What were the eligibility criteria in 2024?

1. Residency criteria

To be eligible for Fees Free provider-based study, you need to meet residency requirements.

New Zealand citizen or ordinarily resident

You need to be:

• a New Zealand citizen, or
• ordinarily resident in New Zealand and have:
  • lived in New Zealand for at least 3 years, and
  • held a residence class visa for at least 3 years.

If you are not a New Zealand citizen or you are not ordinarily resident in New Zealand, you can also meet Fees Free residency requirements if you’re in one of the categories below.

Refugee or protected person, or their immediate family

If you're a refugee or protected person, you meet the residency requirements if:

• you hold a residence class visa, or
• you hold a valid temporary entry visa.

If your immediate family member is a refugee or protected person, you meet the residency requirements if:

• you live in New Zealand on a valid temporary entry visa, and you can transition to a residence class visa with the refugee or protected person, or
• you hold a residence class visa that you transitioned to with the refugee or protected person, or
• you were sponsored into New Zealand by someone in your family who, at the time you were sponsored:
  • was a refugee or protected person, and
  • held a residence class visa.

Afghan evacuee

You meet the residency requirements if:

• you have an Afghan Emergency Resettlement Residency Visa.

Christchurch Response Visa, or their immediate family

Christchurch Response Visa – individual

You meet the residency requirements if:

• you have a Christchurch Response Visa, or
• you would have been able to get a Christchurch Response Visa but you had another residence class visa.

Christchurch Response Visa – family member

You may meet the residency requirements if your family member has, or would have been eligible for, a Christchurch Response Visa.

You meet the residency requirements if:

• you have a residence class visa, and
• you have a living family member who:
  • has a Christchurch Response Visa, or
  • has New Zealand Citizenship and one of these also applies:
    • your family member held a resident visa on 15 March 2019 and was eligible for a Christchurch Response Visa, or
    • your family member would have been eligible for a Christchurch Response Visa, but they already had a Permanent Resident Visa or NZ citizenship on 15 March 2019, or
    • your family member was granted NZ citizenship after holding a Christchurch Response Visa, or
  • has a residence class visa (and had a residence class visa on 15 March 2019) and was or would have been eligible for a Christchurch Response Visa.

If you meet one of the residency criteria, check the prior study and training criteria below.

If you do not meet the residency criteria, you are not eligible for Fees Free in 2024.

If you’re unsure of your residency or visa status, please contact Immigration New Zealand (INZ).

If you have any questions about your eligibility or the Fees Free residency criteria, you can also contact us at 0800 601 301 or [email protected].

2. Prior study and training criteria

Fees Free is for learners who are studying or training at tertiary level for the first time. You meet the prior study and training criteria if:

• you were enrolled in a secondary school (or home educated) in or after 2022 (and you were not enrolled as an adult learner), or
• you were enrolled in secondary school (or home educated) before 2022, and you have not already undertaken any of these:
  • more than half a year of full-time tertiary study or training at Level 3 or above on the New Zealand Qualifications and Credentials Framework (NZQCF)
  • part-time study or training at Level 3 or above that would add up to more than half a full time year
  • equivalent tertiary education in any other country.

Note: Half a full-time year of study is usually 60 credits in New Zealand.

Any prior tertiary study and training may affect your eligibility. For example, you may not meet the prior study and training criteria even if:

• you undertook the tertiary study or training overseas
• the study or training wasn’t funded by the Tertiary Education Commission
• you didn’t complete the study or training, or withdrew from it outside the refund period
• you received a fail grade
• the study or training had no fees
• you paid for it yourself or used a student loan for it (whether the loan is now repaid or not)
• the study or training was part of workplace training or an apprenticeship
• you undertook the tertiary study or training while enrolled in secondary education as an adult learner.

These types of prior study and training won’t affect your eligibility:

• tertiary education you undertook before 1 January 2019 when you were also enrolled in secondary education (unless it was tertiary education you undertook when enrolled in secondary education as an adult learner)
• tertiary courses you undertook as part of a school learning programme or secondary tertiary programme on or after 1 January 2019
• credits you achieved after 1 January 2018 as part of a work-based programme, if that programme was less than 120 credits total
• provider-based zero fee courses or credentials funded by the TEC, undertaken after 1 January 2023, that had zero tuition fees and zero compulsory course costs
• tertiary education and training where the fees were covered by the Targeted Training and Apprenticeship Fund (TTAF) between 1 July 2020 and 31 December 2022
• tertiary education undertaken through the Youth Guarantee programme after 1 July 2020
• tertiary education undertaken through the Māori and Pasifika Trades Training initiative after 1 July 2020
• tertiary education undertaken through the Refugee English Fund.

Learn more about what counts as prior study and training and why.

If you meet the prior study and training criteria, check if your course is eligible below.

If you do not meet the prior study and training criteria, you are not eligible for Fees Free in 2024.

If you have any questions about your eligibility, including prior study or training you’ve done in New Zealand or overseas, contact us at 0800 601 301 or [email protected].

3. Course criteria

To be eligible for Fees Free, the course or micro-credential you’re enrolling in also needs to meet certain criteria. The easiest way to find out if it does is to ask the organisation that runs the course.

To get Fees Free, you need to be enrolled in:

• a course at Level 3 or above that leads to a qualification on the NZQCF and is approved by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA), or
• a micro-credential at Level 3 or above that is approved by NZQA.

This course or micro-credential must also be funded from:

• the DQ3-7 fund (excluding provision that would previously have been funded through the Industry Training Fund), or
• the DQ7+ fund, or
• grants under section 556 of the Education and Training Act 2020.

Note: You cannot get Fees Free for a course that’s part of a school learning programme or secondary tertiary programme.

If your course or micro-credential meets the eligibility criteria, see the next steps below.

If your course or micro-credential does not meet the criteria, you won’t be able to access Fees Free for it.

If you’re not sure if a course or micro-credential is eligible for Fees Free, please contact the organisation that runs it, and ask.

4. Next steps

If you meet the eligibility criteria, see what your current eligibility status is. Use our NSN eligibility checker.

• If it says you are eligible for Fees Free, you don’t need to do anything else. You’ll automatically get your study Fees Free.
• If it says you’re not eligible for Fees Free, but you believe you are, follow the instructions to ask for an eligibility review.
• If it says maybe you’re eligible, it means we don’t hold enough information about your residency status and/or study history to know. If you’ve read the all the eligibility criteria above and think you are eligible, please complete a statutory declaration to tell us. We’ll help you through this process from the ‘Maybe’ result page.

Note that the first-year Fees Free policy is ending. Find out about the end of the policy and what this means for you.

If you do not meet the eligibility criteria, you are not eligible for Fees Free in 2024.

If you’re not sure whether you’re eligible, or have any questions, please contact us at 0800 601 301 or [email protected].

1. Residency criteria

To be eligible for Fees Free work-based learning, you need to meet residency requirements.

New Zealand citizen or ordinarily resident

You need to be:

• a New Zealand citizen, or
• ordinarily resident in New Zealand and have a residence class visa.

If you are not a New Zealand citizen or you are not ordinarily resident in New Zealand, you can also meet Fees Free residency requirements if you’re in one of the categories below.

Refugee or protected person, or their immediate family

If you're a refugee or protected person, you meet the residency requirements if:

• you hold a residence class visa, or
• you hold a valid temporary entry visa.

If you're an immediate family member of a refugee or protected person, you meet the residency requirements if:

• you live in New Zealand on a valid temporary entry visa, and can transition to a residence class visa with the refugee or protected person, or
• you hold a residence class visa that you transitioned to with the refugee or protected person, or
• you were sponsored into New Zealand by someone in your family who, at the time you were sponsored:
  • was a refugee or protected person, and
  • held a residence class visa.

Afghan evacuee

You meet the residency requirements if:

• you have an Afghan Emergency Resettlement Residency Visa.

Christchurch Response Visa, or their immediate family

Christchurch Response Visa – individual

You meet the residency requirements if:

• you have a Christchurch Response Visa, or
• you would have been able to get a Christchurch Response Visa but you had another residence class visa.

Christchurch Response Visa – family member

You may also meet the residency requirements if your family member has, or would have been eligible for, a Christchurch Response Visa.

You meet the residency requirements if:

• you have a residence class visa, and
• you have a living family member that:
  • has a Christchurch Response Visa, or
  • has New Zealand Citizenship and one of the following also applies:
    • your family member held a resident visa on 15 March 2019 and was eligible for a Christchurch Response Visa, or
    • your family member would have been eligible for a Christchurch Response Visa but they already had a Permanent Resident Visa or NZ citizenship on 15 March 2019, or
    • your family member was granted NZ citizenship after holding a Christchurch Response Visa, or
  • has a residence class visa (and they had a residence class visa on 15 March 2019) and they were or would have been eligible for a Christchurch Response Visa.

Employed in a role on the Green List

You meet the residency requirements if you have a job that’s on the Green List or in a sector agreement, and:

• you are enrolled in a programme or credential that TEC has approved for a tuition subsidy, and
• the organisation that runs the programme/credential is eligible to get these subsidies for your study, and
• you have a signed training agreement and you started training on or after 1 January 2023.

If you meet the residency criteria, check the prior study and training criteria below.

If you do not meet the residency criteria, you are not eligible for Fees Free in 2024.

If you are unsure of your residency or visa status, please contact Immigration New Zealand (INZ).

If you have any questions about your eligibility or the Fees Free residency criteria, you can also contact us at 0800 601 301 or [email protected].

2. Prior study and training criteria

Fees Free is for learners who are studying or training at tertiary level for the first time. You meet the prior study and training criteria if:

• you were enrolled in secondary school (or home educated) in or after 2022 (and you were not enrolled as an adult learner), or
• you were enrolled in secondary school (or home educated) before 2022, and you have not already undertaken any of these:
  • more than half a year of full-time tertiary study or training at Level 3 or above on the New Zealand Qualifications and Credentials Framework (NZQCF)
  • part-time study or training at Level 3 or above that would add up to more than half a full-time year
  • equivalent tertiary education in any other country.

Note: Half a full-time year of study is usually 60 credits in New Zealand.

Any prior tertiary study and training may affect your eligibility. For example, you may not meet the prior study and training criteria even if:

• you undertook the tertiary study or training overseas
• the study or training wasn’t funded by the Tertiary Education Commission
• you didn’t complete the study or training, or withdrew from it outside the refund period
• you received a fail grade
• the study or training had no fees
• you paid for it yourself or used a student loan for it (whether the loan is now repaid or not)
• the study or training was part of workplace training or an apprenticeship
• you undertook the tertiary study or training while enrolled in secondary education as an adult learner.

These types of prior study and training won’t affect your eligibility:

• tertiary education you undertook before 1 January 2019 when you were also enrolled in secondary education (unless it was tertiary education you undertook when enrolled in secondary school as an adult learner)
• tertiary courses you undertook as part of a school learning programme or secondary tertiary programme on or after 1 January 2019
• credits you achieved after 1 January 2018 as part of a work-based programme, if that programme was less than 120 credits total
• provider-based zero fee courses or credentials funded by the TEC, undertaken after 1 January 2023 that had zero tuition fees and zero compulsory course costs
• tertiary education and training where the fees were covered by the Targeted Training and Apprenticeship Fund (TTAF) between 1 July 2020 and 31 December 2022
• tertiary education undertaken through the Youth Guarantee programme after 1 July 2020
• tertiary education undertaken through the Māori and Pasifika Trades Training initiative after 1 July 2020
• tertiary education undertaken through the Refugee English Fund.

Learn more about what counts as prior study and training and why.

If you meet the prior study and training criteria, check if your programme is eligible below.

If you do not meet the prior study and training criteria, you are not eligible for Fees Free in 2024.

If you have any questions about your eligibility, including prior study or training you’ve done in New Zealand or overseas, contact us at 0800 601 301 or [email protected].

3. Programme criteria

To be eligible for Fees Free, a work-based programme also needs to meet certain criteria. The easiest way to find out if it does is to ask the organisation you’ll be studying with.

To be eligible for Fees Free, a work-based programme must be:

• at NZQCF level 3 or above, and
• approved by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA), and
• funded through the DQ3-7 fund (and previously would have been funded through the Industry Training Fund), and
• at least 120 credits, and
• not part of a school learning programme or secondary tertiary programme.

If your programme meets the eligibility criteria, see the next steps below.

If your programme does not meet the criteria, you will not be able to access Fees Free for this programme.

If you are not sure about your programme’s eligibility, please contact the organisation that runs it, and ask.

4. Next steps

If you meet the eligibility criteria, see what your current eligibility status is. Use our NSN eligibility checker.

• If it says you are eligible for Fees Free, you don’t need to do anything else. You’ll automatically get your study Fees Free.
• If it says you’re not eligible for Fees Free, but you believe you are, follow the instructions to ask for an eligibility review.
• If it says maybe you’re eligible, it means we don’t hold enough information about your residency status and/or study history to know. If you’ve read the all the eligibility criteria above and think you are eligible, please complete a statutory declaration to tell us. We’ll help you through this process from the ‘Maybe’ result page.

Note that the first-year Fees Free policy is ending. Find out about the end of the policy and what this means for you.

If you do not meet the eligibility criteria, you are not eligible for Fees Free.

If you ’re not sure whether you’re eligible, or have questions, please contact us at 0800 601 301 or [email protected].