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

Your workload

You’ll need to complete 24 hours of face-to-face teaching time at the Polytechnic, up to 8 hours of additional self-directed study per week and 8 hours of work experience. Usual timetable hours are Monday to Wednesday, 8.20am - 3.00pm.

We are introducing a fourth intake for this programme for 2025. The timetabled hours for this class will be Wednesday to Friday, 8.20am - 3.00pm.

You’ll learn through a mix of lectures, tutorials, online learning, practical workshops and teamwork.

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.

Additional costs

You’ll need to provide your own personal stationery, calculator and safety footwear. It would also be an advantage to have a laptop to bring to class or at least a PC available. 

You will also need to buy an electrical tool set for approximately $400 during the first term of the programme.

Your lecturer will let you know more about these requirements during the first week of your programme. 

Domestic students may be able to get financial support for these things by applying to Studylink for a student loan/allowance.

Tuition fees

The tuition fees shown above are approximate only. There may be a slight fee increase per year once Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) rules and guidelines are applied. These fees also don’t include additional costs or living costs.