Find out about the types of qualifications we offer and how long they may take to help you decide what qualification might be right qualification for you.
What types of qualifications we offer
We work hard to ensure our qualifications will help you reach your career goals. To ensure we teach the skills needed in today’s workforce we get input from industry and professional bodies when we develop our programmes. Our programmes are also accredited and recognised by relevant professional bodies.
We offer the following types of qualifications:
- Certificates – which may be Levels 3, 4 or 5 and can range from 40 to 80 credits
- Diplomas – Level 5 and 6, and are usually 120 credits
- Degrees – Level 7 and are usually 360 credits
- Graduate Certificates and Diplomas – Level 7 and range from 60 to 120 credits.
We also offer certificates of proficiency, which consist of one course. These can prepare you for further study, or be part of your professional development.
What our learners say
- 85% believe their employers would consider their qualification valuable.
- 85% say their study is valuable for a future job.
- 81% say their study is valuable for their current job
- 86% say our courses are good value for money.
How long will it take?
How long it will take to complete a qualification will depend on the level of qualification you aim for and how many courses you study at a time. The flexibility of online distance learning means you decide. You’re free to do one course at a time or more.
For each of our qualifications you will need to do a different number of courses depending on the qualification’s level and credit value. For example:
- A 60-credit Certificate made up of 15 credit courses = four courses.
- A 120-credit Diploma made up of 15 credit courses = eight courses.
- A 360-credit Degree made up of 15 credit courses = 24 courses.
(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.)
As a guide, if you study part time:
- Certificate – may take around one year
- Diploma – may take around two years
- Degree – may take six years.
If you study full-time (around 40 hours a week):
- Certificate – may take around six months
- Diploma – may take around one year
- Degree – may take around three years.
To help you think about how much study you can fit in to your life, try our time tool:
Get help to plan your study
If you need help to decide what qualification to study you can contact a Student Advisor to talk about your goals. They can help you:
- Decide which qualification best suits your study and career goals and what course to start with
- Plan your study load to make sure it suits how much time you have available
- Work out if you have any study or experience can be cross credited to one of our qualifications.
Contact a Student Advisor:
- CustomerServices@openpolytechnic.ac.nz
- Freephone 0508 650 200