National and New Zealand qualifications

The following criteria apply to the use of the terms 'National' and 'New Zealand' for qualifications on the Register.

• The use of both terms is restricted to approved qualifications developed by qualifications developers who can demonstrate that their development process has involved and has had the support of the appropriate nationally recognised bodies related to the subject title and major content of the qualification.
• Both terms are restricted to qualifications that are available for any provider to offer so long as they are appropriately quality assured in line with the qualification developer's and quality assurance body's requirements. The qualification developer will be involved in moderation processes concerned with achieving consistency in assessment towards the qualifications across multiple providers.
• The term National is restricted to qualifications based on unit or achievement standards, or qualifications that have components for which there is automatically transferable credit. The term New Zealand is available for non-unit standard based qualifications of national standing.

In addition to the above criteria, National qualifications should have internationally recognised characteristics of a good qualification. They should:

• have a clear purpose
• be internally coherent
• recognise broad transferable and generic skills as well as specialised industry and professional skills
• have clear indications of entry and exit points for intended graduates
• meet obligations under the Treaty of Waitangi
• specify quality assurance requirements pertaining to its delivery and attainment (including appeal provisions)
• provide an indication of its relationship with other qualifications
• document clearly and openly the above and statements of what people are required to attain to be awarded the qualification.

Qualifications should not prevent someone from doing something that they are capable of doing because of their gender, ethnic origin, disability or unreasonable cost.

A new National or New Zealand qualification should also be significantly different in terms of outcomes being certified from any other National or New Zealand qualification at the same level.