New Zealand Government has launched fees free tertiary education this year.
This policy enables New Zealand students and residents who satisfy certain conditions to enjoy one year fee-free education at tertiary institutions; i.e. universities, ITPs, Wananga and PTEs. (ITP = Institute of Technology and Polytechnic. PTE = Private Training Establishment)

According to the Ministry of Education's website, the changes that have just taken place are the first step in the Government’s stated intent to provide a full programme of three years’ fee free tertiary education and training for New Zealanders by 2024.   

In New Zealand, there are currently:

• 8 universities (Auckland, AUT, Lincoln,  Massey, Canterbury, Otago, Waikato, Victoria)

• 16 ITPs

• 3 Wananga 

• PTEs (hundreds of PTEs)

To be eligible for frees-free, a qualification, course or programme must meet certain conditions. 

Tips for those applying to PTEs

Private Training Establishments, or PTEs, are privately owned organisations registered with the New Zealand Qualifications Authority ("NZQA").
NZQA places the performance of PTEs into one of the four categories:

• Category 1: two Highly Confident judgments, or a Highly Confident judgement for educational performance and a Highly Confident/Confident judgement for self-assessment capability

• Category 2: two Confident judgments, or a Highly Confident judgement in self-assessment and a Confident judgment in educational performance

• Category 3: any Not Yet Confident judgement

• Category 4: any Not Confident judgement

You can find which PTE is placed in which category at the NZQA website.

The website also helps you find a category for each ITP and wananga.

We wish you success in your studies!