Glossary

Someone who has turned 19 years old and then in the following calendar year enrols or is enrolled in secondary school. This excludes students who are considered to require special education under the Education and Training Act 2020.

For example, if someone was at school and turned 19 years old on 31 March 2022, they will only be considered an adult learner for the period that they are enrolled in secondary school from 2023 onwards.

A calendar year is the 12-month period from 1 January to 31 December.

The amount of Fees Free entitlement learners have left over after their first calendar year of study. This amount may be used in future years.

Compulsory course costs are the fees charged by a provider for a course, on top of tuition fees. These include examination fees, costs of field trips, costs associated with the compulsory purchase of equipment or books through the tertiary provider, and other compulsory charges associated with a course. These fees are covered by Fees Free. You may still need to pay other optional and occasional fees.

How much Fees Free entitlement learners have used.

The Delivery at Levels 3–7 (non-degree) on the New Zealand Qualifications and Credentials Framework and all industry training (DQ3-7) fund is the dollar amount the Government pays towards the cost of teaching and learning services for learners enrolled in Levels 3–7 non-degree study and training at tertiary education organisations (TEOs).

It is separate to the amount your TEO charges in fees and to your Fees Free entitlement.

The Delivery at Level 7 (degree) and above on the New Zealand Qualifications and Credentials Framework (DQ7+) fund is the dollar amount the Government pays towards the cost of teaching and learning services for learners enrolled in degree and post-graduate level study at tertiary education organisations (TEOs).

It is separate to the amount your TEO charges in fees and to your Fees Free entitlement.

The amount of study or training an eligible learner is able to get fees-free.

Find out more about how much study or training you can get fees-free.

EFTS is the unit measurement that is used to work out your study workload. One EFTS is usually equal to one year of full-time study, or approximately 120 credits/points.

Most individual courses that go towards making up a qualification are worth 0.125 EFTS, or 15 credits/points.

Your tertiary education organisation will tell us how many EFTS you’re enrolled in, and we’ll use this to track how much of your Fees Free entitlement you have used.

Family members of a Christchurch Response (2019) Permanent Resident Visa holders are defined as partners, children (both dependent and non-dependent), grandchildren, parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, first cousins (ie, a child of an aunt or uncle), parents-in-law, siblings-in-law, children-in-law, as well as step-children, step-parents and step-siblings.

Family members of a person with Refugee or Protected Person status in New Zealand are defined as an immediate family member:

• the partner and any child of a person granted Refugee or Protected Person status
• if the person granted Refugee or Protected Person status is a dependent child, a family member includes their parents and any siblings.

For Fees Free, half a year of full-time study or training is usually equal to 60 credits or 0.5 EFTS (see the definition for EFTS).

Industry-based training refers to workplace training and apprenticeships done on-the-job. From 2023 onwards, industry-based training is referred to as work-based learning.

A National Student Number (NSN) is a unique number given to every student. The NSN makes it easier for secondary schools and government agencies (including NZQA and TEC) to manage and share information about students in a way that protects their privacy. If you’ve enrolled with an education organisation in New Zealand before, you’ll likely already have an NSN.

We need your NSN to determine your eligibility status for Fees Free, and to inform your tertiary education organisation about your eligibility.

If you do not know your NSN, please contact the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) on 0800 697 296 for help.

If you do not have an NSN, your tertiary education organisation will create one for you when you enrol. You should read the Fees Free eligibility criteria to determine if you are eligible. If you meet the criteria, you will need to enrol with a tertiary organisation and come back to the Fees Free website with your NSN to confirm your eligibility status with the TEC.

Find out more about NSNs

The NZQCF is a structure of all qualifications in New Zealand that have been reviewed and approved by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority. The NZQCF provides information about what knowledge, skills and experience the holder of a qualification should have, depending on the level of the qualification.

Find out more about the NZQCF and levels.

Fees Free covers courses, credentials and programmes at NZQCF Level 3 and above. Level 1 and 2 courses are often already free for learners.

The New Zealand Qualifications and Credentials Framework (NZQCF) was previously known as the New Zealand Qualifications Framework (NZQF).

These include (but are not limited to) student association and club memberships, late fees and course materials that you can buy outside of your tertiary education organisation. These fees are not covered by Fees Free.

Ordinarily resident means you normally and lawfully live in New Zealand, intend to stay here and consider New Zealand to be home.

Generally, if you have been outside New Zealand for more than 26 weeks (6 months) in the last 12 months you may not be considered ordinarily resident in New Zealand. If you spend more time outside of New Zealand than inside it, you are also not considered to be ordinarily resident in New Zealand.

For the purpose of final-year Fees Free, pathway programmes are programmes with the intent of preparing learners to progress into further study and training by supporting learners to meet minimum entry requirements and/or develop the required skills for higher study.

• This includes bridging programmes, Certificates of University Preparation, Certificates in Study and Employment Pathways, and Level 3 Study and Career Preparation (except when primarily intended for career preparation).
• This does not include programmes that are used for staircasing, or programmes that comprise part of, or are cross-credited towards a higher qualification.

Your tertiary education organisation will be able to confirm whether the programme you are enrolling in is considered a pathway programme.

A programme is a set of learning, training and assessment activities designed by an education provider. Completion of a programme leads to the award of a qualification. Programmes are made up of components such as courses, papers, modules or standards.

You have completed a work-based programme (apprenticeship or training programme) when your tertiary education organisation awards you with the qualification/s that form the programme. The date the qualification is awarded is either recorded on the roll of graduates, New Zealand Record of Achievement, or on your certificate.

A provider is any one of these: Te Pūkenga, a private training establishment, a university, or a wānanga.

Provider-based study is study done on-campus or online with a tertiary education organisation.

You have completed a provider-based qualification when your tertiary education organisation awards you with the qualification. The date the qualification is awarded is either recorded on the roll of graduates, New Zealand Record of Achievement, or on your certificate.

According to Immigration New Zealand, broadly speaking:

A refugee is a person who:

• is outside of their home country or country of habitual residence
• faces a real chance of being harmed if returned to that country
• needs and deserves protection in New Zealand.

The harm faced is a sustained or systemic breach of a fundamental human right, and it is for reasons of who the person is, or what they believe. The reasons may be race (or ethnicity), religion, political opinion, nationality or membership of a particular social group (such as family status, gender, or sexual orientation or identity).

A protected person is a person:

• whose deportation from New Zealand would violate the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment 1984 (Convention against Torture) and/or the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966 (ICCPR).
• for whom there are substantial grounds for believing they would be in danger of torture, arbitrary deprivation of life or cruel treatment if deported from New Zealand.

The Immigration New Zealand website outlines situations where New Zealand is not obliged to protect a person.

For more information, please see Information for asylum seekers.

Holders of a residence class visa are able to live and work in New Zealand.

A residence class visa is not limited to permanent residency visas.

See a full list of residence class visas on the Immigration NZ website.

Australian citizens, Australian residents or Australian permanent residents living in New Zealand are automatically given a residence class visa.

When we refer to school we mean either a secondary school, high school, or home education.

Any study at Level 3 or above on the New Zealand Qualifications and Credentials Framework (NZQCF) that a learner participates in while enrolled in school where the school has approved that participation. The study may include tertiary education. It excludes study done for personal interest not arranged through a school.

A full-time programme for a participating student that:

• consists of a secondary component and a tertiary component, and
• is co-ordinated by a provider group or a lead provider.

For example:

• Trades Academies
• Gateway
• the Secondary Tertiary Alignment Resource (STAR).

Visa applications can be sponsored by individuals or organisations in New Zealand.

If you were sponsored into New Zealand by someone in your family who was a refugee at the time you were sponsored, you’re automatically considered to hold a residence class visa.

For more information on sponsorship visit the Immigration New Zealand website:

• Sponsorship - Refugee Family Support Category
• Sponsorship

A statutory declaration is a legal written document that must be signed in front of an authorised witness. In New Zealand an authorised witness can be a:

• Justice of the Peace (JP) – Find a JP
• barrister or solicitor – Find a lawyer
• notary public – Find a notary public, or
• Registrar or Deputy Registrar of the District Court or the High Court – Find a District Court or High Court.

For Fees Free, a statutory declaration is completed by a learner to declare that they meet the eligibility criteria for Fees Free.

It is an offence under the Education and Training Act 2020 and the Crimes Act 1961 to give any altered, false, incomplete or misleading information or to make a false statement or declaration.

SAC funding is no longer delivered from 2023 and has been replaced by DQ3-7 and DQ7+. It was the dollar amount the Government pays towards the cost of teaching and learning services for learners enrolled at a tertiary education organisation (TEO). It is separate to the amount your TEO charges in fees and to your Fees Free entitlement.

Student services fees may be used by providers to support delivery of student services such as health care and student support. These fees are covered by Fees Free.

This was previously called Compulsory Student Services Fees (CSSF).

The Targeted Training and Apprenticeship Fund (TTAF), also known as free trades training, supported learners to undertake vocational education and training without fees between 1 July 2020 and 31 December 2022. Study and training covered by TTAF during this time did not use a learner’s Fees Free entitlement.

Learners who were eligible for TTAF need to organise payment of their fees from 1 January 2023.

Tertiary education refers to study at Te Pūkenga, private training establishments, universities, and wānanga, which is done on campus, online, or on-the-job.

For individuals who may have studied overseas, tertiary education refers to all post-compulsory education and training, including vocational, technical or academic pathways.

A Tertiary education organisation (TEO) is any organisation that provides tertiary education, training, or assessment services.

Tertiary education organisations include:

• Te Pūkenga
• private training establishments
• wānanga
• universities.

Transitional Industry Training Organisations (TITOs) previously managed work-based training and apprenticeships. By the end of 2022, all TITOs transferred their role of arranging and supporting work-based learning to other providers (Te Pūkenga – New Zealand Institute of Skills & Technology, private training establishments and wānanga).

Tuition fees are the fees charged by a provider for a course.

To undertake provider-based study means to enrol in tertiary study and remain enrolled past the refund period.

To undertake work-based learning means to achieve credits towards a work-based learning programme.

When we assess your Fees Free eligibility we look at the study and training you have previously undertaken to determine whether you are a first-time tertiary learner.

Learn more about what counts as prior study and training.

A ‘withdrawal’ is when a learner stops participating in a course, programme or credential (whether or not they have been refunded any fees), either:

• by providing notice to their organisation that they wish to withdraw participation, or
• as a result of non-attendance or non-participation for any reason.

Work-based learning is training done through the workplace or on-the-job and includes apprenticeships.

Work-based learning was previously called industry-based training, and you may still see it referred to in this way by some organisations.

For the purposes of Fees Free eligibility and entitlement settings, a ‘zero fee course’ is a provider-based course that:

• is funded by the New Zealand Tertiary Education Commission
• starts on or after 1 January 2023, and
• has no tuition fees and no compulsory course costs for any learner enrolled in the course.

This does not include:

• courses that have fees, but the fees were paid by a scholarship, student loan, employer, or another zero fees scheme (unless otherwise specified)
• free courses undertaken overseas
• courses that you have withdrawn from and been granted a full or partial fee refund for, and
• courses that have zero tuition fees, but do have compulsory course costs associated with the course.

For the purposes of final-year Fees Free eligibility and entitlement settings, a ‘zero fee programme’ is a provider-based programme that:

• is funded by the New Zealand Tertiary Education Commission
• starts on or after 1 January 2023, and
• all of the courses the learner undertakes as part of that programme have no tuition fees and no compulsory course costs for any learner enrolled in the course.

A 2018 Starter is an eligible learner who used some or all of their Fees Free entitlement in the 2018 calendar year.

This includes eligible learners who did training through Māori and Pasifika Trades Training in 2018.

A 2019 Starter is an eligible learner who used some or all of their Fees Free entitlement in the 2019 calendar year.

This includes eligible learners who did training through Māori and Pasifika Trades Training or undertook Level 3 Youth Guarantee study in 2019.

A 2020 Starter is an eligible learner who used some or all of their Fees Free entitlement in the 2020 calendar year.

A 2021 Starter is an eligible learner who used some or all of their Fees Free entitlement in the 2021 calendar year.

A 2022 Starter is an eligible learner who used some or all of their Fees Free entitlement in the 2022 calendar year.

A 2023 Starter is an eligible learner who used some or all of their Fees Free entitlement in the 2023 calendar year.