitted under a local/provider code in this situation.

Qualification codes for NCEA

Where a trade or a non-trade programme will lead to award of the qualification, only one qualification code needs to be set up in STEO. For example, if it is a non-trade NCEA level 2 in Service Industries, only use code NCEP4N.

Where a trade programme and a non-trade programme will lead to award of the same NCEA level 2 aligned to a Vocational Pathway two separate qualification codes need to be set up in STEO to reflect the trade/non-trade programmes. For example, some students will be enrolled in 50% or more of P1, C1, L1 courses for one programme, while other students will be enrolled in 50% or more of A1, J1 courses in the other programme.

This requirement extends to NCEA level 3 where it is delivered as both non-trades and trades for Youth Guarantee.

A TEO approved by NZQA to deliver NCEA level 2 with a Vocational Pathway needs to set this up in STEO using the qualification codes below.

Qualification codes for qualifications delivered as both trade and non-trade

Note: Only qualifications at levels 2 and 3 can be funded at the trade rate. Where a trade or a non-trade programme will lead to award of an NZQF qualification, enter the qualification’s NZQF qualification code in STEO.

Where NZQA has approved you to deliver both a trade and a non-trade programme (each leading to award of the same NZQF qualification), enter two qualification codes in STEO to reflect the two programmes. For example, some students will be enrolled in a programme of 50% or more of P1, C1, L1 courses while other students will be enrolled in a programme of 50% or more of A1, J1 courses.

Use the qualification code system below to enter the trade/non-trade codes in STEO.

• “C” represents a National Certificate, whereas “Z” represents a New Zealand Certificate.
• This is followed by the four digit NZQF code for the qualification.
• This is followed by “T” identifying it as a trade programme (50% or more of the provision is trades), or “N” identifying it as a non-trade programme (50% or more of the provision is non-trades).

Title of qualification

You must give us the title of the qualification(s) for which you are seeking approval for funding.

Do not use the same title as the programme that NZQA approved, unless the programme title and qualification title are the same.

If the programme NZQA has approved consists of one or more qualifications listed on the NZQF plus additional credits, the title of the programme used in the information for students must accurately represent it, and not imply award of a qualification, or award of a qualification listed on the NZQF, unless that is the case. See section 390 of the Education and Training Act 2020.

Duration

You must provide us with information about the duration of the programme, specifically the learning hours and full-time teaching weeks.

Learning hours

NZQA defines “learning hours” as all planned learning activities leading towards the achievement of programme or qualification learning outcomes.

Types of learning activities include but are not limited to:

• lecturer and tutor contact hours, including workshops and tutorials
• tests and assignments
• supervised practical placements
• study time
• self-directed learning activities that you expect the student to engage with/participate in, and
• examination periods.

The Services for Tertiary Education Organisations (STEO) website provides three fields for types of learning activities. A TEO should break down its various learning activities, and enter hours in the STEO fields below as accurately as possible, based on the guidance below. The three fields are:

• teaching hours each week – include, for example, face-to-face classroom/on-line/field trip/simulation time, tutorials, on-site assignments, assessments and examinations
• work experience hours each week – include, for example, time the student spends practising or learning skills relevant to their study programme in a workplace; this includes a teaching workplace, which may be on-site, as long as it operates as a commercial enterprise, and
• self-directed study hours each week – ‘self-directed study’ means only TEO-directed study carried out by the student; include, for example, time the student spends on off-site assignments (such as homework assignments), and TEO-directed reading and study hours, that the student must complete in their own time. Note: self-directed study does not include self-directed activities that the student initiates.

Note: A TEO will need to use a rationale applied consistently, in terms of which activities constitute what programme learning hours in STEO for each of the three fields above.

In relation to the number of learning hours in the qualification, we need all of the following information. The:

• number of teaching hours each week (see teaching hours each week above)
• number of hours each week of work experience (see work experience above)
• number of self-directed learning hours each week (see self-directed study above)
• total number of learning hours each week
• total number of learning hours in each year
• number of years it will take to complete the qualification, and
• total number of learning hours in the qualification (number of learning hours in each year multiplied by the number of years).

Total learning hours in STEO must be the same as the total programme/qualification learning hours approved by NZQA. We expect actual delivery to align with the total learning hours and the learning activities approved by NZQA. This means we expect each TEO to regularly review the delivery of its programme(s) to ensure they are ‘right sized’ for the majority of students (recognising that some students take more or fewer learning hours to achieve a qualification than others).

Note: During audits and investigations we may check whether a TEO’s delivery reflects our and NZQA’s approvals. To do this we triangulate NZQA approval documentation, STEO data, and your information for students, and compare the information to actual delivery.

Full-time teaching weeks

A full-time teaching week includes the types of learning hours outlined above.  

In relation to the number of teaching weeks in each year of the qualification, you must give us all of the following information. The:

• number of full-time equivalent teaching weeks
• number of weeks of recess in each year
• total number of full-time teaching weeks and recess weeks in each year - FTE gross
• number of credits on the NZQF contained in the qualification, and
• number of credits that a student must achieve each year to complete the qualification.

We generally will not approve a qualification for funding that is longer than 34 weeks in a year. See Condition: Limit on EFTS values for qualifications under Use of YG Fund Funding for eligible students.

You must not enrol a student in more than:

• 1.2 EFTS (120 credits)  of level 1 and/or 2 Youth Guarantee programme provision in a year, or
• 1.0 EFTS (120 credits) of level 3 Youth Guarantee programme provision in a year.

You must not enrol a student in more than 120 credits worth of provision in any calendar year.

See Condition: Student eligibility under Use of YG Fund Funding for eligible students.

EFTS value of the qualification

We require the EFTS value of each qualification in order to determine whether a qualification is eligible to access Youth Guarantee funding. See Condition: Assigning EFTS values to qualifications under Programmes and qualifications.

The EFTS value of each qualification must be specified to no more than four decimal places. The EFTS value determines the workload involved in each qualification and is required so that we can appropriately fund you to deliver the qualification. See Enrolment for information about the EFTS definition for level 1 and 2 Youth Guarantee qualifications.

For the purposes of STEO, mixes of provision and SDR reporting, the EFTS value is calculated using 120 credits per EFTS for all level 1-3 qualifications (the standard number of credits that equate to one full-time year of study).

This information must be determined using the following methods:

• credits
• learning hours, and
• full-time weeks.

Each of the three methods should produce the same result. If they do, we can be confident that a student who is studying for a qualification is undertaking a normal and reasonable workload.

Use the following methods to calculate EFTS value for STEO, mixes of provision and SDR reporting purposes:

Credits

A credit measures the average amount of learning that is required to complete the qualification or part of the qualification. 

The EFTS value can be calculated using the credits method by dividing the number of credits for the qualification by 120 (the standard number of credits that equate to one full-time year of study in STEO). 

Example: If a qualification has 60 credits: 60 divided by 120 = 0.5 EFTS for STEO, mixes of provision and SDR reporting purposes.

Learning hours

The EFTS value can be calculated using the learning hours method by dividing the qualification's total learning hours by 1,200 (the standard number of learning hours that equates to a full-time year of study).

Example: If the total learning hours for one semester in a qualification is 600 hours: 600 divided by 1,200 = 0.5 EFTS.

Full-time weeks

The EFTS value can be calculated using the full-time weeks method, by dividing the length of tuition for the qualification in weeks by 34 (the standard number of weeks that equate to one full-time equivalent teaching or tuition year). 

Example: If the qualification has a length of 17 weeks: 17 divided by 34 = 0.5 EFTS.

EFTS value when a qualification has strands

A qualification may have a range of options or electives with variable credit combinations. These are called strands. Each strand is likely to have a different total EFTS value.

If a qualification has two or more strands, you should determine the EFTS value for each strand. We require the EFTS value of the strand that has the highest EFTS value for our calculations.

You must calculate the EFTS factor of each course in the strand in order to calculate the EFTS value of the strand. The EFTS factor of a course can be determined in the following ways:

• Divide the course credits for a qualification that has up to 120 credits by 120.
• For a qualification that has more than 120 credits and we have agreed to fund more than 1 EFTS per student per year (see Condition: Limit on EFTS values for qualifications under Use of YG Fund Funding for eligible students) divide the course credits by the credit value of the qualification.
• For a qualification that has more than 120 credits, and we have not agreed to fund more than 1 EFTS per student per year (see Condition: Limit on EFTS values for qualifications under Use of YG Fund Funding for eligible students) divide the course credits by 120.

Example:

In this example, if we approve the qualification for funding, it will be approved as 75 credits as this is the credit value of the longest strand. The EFTS value of the qualification is therefore 0.625 (75 credits/120 = 0.625 EFTS).

If an approved qualification in STEO has a value of 1.0 EFTS but more than 120 credits, the credit value of the longest strand is used to determine the course EFTS factor for each strand. This ensures that courses common to both strands have the same EFTS factor.

Example: In this example, the credit value of 150 is used to divide the credits, not 120:

Quality assurance requirements

See Condition: Organisation eligibility for quality assurance requirements for TEOs to be eligible to access Youth Guarantee funding.

NZQA

In addition, to be eligible for Youth Guarantee funding, a course must be part of a programme that has been quality assured by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA).

To determine whether to approve a qualification for Youth Guarantee funding as part of your mix of provision in your Investment Plan we require evidence that NZQA has approved the programme leading to the award of the qualification.

Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand

Under section 101 of the Education and Training Act 2020, the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand is responsible for conducting, in conjunction with quality assurance agencies, approvals of teacher education programmes and qualifications that lead to teacher registration.

Defining a qualification

You must give us the following information that defines the qualification:

• the qualification award category code (recognised qualifications have an award category code - refer to Appendix 9 of the SDR Manual)
• the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) level of the qualification (refer to Appendix 9 of the SDR Manual)
• the level of the qualification on the NZQF (refer to Appendix 9 of the SDR Manual)
• the outcome (ISCED destination) of completing the qualification (for example, whether the qualification is designed to lead the student directly into the labour market), and
• the New Zealand Standard Classification of Education (NZSCED) of the qualification (refer to Appendix 8 of the SDR Manual). 

Before NZQA approves a programme leading to a qualification, and before we will approve a qualification to access Youth Guarantee funding as part of the mix of provision agreed in your Investment Plan, you must disaggregate the qualification into component courses. 

You must give us all of the following information about each component course in the qualification:

• provider code
• course code
• course title
• qualification code
• course classification
• NZSCED field of study
• level of the course on the NZQF
• number of credits of the course
• funding category of the course
• EFTS factor of the course, and
• whether the course has embedded literacy and numeracy skill development in the provision.

The key fields required for SDR submission are detailed below. 

TEO/provider code (INSTIT)

The four-digit code assigned by the Ministry of Education to uniquely identify each TEO.

Course code (COURSE)

The internal code for the course. The code must uniquely identify the specific course regardless of the period, location and year in which it is taught.

Course title (CTITLE)

This is the title that you will use to prescribe or publish the course.  

The title of the course should indicate the content of the course as the title is used by the Ministry of Education and us to ensure that similar courses are classified in a like manner. 

Qualification code (QUAL)

For information on qualification codes see Information about qualifications above.

Course classification (CLASS)

You are required to classify your courses using the current 1-39 Classification Prescription available in the Course Classification Guide (PDF 860 KB) (PDF, 860 Kb). For guidance on changes to the Course Classification Guide, please refer here.

The classification tables are included in SAC provision at levels 3 and above on the NZQF funding mechanism. A summary is provided below.

• At least 90% of the content or subject matter must fit into the classification that you have assigned to a course. We have provided some additional information about course classifications in the Course Classification Guide (PDF 860 KB) (PDF, 860 Kb). When classifying a course, you should carefully consider the notes beside each classification and the content of the course.  
• The classification of a course may also depend on the qualification level. For guidance on changes to the Course Classification Guide, please refer here. 
• To ensure that each course is classified correctly, we recommend that you choose a name of a course that correctly describes the major content of the course, and contacts us if you are not sure about an appropriate classification. 

New Zealand Standard Classification of Education (NZSCED)

The NZSCED is a subject-based classification system that contributes to international reporting, and in some cases may be used to describe the mix of provision in your Investment Plan.

All courses must be classified using the NZSCED classifications on a ‘best fit’ basis according to the predominant subject matter of the course. This means that the chosen NZSCED classification reflects the largest part of the subject matter of a course.

A full list of NZSCED classifications is provided in the SDR Manual Appendices. 

For more information on NZSCED classifications, see the Education Counts website.

Level on the New Zealand Qualifications Framework (NZQFLEVEL)

This is for the level of the credits on the NZQF contained in a course or paper that contributes to the qualification.

For more information on the NZQF see the NZQA website.

Credit (CREDIT)

The number of credits on the NZQF contained in a course or paper that contributes to the qualification.

Funding category (CATEGORY)

The funding category includes:

• an alphabetic code that relates to the course classification, and
• a numeric code that reflects the level of study.

Alphabetic code

The alphabetic code (based on course classification) is used to record Youth Guarantee course subjects in STEO. It is also used to determine Student Achievement Component funding but not Youth Guarantee funding. The alphabetic code is set out in the table below.

Numeric code

For Youth Guarantee courses the numeric category will always be 1, as set out in the table below.

EFTS factor of courses (FACTOR)

The EFTS factor of a course equates to the course size that is a portion of the total EFTS value of the programme leading to award of the qualification of which the course is part. In STEO, the field name is ‘Qualification’ (which means programme leading to award of the qualification).

As a guideline, we recommend that the size of the smallest course should not have an EFTS factor of less than 0.1.

Although you may choose to deliver a smaller course, if the course is based on a single unit standard and has a course EFTS factor of less than 0.1, we do not require you to further disaggregate the course in STEO.

You may report delivery for one qualification as one course.  However, that means that a student can only enrol in the one course (i.e. the whole programme) leading to award of the qualification.

After a programme has been disaggregated into courses and we have approved these as eligible for access to Youth Guarantee funding, you cannot retrospectively disaggregate the programme further.

For the purposes of STEO, mixes of provision and SDR reporting, EFTS factors are calculated using 120 credits per EFTS for all Youth Guarantee provision (the standard number of credits that equate to one full-time year of study). For further information about the EFTS definition for level 1 and 2 Youth Guarantee qualifications, see EFTS definition change from 1 January 2019 below, and Enrolment.

Calculation

If a qualification is measured in credits, we require the EFTS factor of a course to be calculated by:

• dividing the number of credits in the course by the total number of credits in the qualification, and
• multiplying that number by the EFTS value of the qualification. 

The EFTS factor must be expressed to four decimal places.

Example: If a qualification has a total of 60 credits and an EFTS value of 0.5, the EFTS factors of the courses in the qualification are calculated as:

EFTS definition change from 1 January 2019

We have revised our definition of a full-time, full-year workload for students enrolled in a level 1 or 2 Youth Guarantee qualification. See EFTS definition change from 1 January 2019 under Enrolment.

There are no system changes arising from our revised definition.

This means that, for the purposes of course information in STEO and the Single Data Return (SDR), you should continue to calculate course EFTS factors using 120 credits/EFTS for all Youth Guarantee qualifications.

Embedded literacy and numeracy flag (EMB LIT NUM)

You must indicate whether the course includes embedded literacy and/or numeracy provision.

A course with embedded literacy and numeracy provision will deliver deliberate teaching of literacy and numeracy skills and will be part of a programme that has:

• explicit literacy and numeracy statements, such as learning outcomes or teaching and learning statements within programme or course information
• a literacy and numeracy diagnostic assessment for each student, and
• assessment of each student's progress in literacy and numeracy skill development.  

When approving a qualification as eligible to access Youth Guarantee funding, we will:

• check that the details of the programme leading to award of the qualification are consistent with your quality assurance approval for the programme leading to award of the qualification
• consider whether the EFTS value of the qualification is correct
• check that the course, programme and/ or qualification are eligible in accordance with funding conditions
• consider whether a student enrolled in the qualification will be able to access a student allowance and/or the Student Loan Scheme, if the student is eligible, and
• consider whether delivery of the qualification is desirable (for example, that another TEO is not already delivering a similar qualification in the proposed delivery location), including when it is replacing an existing, similar qualification (for example, post Targeted Review of Qualifications).

You can use the ‘qualification search’ or ‘course search’ in the STEO website to find a current list of qualifications and courses approved for Youth Guarantee funding.

To access Youth Guarantee funding the qualification(s) must be included in your organisation’s approved Investment Plan (in the mix of provision) for that year. If you want to add a new qualification to your mix of provision, discuss this with us.

Subcontracting refers to a situation in which a TEO uses TEC funding to pay another organisation to deliver teaching or assessment on its behalf. This excludes:

• teaching and learning activities contracted to individuals or organisations that are not TEOs (for example, an employee on a fixed-term contract, an honorary staff member, or a contract for teaching and learning services with a subject-matter expert for part of the programme such as for First Aid provision)
• research activities or postgraduate research supervision, and
• learning that occurs within vocational placements such a workplace placement or practicum.

A TEO must not subcontract delivery of any Youth Guarantee funded programme without our approval, which will be in the form of prior written consent. See Condition: Subcontracting.

Note: To gain approval, you must convincingly demonstrate how the subcontracting arrangement would benefit the Youth Guarantee programme.

If we approve a subcontract arrangement

Subcontracting can be agreed in two ways

If we approve a subcontract arrangement, the subcontracting can be agreed to within a TEO’s Investment Plan (Plan). The subcontracting specified in the Plan will be permitted for the period of the Plan. If the Plan expires then approval will need to be obtained from us again.

Subcontracting can also be agreed outside of a Plan. Again, the subcontracting specified will be permitted for the period agreed with us.

At any time, TEOs can contact us to discuss proposed subcontracting.

Subcontracting TEO obligations

As specified in section 425 of the Education and Training Act 2020, it is a condition of a TEO receiving funding under section 425 that the TEO will supply to us, from time to time as required by us, and in a form specified by us, any financial, statistical, or other information that we require the TEO to supply.

Therefore, at any time, we can request information regarding subcontracted activities from the TEO (that has subcontracted another party to carry out the activities).

In addition, a TEO that has subcontracted another party to carry out its activities:

1. must comply with any conditions imposed by us within a consent to subcontract; and
2. must ensure that the subcontracted party does not further subcontract any functions; and
3. will be accountable to us for the use of the Youth Guarantee funding, including in respect to legislative and funding condition requirements.

See Condition: Subcontracting.

We are responsible for approving each qualification for student access to student allowances and the Student Loan Scheme. 

The qualification must be approved as eligible to access TEC funding before a student can access student allowances and the Student Loan Scheme in respect of the qualification. Youth Guarantee students are only eligible for some aspects of the Student Loan Scheme. For further information on eligibility visit the StudyLink website.

Before we will approve a qualification for student access to student allowances and the Student Loan Scheme, you must be one of the following:

• accredited by the relevant quality assurance body to deliver the content of a qualification, or
• able to show that there is an arrangement in place with an accredited TEO to deliver any content for which you do not hold accreditation.

Note: As we will not backdate approval for access to student allowances and the Student Loan Scheme, we require this information at least four weeks before the start of tuition for the qualification. This will ensure that each student who is enrolled in an approved qualification can access financial support.

Qualifications delivered full-time

We will only approve a Youth Guarantee-funded qualification for student access to both student allowances and the Student Loan Scheme if the programme:

• is delivered full-time
• runs for a minimum of 12 weeks, and
• has an EFTS value of at least 0.3.

A full-time Youth Guarantee programme must be made up of at least 0.5 EFTS, comprising one or more qualifications. Where there is recognition of prior learning (RPL) for some of the programme, the student’s individual programme following RPL must be at least 0.5 EFTS.

Qualifications delivered part-time

A programme for a qualification of less than 0.3 EFTS is classified as part-time regardless of the number of weeks over which it is delivered. A part-time programme for a qualification is not eligible for student access to student allowances.

For a Youth Guarantee-funded part-time programme leading to a qualification, we will only approve student access to the Student Loan Scheme if the programme meets one of the following criteria:

• runs for 32 weeks or more and has an EFTS value of at least 0.3 EFTS, or
• runs for fewer than 32 weeks with an EFTS value of between 0.25 and 0.3 EFTS.

Loan entry threshold

The loan entry threshold (LET) is used to identify the minimum EFTS value required for a student's individual study programme to be deemed full-time. This affects student eligibility for student allowances and the Student Loan Scheme. A qualification that is not deemed to be full-time (i.e. not approved for access to student allowances or the Student Loan Scheme) can nevertheless be funded through Youth Guarantee. 

The LET is determined by matching a range of gross weeks to a range of EFTS values. A gross week is the total length of enrolment in a programme of study, including holiday weeks.

The table below shows this relationship (qualifications of less than 0.3 EFTS may still be eligible for student access to the Student Loan Scheme).

Students that undertake paid practical work as part of their course of study are not entitled to any student allowance payments for the week(s) they undertake that work. It is important that you discuss this with your students.

For more information on student allowance entitlements and paid practical work please see StudyLink’s website.

You can close a qualification that you no longer offer. This removes the qualification from the NZQA Register of Quality Assured Qualifications and your list of active qualifications.

The process can be found on the STEO website.