11. Categorisation of institutions based on statements of confidence
For the purposes of these Rules:
a Category 1 institution is an institution that has received, in the most recent EER report published on the NZQA website in respect of that institution, either of the following statements of confidence:
Highly Confident in educational performance and Highly Confident in organisational capability in self-assessment; or
Highly Confident in educational performance and Confident in organisational capability in self-assessment:
a Category 2 institution is an institution that has received, in the most recent EER report published on the NZQA website in respect of that institution, either of the following statements of confidence:
Highly Confident in organisational capability in self-assessment and Confident in educational performance; or
Confident in educational performance and Confident in organisational capability in self-assessment:
a Category 3 institution is an institution that has received, in the most recent EER report published on the NZQA website in respect of that institution, Not Yet Confident in educational performance or in organisational capability in self-assessment, or Not Yet Confident for both (provided it has not also received Not Confident in either educational performance or organisational capability in self-assessment):
a Category 4 institution is an institution that has received, in the most recent EER report published on the NZQA website in respect of that institution, Not Confident in educational performance or in organisational capability in self-assessment, or in both:
a Category withdrawn institution is an institution that has received Category withdrawn status following the conclusion of the processes set out in rules 11.2 – 11.4.
Where, since the publication of the most recent EER report in respect of an institution, NZQA considers that one or more of the statements of confidence the institution received in that report (and its categorisation status) no longer applies due to one or more of the serious concerns set out in rule 11.3, NZQA may, after following the process set out rule 11.4:
change the categorisation status of the institution from its existing categorisation to that of Category withdrawn; and
schedule an EER earlier than the frequency set out in rule 12.1 (except where NZQA became aware of the serious concerns during an EER which has started but not yet concluded).
The serious concerns referred to in rule 11.2 are:
significant or repeated non-compliance with the Act or with rules made under section 452 of the Act which resulted in NZQA issuing one or more compliance notices, withdrawing one or more statutory permissions, or imposing any statutory conditions:
the taking of any prosecution proceedings:
the financial position or financial performance of the institution detrimentally impacting on its provision of education or training:
a significant change in circumstances has occurred at the institution, resulting in NZQA having significantly lower confidence in:
the governance or management of the institution; or
the ability of the institution to provide or arrange a sound educational or training environment for its students.
The process NZQA must follow for the purposes of rule 11.2 is:
NZQA will give written notice to the institution of NZQA’s intention to change its categorisation status to that of Category withdrawn, and set out which statement or statements of confidence NZQA considers no longer applies due to one or more of the serious concerns set out in rule 11.3:
NZQA will give the institution at least 10 working days to respond to the notice:
NZQA will consider any submissions which are made by the institution within the response period given under paragraph (b):
after considering any submissions under paragraph (c), NZQA will notify the institution of the decision of NZQA as to whether or not NZQA has changed the categorisation status of the institution to Category withdrawn and, where NZQA does change the categorisation status to Category withdrawn, begin the process for scheduling an early EER for the purposes of rule 11.2(b) (except where an EER has been started but not yet concluded).