October 2026 Code News for tertiary education providers

Handbook for Homestay Practitioners

At the start of 2026, we published Homestay and the Code – Handbook for Homestay Practitioners, a practical resource to support education providers and homestay practitioners in understanding and meeting their obligations under the Code in relation to homestays.

Homestay and the Code – Handbook for Homestay Practitioners [PDF, 1001 KB]

The handbook offers clarification and guidance on the key Code requirements for homestays under Outcome 12: Safety and appropriate supervision of international tertiary learners. It also explains in detail important requirements such as safety checks, appropriate checks, working with homestay agents, responding to concerns, and maintaining learner wellbeing and safety throughout the homestay experience. 

The handbook aims to support providers as they deliver safe, welcoming, and supportive homestay experiences for international learners. The resource may also help providers train new homestay coordinators or refresh existing knowledge and practices. 

We also aim to deliver a Code and Homestays webinar in early 2027 to tertiary education organisations. In the meantime, we encourage providers and homestay practitioners to explore the handbook and consider how it can support their homestay practice. 

Code spotlight: Responding to learner complaints

Requirements relating to the handling of learner complaints are outlined under Outcome 2, Clause 13, Process 2: Learner Complaints. These processes need to be learner-focused, timely, and transparent, and providers should actively communicate with learners about how complaints are managed. 

Ultimately, providers are best placed to resolve complaints, and learners should be supported to raise concerns directly with their education provider.

What the Code requires 

The Code sets out requirements for how providers handle complaints: 

• Work with learners to respond to complaints effectively, including appropriate engagement with support people.
• Inform learners about how their complaint will be handled, including expected timeframes and progress updates.
• Handle complaints in a timely and efficient way, ensuring procedural fairness and respect.
• Make complaints processes visible and accessible, so that learners and those supporting them know where to go and what to expect. 

Providers should also ensure that learners understand the full complaints process, from the initial complaint through to resolution, and that they are kept informed throughout. This includes being clear about who is responsible for managing the complaint, what steps will be taken, and the possible outcomes. 

Messaging matters 

When dealing with complaints, clear and proactive communication is essential. Learners need to know that their provider: 

• has a complaints process 
• is best placed to address complaints directly 
• will take the complaint seriously and respond appropriately. 

Learners should follow the provider’s complaints process all the way through, including any appeals process. NZQA provides guidance to learners on raising concerns about a provider and the steps they can take if a concern is not effectively resolved: 

Concerns about education providers

For other matters relating to quality education provision for tertiary learners, you can go to the Quality assurance hub:

Quality assurance hub