Te Tari Puna Ora o Aotearoa/NZ Childcare Association (NZCA) offers Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) as a process for recognising relevant knowledge, skills and understandings that applicants have already achieved before entering the Bachelor of Teaching (ECE) programme.
Credit Transfer
If you have completed a course or qualification in the last six years and it meets one of the following criteria:
- a course offered towards a teaching diploma or degree by a New Zealand Teachers Council approved provider, or
- an overseas qualification assessed by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) as equivalent to a teaching diploma or degree,
then you could be eligible for credit transfer.
You will need to provide us with evidence that you have already met the learning outcomes of one or more of our modules while studying with another approved provider.
The evidence should include:
- a verified copy of the qualification (bearing your name)
- a verified course transcript showing your official results
- as much information as possible about the learning outcomes/course outlines of your qualification.
You will need to achieve a match of 80% of the learning outcomes to receive full credit for a module and your work will need to be have been at the appropriate level. (This refers to NZQA levels 5, 6 and 7).
If you are a fluent speaker of Te Reo me ngā tikanga Māori and have experience working in a Māori immersion early childhood centre you may be eligible for some credit.
You can only gain credit for a maximum of 8 of the 12 papers in the Bachelor of Teaching (ECE).
Frequently asked questions
How much will this cost?
Currently our RPL process is subsidised by the Ministry of Education and free to New Zealand citizens and permanent residents. You can only access government funding for RPL once.
Once you have entered a contract with us (i e signed and submitted the RPL application form) we are required to forward your name and contact details to the Ministry of Education.
If you have already had an RPL assessment from another provider please contact our National Office for advice.
Will I get the same credit from every provider?
Our process assesses your skills, knowledge and understandings against the learning outcomes of our programme. Each provider offers a different Bachelor of Teaching (ECE) programme, hence you may receive different amounts of credit from different providers. We advise you to choose your RPL provider carefully.
How much practicum will I have to do?
In each stage of our programme students complete a teaching practicum outside their usual centre. RPL applicants may have prior practicum credited, if it meets our requirements.
How to apply for RPL
If you would like to have your prior learning assessed, you need to complete the RPL Application Form supplied with the Bachelor of Teaching (ECE) application pack as well as all other applicable forms and send them to our National Office.
Request for information
If you have any queries about this process please contact the Applications Coordinator at our National Office on 0800 244 532, extension 804.