NZQA is responsible for the quality assurance of non-university tertiary education organisations.
We use information from a wide range of sources to help us do this.
Where we get our information
We collect information on organisations from our quality assurance processes:
- external evaluation and review
- programme monitoring
- concerns raised by students, staff, and other government agencies.
How to raise a concern with us
This page is for providers to explain how we conduct our risk enquiries and investigations.
If you are not a provider, and you want to know how to raise a concern with us, go to:
On this page
When we start an inquiry or investigation
When the Risk Management team gets information, this starts the risk inquiry phase.
During the risk inquiry phase, we:
- assess the level of risk
- may contact the source or provider for information on a specific issue.
This helps us to decide whether or not to start an investigation.
Criteria for an investigation
We will start an investigation where there is known, self-disclosed, or a reasonable suspicion of serious non-compliance.
This must affect the integrity of:
- the New Zealand Qualifications and Credentials Framework (NZQCF)
- learner wellbeing, or
- registration requirements.
Criteria for an inquiry
We will continue to manage the issue as a risk inquiry if there is no serious non-compliance, but is still a risk to:
- learners
- the NZQCF, or
- meeting registration requirements.
Our process for inquiries and investigations
In the process of our risk inquiry or investigation, we assess the following to decide how we might resolve the issue:
- the provider’s capability and how proactive they are
- the level of risk to learners, the NZQCF, and the registration requirements.
We take action to match the level of risk
The actions we take during a risk inquiry or investigation will match the level of risk.
We assess the level of risk by looking at any relevant factors, including:
- what the issue is
- the evidence of the issue, its source, and how reliable the evidence is
- the impact on learners, the NZQCF, or other requirements
- the profile, size and area of operation of the provider concerned
- how long the issue has been going on for, and whether it happened in the past
- if the provider is able to and willing to address the issue
- the provider’s past record of compliance, and
- the impact on public trust and confidence in the tertiary education sector.
What we may do during an inquiry or investigation
These are some of the things we may do during a risk inquiry or investigation:
- Collect more information.
- Discuss the issue directly with the provider.
- Talk to the provider’s staff and learners.
- Refer the issue for a specific quality assurance activity (e.g. external evaluation and review (EER) or programme monitoring).
- Work with other agencies, such as the Tertiary Education Commission or Immigration New Zealand.
- Visiting the provider to talk about the issue and collect information.
- Require the provider to take specific actions.
- Take statutory action, or, in rare cases, prosecute the provider.
How long an inquiry or investigation takes
We aim to complete every risk inquiry or investigation as quickly as we can.
However, we cannot guarantee when we will finish an inquiry or investigation. There are many factors that influence how long it takes, including:
- how complex the inquiry or investigation is
- competing demands on our resources
- working with other organisations.
We can resolve some straightforward risk inquiries and investigations within a few weeks or months.
We may also refer some complex risk inquiries and investigations to other NZQA quality assurance processes. This means that the inquiry or investigation may be open for longer, as the provider makes improvements over time.
How we report on our inquiries and investigations
We have internal processes for reporting information on the number of:
- open and closed investigations
- risk inquiries and
- formal complaints.
If there are risk inquiries or investigations that carry a high level of risk, we may also advise the Minister of what we are doing to resolve them.
Information on inquiries and investigations in our annual report
In our annual report, NZQA reports on the proportion of investigations that were closed during the reporting period, that were managed appropriately.
This performance measure looks at whether we have followed our processes during an investigation.
This measure only includes investigations that have been closed and rated as either:
- “significant NZQA intervention” (leading to the loss of a permission NZQA had previously granted), or
- “corrective action taken by provider” (to improve and resolve our concerns).
We do not include investigations that have been closed and rated as “minor or unsubstantiated issues” in this performance measure.
Sharing information on risk inquiries and investigations
During a risk inquiry or investigation, NZQA may work closely and share information with other government agencies including, but not limited to, the:
- Tertiary Education Commission
- Immigration New Zealand
- Civil Aviation Authority
- Ministry of Social Development
- Ministry of Education.
Requests under the Official Information Act
We also release information on our risk inquiries and investigations to the public, under the Official Information Act 1982.
Official Information Act 1982 (external link)
Past requests under the Official Information Act have asked for:
- the number of open and closed investigations
- a summary of investigations
- a copy of the information held about a specific risk inquiry or investigation.
If we receive an Official Information Act request for information about a risk inquiry or investigation that involved you, as a provider, we will contact you about the request before we release any information.