The Head of the School of Nursing has a responsibility to ensure that all applicants meet the requirements to enter a nursing programme. As this is the beginning point of fitness for registration, in accordance with section 16 of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act, guided by the Nursing Council of New Zealand, applicants whose first language is not English must achieve a score of 6.5 in an IELTS assessment (or equivalent) in each category: reading, writing, listening and speaking in one sitting prior to acceptance.
Applications are encouraged from applicants from diverse backgrounds who are seeking to be employed in health care.
School Leavers
NCEA Level 2, 80 credits total or the equivalent. This includes:
10 credits in NCEA English/Literacy Level 1 plus
12 credits in NCEA Mathematics/Numeracy or Pangarau Level 1 as well as
A further 58 credits at Level 2 or above in each of English, Mathematics, a science related subject and one other of choice
Mature Applicants (20 years of age or older)
Successful completion of the New Zealand Certificate in Study and Career Preparation or an equivalent programme of study at NZQA Level 4 within the past five years.
Interview
For your group interview, you will have 30 minutes to complete a numeracy assessment. You can expect 30 questions. Download a sample of 10 questions here, which are reflective of the types of questions you can expect.
Specific Admission criteria
All applicants must:
Hold a current first aid certificate (Red Cross Comprehensive or St John’s Workplace). This first aid certificate must be current at the time the programme starts
Provide a completed medical declaration and/or evidence of a current health certificate indicating ability to practice safely from a registered health practitioner
Submit a New Zealand Police Consent to Disclosure of Information form with their application, which will be sent to the Police Licensing and Vetting Service if the applicant is accepted into the programme. This is returned in confidence to the Nursing Head of School . Information on the New Zealand Vetting Service is available from their website
Provide two testimonials and/or character references attesting to the candidate’s suitability for working in Health Care
Be prepared to attend an interview
Provide a confidential report from the institution where a candidate is applying to transfer to another institution
Additional Requirements
The following are required for all successful applicants:
Relevant evidence of health screening to meet various Health Authority and Institutional requirements. MRSA clearance is required by most clinical practice areas.
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.
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 preceding two years:
IELTS test - Academic score of 6.5 that includes a score of at least 6.5 in each of Reading, Listening, Writing and Speaking.
TOEFL Paper based test (pBT) - Score of 590 (with an essay score 5.5 TWE)
TOEFL Internet based test (iBT) - Score of 79 (with a writing score of 21)
Cambridge English Examination – C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency with a score of 176. No less than 169 in each skill
OET – Minimum of Grade C+ or 300 in all sub-tests
NZCEL - a) Level 5 (Academic) or (Professional), b) Level 5
Pearson Test of English (Academic) - PTE (Academic) score of 58 with no band score lower than 50
Language Cert – C1 Expert IESOL (LRWS) with HIGH PASS and no less than PASS in each skill or c2 Mastery IESOL (LRWS) with PASS and no less than Pass in each skill.
ISE III with no less than pass in any band
