Providers and partners

Regulatory arrangements

Organisational self-assessment and external evaluation and review are separate and complementary elements. They are requirements of course approval and accreditation (see sections 439 and 441 of the Education and Training Act 2020) (the Act) for all tertiary education organisations (TEOs) entitled to apply.

NZQA sets the requirements (i.e. the Rules, criteria and policies) for course approval and accreditation and other quality assurance processes under section 452 of the Act.

Private training establishments (PTEs), must also carry out self-assessment at an organisational level to maintain registration. These criteria and policies are set by NZQA under section 452 of the Act.

NZQA is responsible for ensuring TEOs continue to comply with the policies and criteria after initial approval and accreditation of courses and/or registration is granted. The New Zealand Vice-Chancellors’ Committee (NZVCC) has statutory responsibility for university compliance.

Quality Assurance Framework

The above policies and criteria are gazetted under the Education and Training Act 2020. They provide a quality assurance framework established by NZQA comprising four components:

Initial entry processes of course approval, accreditation to deliver a course, registration of PTEs and accreditation to assess standards on the New Zealand Qualifications Framework
Self-assessment
External evaluation and review (EER)
Managing the consequences of a TEO’s poor performance.

The quality assurance framework uses the theory and practice of evaluation to focus on the quality of educational outcomes and key contributing processes. Evaluation as a discipline provides a systematic basis for answering questions about quality and value.