Last updated: June 2025

Overview

Micro-credentials and training schemes are defined as credentials: study that leads to an award but does not, of itself, lead to a qualification.

They consist of up to 40 credits and can be at any level of the New Zealand Qualifications and Credentials Framework (NZQCF). They each have an assessment component and are delivered by accredited education providers.

Data on enrolments in micro-credentials are recorded in tertiary enrolments from 2019, and training schemes enrolments are recorded from 2020 (training schemes were introduced in 2011 but data fields that directly identified them were introduced in 2020).

Micro-credential enrolments are recorded in both provider-based and workplace-based tertiary education settings, while enrolments in training schemes are recorded for provider-based students only.

The Education and Training Act 2020 required training schemes to be progressively converted into micro-credentials (through an amendment enacted in 2022).

For more information on micro-credentials and training schemes see NZQA: Micro-credential listing, approval, and accreditation - NZQA