2017-Mar 10: How to check information on New Zealand and National Certificates

Visa Pak 301: Advice for staff on how to assess whether National Certificates required for trade occupations is equivalent to the New Zealand standard.

Visa Paks

10 March 2017

How to check information on New Zealand and National Certificates


With the recent changes made to the qualification requirements on the Essential Skills In Demand lists which came into effect on 27 February 2017, the majority of trade occupations (such as carpenter, bricklayer etc) require a minimum qualification requirement of a New Zealand Certificate at Level 4 on the New Zealand Qualifications Framework. Some applicants may hold older qualifications in these areas, which are known as National Certificates. This advice provides steps on how to access whether a previous National Certificate is equivalent to the current New Zealand Certificate.

Steps to access qualification information

  1. Follow website: http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/nzqf/search/results.do
  2. Search for the current listed New Zealand Certificate
  3. Select the correct New Zealand Certificate you are wanting information for
  4. This will take you to a section named ‘Qualification Overview’ which outlines details of the qualification
  5. At the bottom on the overview under ‘content’ includes a Word document or PDF option which when opened will bring up a document named ‘Qualification Details’.

The Qualification Details document will always include version changes, replacement qualification information including which National Certificate the New Zealand Certificate has replaced, and details on the credits and knowledge requirements.