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Wellington, July 24, 2017
The New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) has withdrawn accreditation for three business programmes at the International College of New Zealand (ICNZ), meaning that ICNZ can no longer deliver these programmes to students.
Recent monitoring by NZQA identified significant concerns about assessment capability at ICNZ. As a result, NZQA has withdrawn the accreditation for ICNZ to provide the following programmes: (a) National Diploma in Business (Level 5); (b) National Diploma in Business (Level 6); and (c) Diploma in Business Management (Level 7).
Incorrect assessment
Deputy Chief Executive Quality Assurance, Dr Grant Klinkum said, “NZQA has monitored these business programmes and found that most of the assessments (95% of the Level 5 and 6 and 70% of the Level 7) were marked by ICNZ as a ‘pass’ when they should have failed. ICNZ has significantly failed to deliver the quality of education in these programmes that New Zealand’s tertiary education sector is rightly well known for;
As a result, we have withdrawn the credits ICNZ had awarded to students meaning they cannot be used towards a qualification. In most cases students will need to start their programme again with a new provider.
“The removal of accreditation at ICNZ is necessary in order to ensure quality education outcomes. When NZQA has concerns about the validity of assessment practices, we act to ensure the integrity of our qualifications system is maintained,” he said.
This impacts around 100 international students.
Ensuring qualification
NZQA is working on options to ensure these students will be given a refund of their course fees, along with the opportunity to sit an English language proficiency test if they wish to seek enrolment at an alternative provider.
“New Zealand’s reputation for high quality tertiary education relies on providers having robust quality assurance processes to ensure that qualifications are genuine, and employers and students can be confident in the qualifications,” Dr Klinkum said.
“NZQA’s role is to ensure quality education is delivered to students and that New Zealand qualifications are robust, credible and internationally recognised. We will not tolerate poor quality education provision. Where providers are not meeting the standards we expect of them, we take action to ensure the integrity of New Zealand’s tertiary education system,” he added.
Details for students
NZQA is keeping students fully informed over the coming days. More details are available on the NZQA website at www.nzqa.govt.nz.
It is up to each student to decide what they want to do next, for example, returning home or applying for a visa to study at a different provider.
NZQA has produced a list of Category 1 and 2 providers with similar accreditation that students might like to choose from, should they wish to enrol with another provider. This list can be found here List-of-Alternative-Providers.pdf (PDF, 338KB).
NZQA has already been in contact with many students by email and at student meetings. Any current students who have not yet heard from NZQA or who have questions can email ICNZstudent so that the appropriate information and support can be provided.
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