New Zealand Certificate in Electrical Pre-Trade (Level 3)

About the programme

Want to become an electrician or enter other non-registration areas of the electrical industry?

With awesome workshop facilities, hands-on learning and highly experienced lecturers with strong industry connections, this programme is the ideal preparation for your apprenticeship.

It will give you the knowledge and skills to enter the industry as a first-year apprentice or it can help you start your career in non-registration areas such as electronic security, appliance servicing and automation. There is the chance for progression and promotion in these areas with further study and/or industry exams.

When you finish, you could enter an apprenticeship agreement with us and an employer so you can complete the Level 4 apprenticeship programme. This will give you the skills you need to work independently as an electrician. 

Are you a Māori or Pasifika person aged 16-40?

We also offer a free version of this programme called He Toki. 

He Toki supports whānau to gain skills and qualifications, connect with iwi and explore industry opportunities, with the goal of securing wealth-enriching futures for Māori and Pasifika.

With He Toki, you'll be supported to gain a New Zealand Certificate in Electrical Pre-Trade (Level 3) via a unique and empowering learning experience that has te reo, tikaka and mentorship at the heart of everything.

Find out more and apply here.

Entry

Entry requirements

General admission

• You’ll need to be at least 16 on the day that your programme starts (or give us a completed Early Release Exemption Form).
• You’ll also need to meet or exceed the following academic requirements:
  • NCEA Level 1 with Mathematics and English, or
  • have equivalent knowledge and skills.

Special admission

You must:  

• be 20, on or before the day that your programme starts, and
• provide sufficient evidence of your aptitude or appropriate work or other life experience to indicate that you can successfully complete this programme.

Discretionary admission

In exceptional cases, if you do not meet the general admission requirements and haven’t reached the age of 20 on the first day of your programme, you can apply for discretionary admission. When we assess whether to grant discretionary admission, our primary focus will be whether we feel you are prepared for study at the required level.

English Language Requirements

You must provide evidence that you have English Language proficiency equivalent to NCEA Level 1 English.

Domestic applicants

If English, Māori or New Zealand Sign is not your first language and you can’t provide evidence of the above, you’ll need to provide evidence using an equivalent described in the NZQA Rules.

International applicants

• You must provide evidence that you have the necessary English language proficiency required for this programme using an equivalent described in the NZQA Rules.
• General or Academic score of 5 with no band score lower than 5.

Selection

Criteria

When the number of eligible applicants exceeds the number of places available, we’ll use the following selection criteria:

• if you have high levels of achievement in NCEA Level 1 English, Maths, and Physics or General Science, you’ll be a preferred candidate for entry
• if you have a lower level of achievement in NCEA Level 1 English, Maths, and Physics or General Science, we may work with you to identify any extra support you might need to enter the programme.

Process

Staff members will select applicants based on the information supplied during the application process. Sometimes, further information may be needed from an applicant to allow an enrolment decision to be made. This might involve an interview or assessment (face-to-face or electronic).

Don't meet the entry requirements?

If you don’t meet the entry requirements and feel like you might want to do other Polytechnic study to get you up to speed before you apply for this Level 3 programme, we have several options available:  

Engineering Maths Summer School

This is the perfect option if you need to improve your engineering maths skills. It runs during January each year.

New Zealand Certificate in Foundation Skills (Level 2)

This is a great option if you want to re-engage with study or want to experience studying at a polytechnic. It will help you develop your reading, writing, maths and computing skills.

New Zealand Certificate in English Language (Level 2)

This Certificate is for speakers who can use basic English in everyday settings but want to improve their English for study or work.

Want your existing knowledge recognised?

Credit recognition includes credit transfer, cross credits, recognition of prior experiential learning, recognition of current competency, and assessment of prior learning. Each of these terms relates to previous qualifications and relevant experience. 

• There are usually no limits on the number of credits that may be granted towards course work in this programme.
• Credit recognition will not be granted for the final closed-book examination (Capstone Assessment).
• Appropriate credit will be granted for learning which is current and relevant to your programme, regardless of where and how that learning has occurred, e.g. through formal study, self-directed study, workplace learning, life experience, hobbies, marae based learning, within community wānanga or participation in rangahau projects.