Enhance your expertise with our micro-credentials, designed to offer flexible and accessible education that fits into your busy life. Explore our micro-credentials and take the next step in your professional development today.
Micro-credentials are small, NZQA-approved credentials typically ranging from 4-40 credits. Open Polytechnic micro-credentials offer a flexible and focused way to enhance your skills and knowledge in specific areas. Due to their shorter duration, micro-credentials have different rules than our regular courses and programmes.
Access to course materials will be available a day before the course start date.
Enrolment Information
To enrol in a micro-credential, full payment of fees is required before you can access your course. The withdrawal period is 10% of the course duration (more details can be found below).
Availability
Our distance learning courses are offered throughout the year to help you fit study around your work and life commitments.
Courses are offered up to 12 times per year depending on demand and availability of academic staff.
Exact start dates are in the course information pages and in our Enrolment dates page:
Cost
- Course costs can be found on all course pages. The fees may increase annually.
- Qualification cost – to give you an idea of how much a qualification may cost in total over the duration of your studies, an approximate cost is provided for many of our qualifications. This is based on the required number of courses to complete the qualification and the average cost of those courses. It does not include annual administration fees, text books and course materials or external exam fees, and is subject to annual course fee increases.
Credits
Courses are assigned credits depending on how much time and effort is needed to complete their learning outcomes. In general, each credit represents approximately 10 hours of study time.
Delivery method
- Online – The course materials for online courses are delivered in an online format and all assignments are submitted online.
- Mixed – These courses are delivered using a mix of online and paper based course materials. This may include receiving paper course materials, submitting assignments online, or being required to participate in online forums and learning activities.
- Print Only - The course will be delivered using paper based courses materials, and assignments may need to be submitted in hard copy rather than online. This will depend on the course.
Whether courses are delivered online, on paper or a mixture of both, there may also be components such as workshops, noho marae, work experience and practicum to participate in. To find out what your course involves check the course information page.
EFTS
EFTS stands for equivalent full-time student. An EFTS is the study time required for each course and is used by the Tertiary Education Commission to decide if a course is part-time or full-time.
One year of full-time study is generally between 0.8 and 1.2 EFTS.
Level
You can tell how hard a course or qualification is by the level it is set at:
- Levels 1-4 are about the same as secondary school and basic trades training.
- Levels 5-7 are the same as university study.
Prerequisites
- Prerequisites are courses that must be completed before another course can be studied.
- Co-requisites are courses that can be studied at the same time as another course.
If a course has a specific prerequisite or co-requisite course, it will be listed on the course page under the title 'Prerequisites'. If no courses are listed, check the entry and other requirements under the qualification you are studying for. Some courses require you to have studied at a particular level prior to enrolling.
Student loans
Not all qualifications or students are eligible for student loans. You will need to meet criteria such as studying a minimum number of credits over a specific study period. It is up to you to apply for a student loan via StudyLink - Open Polytechnic does not do this for you.
Information about student loans and eligibility
Teaching weeks
Teaching weeks is the number of weeks that we teach a course. This differs from the enrolment period, which is based on the course start and end dates.
For example, a 20-week enrolment period will have 16 teaching weeks, followed by four weeks to accommodate marking, any extensions and reassessments, or exams.
Workload
The workload estimate given on a course page is calculated like this:
Number of credits x 10, divided by the number of teaching weeks for the course. The hours will be rounded up to nearest whole number.
Please note, this is a guide only. You may need more or less time for study, and you may also need to do more hours during assessment due dates or exams times.
Withdrawals and Transfers
If you change your mind and want to withdraw from the micro-credential, you need to fill in the Request to withdraw form. If you want to change your enrolment to another start date, complete the Request to transfer form
When you submit your form you will get a copy by email. The date you submit the form will be used as the official date of withdrawal or transfer, so it's important to complete this form promptly.
- Withdrawal with refund, or transfer: Within the first 10% of the course duration. The specific number of days is stated on the overview page for each micro-credential. No record shows on your academic transcript, and the fees are refunded if you withdraw.
- Withdrawal with no refund: Up to 80% of the course duration. Your academic transcript will display "Withdrawn." No refund is issued.
However, if you are experiencing exceptional circumstances, you can apply for Special Consideration before the course end date and provide evidence of your circumstances. - You cannot apply to withdraw after 80% of the course duration. Your academic transcript will display the relevant failing grade.
If you are experiencing exceptional circumstances, you can apply for Special Consideration before the course end date and provide evidence of your circumstances.
Note: We may withdraw you from a micro-credential under certain conditions. Please refer to our Open Polytechnic Initiated Withdrawals rules for more details.
Award of the Credential
After your micro-credential course results are approved by the Results and Awards Committee:
- We will send you an email notifying you your final results are available on your MyOP Learner Portal. Please login to My Open Polytechnic to check all your personal details and contact details are correct.
- We will send your certificate and transcript by courier. Your courier package (requiring a signature) will be sent to your postal address.
Your NZQA Record of Achievement (ROA) will be updated within 4 months.
If your micro-credential has a badge, this will be awarded within 5 working days of your final result being released. You can access the badge in iQualify.