Certificate of Proficiency

Certificates of Proficiency

A Certificate of Proficiency (CoP) is a term that covers a type of enrolment and is not of itself a formal academic qualification. It is used to describe a course which is not being credited towards a particular qualification, for example:

• an additional course surplus to qualification requirements, or
• a course being repeated in the hope of gaining a higher grade, or
• a course being taken to complete a qualification at another institution.

Under the Education and Training Act 2020, and course or programme that does not lead to a qualification listed on the NZQF is deemed to be a training schemes. As a result Certificates of Proficiency (CoPs) are deemed to be training schemes, but not to the exclusion of other types of training schemes.

Certificates of Proficiency (CoPs) are therefore courses of less than 40 credits that do not lead to a qualification and are delivered by institutes of technology and polytechnics (ITPs) at level 4 – 7 only. They consist of courses or unit standards selected from approved qualifications and employ SAC 3+ Fund Funding. The TEC have mandated that delivery towards training schemes (including CoPs, CPIs and micro-credentials) comprise no more than 5% of the dollar value of our total delivery. This means that we must deploy CoPs carefully.

Rules and Policy for Certificate of Proficiency

1. Students may be enrolled in a Course on a Certificate of Proficiency basis where:
   1. The completion of the Course is to cater for individual needs and the Student is not currently enrolled in any Programme; or
   2. The Student is currently enrolled in a Programme, but the Course concerned is not an elective within that Programme and will not contribute in any way towards achieving that Qualification.
2. Applications to enrol in a Course on a Certificate of Proficiency basis must be approved by the relevant Academic Programme Manager of which the Course forms a part. The Programme Regulations for that Programme shall apply.
3. A Student who has attained credit for a Course on a Certificate of Proficiency may apply at any time to have that credit credited to a qualification on the condition that the credit recognition requirements set out in the relevant Programme Regulations are met.
4. Certificate of Proficiency Courses are only offered for courses at level 4 – 7.
5. Certificate of Proficiency Courses are no greater than 40 credits.
6. International Students completing Certificate of Proficiency Courses must have a valid visa that covers the period of study.

Consideration when approving a COP and advising Students

Student loans are available for CoPs only if the individual student meets StudyLinks criteria and is enrolled in the required number of credits/courses to satisfy the EFTS requirement. A student will NOT be eligible for student loans and allowances if they enrol in only one course. 

Contribution to a qualification – CoPs cannot contribute to the qualification in which the student is enrolled at the time of undertaking the CoP, except in the case of a previously passed course being taken by the student to achieve a better grade in that course. In this case if the achievement in the CoP course is greater than the original passed course, the CoP course achievement may be credited to the programme.

Managing student expectations is important to ensure that students do not misinterpret how CoPs can be used. Completing a number of CoPs will not necessarily lead to those courses being able to be be credited towards a qualification. For example:

• taking courses as CoPs from a different specialisation than the one a student is enrolled in will not lead to them being awarded the additional Specialisation.
• taking an elective course that is not available in the students programme does not mean that the credits will count towards their programme.
• Taking courses from the main programme as CoPs will not necessarily allow credits to be transferred.

TKK can advise on any specific cases.

Managing student workload is important as well. Some students try to cram as much as possible into their time to achieve their programme qualification faster. They can try to enrol in a COP in addition to a full-time workload thinking that they will be able to credit the CoP later. This is not generally the case, and the additional credit workload may in fact disadvantage the student. APMs making decisions on permitting a student to enrol in a CoP should consult with any APM from the main programme in which the student is enrolled.

Managing our cap – COPs are funded employing SAC 3+ Fund Funding. The TEC have mandated that delivery towards training schemes (including CoPs, CPIs and micro-credentials) comprise no more than 5% of the dollar value of our total delivery. This means that we must deploy CoPs carefully to ensure that we are not exceeding our cap.

Useful Resources

Relevant Policies and Procedure

Admission Enrolment and Fees Policy

Admission and Enrolment Procedures