Sub-contracting, third-party consent

About sub-contracting

If a school wants to increase the range of courses or standards that it can offer its learners, it might want to engage sub-contractors to do this.

Sub-contracting in the Consent to Assess Rules

Rule 8 of the Consent to Assess Rules governs sub-contracting arrangements.

Read Rule 8 - Use of sub-contractors

Unconsented sub-contracts

Unconsented sub-contracting arrangements are usually between a school that has consent to assess and an individual sub-contractor who doesn't.

All unconsented sub-contractor arrangements must be approved by NZQA.

How to apply

To apply to engage in an unconsented sub-contract, please log in to the MyNZQA school portal and select and complete the Third Party Consent - Unconsented Third Party form online.

View our video below for guidance on how to complete our online form.

More information

For more detail about unconsented sub-contracts read Rule 8.2 in the Consent to Assess Rules:

Rule 8 - Use of sub-contractors

Consented sub-contracts

A consented sub-contract is between 2 parties who both hold consent to assess.

What you need to do

If you want to engage in a consented sub-contract, please include the below information in your Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and submit this via a Third Party Consent – Consented Third Party (MoU) form in the MyNZQA school portal.

View our video below for guidance on how to complete our online form.

What to include in your MoU

Under the rules (8.1) the holder who is engaging with the consented sub-contractor must supply to NZQA the following information prior to using the sub-contractor:

a copy of the sub-contracting agreement which must outline the responsibilities and obligations of the parties
the duration of the agreement
the reasons for the arrangement
confirmation that any advertising and other information provided to prospective learners clearly shows that the study or training involved is provided under a sub-contracting arrangement.

Download an editable MoU template [DOCX, 117 KB]

More information

For more detail about consented sub-contracts read Rule 8.1 in the Consent to Assess Rules:

Rule 8 - Use of sub-contractors

Video transcript

NZQA is developing a new way to submit applications online within the MyNZQA school portal. The first applications that are ready are for third-party consents.

They are used when a school subcontracts a provider to deliver one or more standards. This could be a consented provider, such as another school, or an unconsented provider such as a local business.

We'll be asking for the same information as before, but now you'll need to submit it using an online form.

There are more applications we're in the process of making online, and we'll let you know as new ones become available.

You can find the new online application by logging into the MyNZQA School portal. Click the School Administration down arrow in the side menu and select Applications.

Currently only those with higher security access to the portal will be able to see the Applications option.

In the future, there will be a way to allow some general security users to also complete applications.

From here we can click Create a new application.

Click the drop down to select the type of application. There will be more options in future. Click Create Application.

On the first page you'll find important information about the form and completing the application, including links to more information.

Click Start Application when you're ready. Read through and complete the fields, then click Go to next page.

Some fields will look up information as you start typing, such as searching for standards.

For some applications you'll need to upload documents. For example, for consented third-party consents, you'll need to upload a Memorandum of Understanding an MOU.

You can navigate backwards by clicking Previous page, click Save Draft to save your progress and exit the form.

When you're ready, you can return to the Applications area and click on your draft to complete it.

On the last page of the application, you'll have the opportunity to check all the information you've provided. You can indicate if you'd like to be notified about the application by email and you'll need to complete the confirmation statements.

Clicking Submit Application sends it to NZQA.

A record of the application is saved and you'll see its status as Submitted to NZQA. The status will change to In Progress once someone from NZQA starts reviewing your application.

We'll let you know once we've completed the application, and you'll see the status change to Application complete.

Applying for third-party consent (2:47 mins)

Find out how to use the online form in the MyNZQA school portal to lodge sub-contracting applications

Consent holder and sub-contractor obligations

School applicant obligations

The school applicant (consent holder) must:

have consent to assess the standards to be assessed by the proposed sub-contractor
hold an enrolment for the student and maintain all student enrolment and academic information
report credits for the learners
remain responsible for the sub-contractor meeting all of the consent holder’s obligations and
set out, in its application to NZQA, how it intends to ensure the sub-contractor meets the holder’s consent to assess obligations such as:
- personnel having sufficient teaching and subject knowledge
- premises, facilities and other physical resources being adequate
- appropriate procedures for managing assessment processes, including re-submission, further assessment and appeal of assessment results
- internal moderation and/or
- external moderation.

Sub-contractor obligations

The sub-contractor must:

provide the teaching, learning and assessment environment for the delivery of the particular standards
meet the assessment and moderation requirements of the school that holds consent to assess
assess only those students who are enrolled with the consent holder and
not further subcontract the delivery of study or training or assessment (Consent to Assess Rules 13.2).