Diploma in Culinary Excellence Level 5

School Leavers

Applicants under the age of 20 years at the time of enrolment should be a minimum of 16 years of age with a minimum of three year’s secondary school education, and have achieved 10 credits at NCEA Level 1 in Literacy, and 10 credits at NCEA Level 1 in Numeracy.

Mature Applicants 

Applicants over the age of 20 years at time of enrolment will be considered where they can demonstrate an interest in working in the hospitality industry, and the ability to succeed in a programme.

• Examples of demonstration of interest in working in the hospitality industry are the provision of a letter of intent and/or curriculum vitae.
• Examples of demonstration of ability to succeed are the provision of evidence of successful completion of a programme of study at Level 2 or above and/or employment in the related sector for one or more years.

Personal commitment and a belief in one’s own ability to succeed are important personal traits and will always be taken into consideration during the selection process.

Applicants may be required to attend an interview, or if they live at some distance from the campus, complete a telephone interview. Applicants must produce copies of applicable supporting certificates and/or evidence of prior achievements prior to interviews. 

Personal commitment and a belief in one’s own ability to succeed are important personal traits and will always be taken into consideration. 

Notwithstanding the above admissions categories, in exceptional circumstances, a mature aged applicant who can show evidence of ability to succeed in (examples would include someone with experience within the hospitality industry or current working in the industry) the programme may be considered for admission provided the applicant has successfully completed an approved course or programme, which is deemed to prepare graduates for the required academic standard for entry.

English Language Requirements

Applicants, whose first language is not English, or who come from a country where the language of instruction in schools is not English, are required to provide evidence of having achieved one of the following

NCEA Level 3 with University Entrance, or

an International Baccalaureate Diploma or Cambridge A- level qualification for which the teaching and assessment was conducted in English; or

Cambridge Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (CELTA),or Trinity College London Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (CertTESOL);or

Successful completion of all primary education (being the equivalent of New Zealand primary school years 1 to 8) and at least three years of secondary education (being the equivalent of three years from New Zealand secondary school years 9 to 13) at schools in either New Zealand,,Australia,Canada, the Republic of Ireland, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States one of the countries listed in Rule 18.5 where the student was taught using English as the language of instruction; or

Successful completion of at least five years of secondary education (being the equivalent of New Zealand secondary school years 9 to 13) at schools in either New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the Republic of Ireland, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States where the student was taught using English as the language of instruction; or

Successful completion of a Bachelor's Degree, Graduate Certificate, Graduate Diploma, Bachelor Honours degree, Postgraduate Certificate, Postgraduate Diploma, Masters' Degree or Doctoral Degree, the language of instruction of which must be in English and which must be from a tertiary education provider from New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the Republic of Ireland, South Africa, the United Kingdom or the United States or

Successful completion of one of the following internationally recognised proficiency tests listed below to the level required of the programme of study and with all scores achieved in a single test during the two years preceding the proposed date of enrolment

IELTS test - Academic score of 5.5 with no band score lower than 5 
TOEFL Paper based test (pBT) - Score of 550 (with an essay score of 5 TWE) 
TOEFL Internet based test (iBT) - Score of 46 (with a writing score of 14) 
Cambridge English Examination - B2 First or B2 First for schools with a score of 162. No less than 154 in each skill 
OET - Minimum of Grade C or 200 in all sub-tests 
NZCEL - Level 4 (General) or (Employment) 
Pearson Test of English (Academic) - PTE (Academic) score of 42 with no band score lower than 36 
Language Cert - B2 Communicator International ESOL Written (LRW) HIGH PASS with no less than 25/50 in each skill and Spoken (S) PASS 
Trinity ISE - ISE II with no less than merit in any band