Secondary school and home-schooled students , Ngā tauira kura tuarua, akona kāinga

You can apply to study towards an undergraduate qualification through Discretionary Entrance if you're a domestic student.

After Year 12

If you've completed Year 12 at secondary school in New Zealand, or its equivalent overseas, and you have a very good academic record, you can apply to be admitted through Discretionary Entrance (DE).

If successful, you'll be admitted to your chosen qualification, not to the university generally. This means if you want to change the qualification you're studying, you will need to apply for DE again.

To apply, you must have:

• achieved a minimum of 72 credits at NCEA Level 2 including 14 credits in each of 4 subjects (3 of which must be approved subjects) with a majority of credits at Merit or Excellence
• achieved Year 12 through another recognised New Zealand curriculum as set in our standard entry requirements
• a personal statement outlining the reasons why you want to study at university
• a statement from your academic adviser – usually your school principal – commenting on your readiness for university study.

This information should be uploaded at the same time as you submit your application. Including this information will ensure that your application process will be completed in a timely manner.

Fill in the principal or academic adviser's form

After Year 13 overseas

If you're a domestic student who went to secondary school overseas and successfully finished the equivalent of New Zealand's Year 13, we'll consider you for Discretionary Entrance. This will be based on the results of your Year 12 study, as outlined above.

You'll need:

• to be a domestic student
• a certificate showing you completed an approved exchange programme, if applicable
• a letter from your overseas secondary school confirming your results.

If you completed Year 12 on a student exchange programme, but not Year 13, the best way to gain your University Entrance qualification is to go to a New Zealand school. There, you can get the number of NCEA Level 3 standards, or equivalent, you need to gain your Entrance Qualification.

Without University Entrance

If you did not pass University Entrance through NCEA or equivalent, there are a couple options for you:

1. you can apply for a Certificate of University Preparation in Semester One, then move onto your chosen degree in Semester Two, or
2. apply for your chosen degree for the mid-year intake through Discretionary Entrance – admission through DE is not guaranteed.

Starting in Summer School

If you're completing Year 13 at secondary school, you can apply to study with us through the Discretionary Entrance process as soon as you finish school, instead of waiting until the next academic year starts.

Summer School has courses from November to February.

To apply for Summer School Discretionary Entrance, you need to apply for a Certificate of Proficiency Undergraduate and select to start your study in Summer School.

Meeting University Entrance standards

If you are admitted to Summer School and want to keep studying with us in the next year, you'll need to meet the normal University Entrance standards.

You'll need to withdraw and re-apply for admission to study in Semester Two if you don't meet the standards – for example, you didn't pass your Year 13 NCEA requirements.

Any courses you passed at Summer School won't be credited towards future study until you meet University Entrance standards.

Students under 16 years old

To study with us, you normally need to be 16 years or older. If you're younger than 16, you can apply for special permission from the Assistant Vice Chancellor, although we rarely accept under 16-year-olds. This applies to both domestic and international students.

For more information on how to apply for permission, you and your parents or guardians can contact us.

Study while at secondary school with Accelerate+

Our Accelerate+ programme provides students studying in year 12 or year 13 the opportunity to extend their study by completing university-level courses while at school.

Find out more about Accelerate+

Home-schooled students

You can apply for Discretionary Entrance (DE) to study with us as a home-schooled student if you're not studying a formal qualification we recognise.

To do this, you'll need to show us evidence of what you have achieved, and that it's of equal standard to the DE requirements.

You, your parents, or your guardians, will need to ask a registered teacher to assess a sample of your work – and write that, in their professional opinion, your academic work is of equal standard to a student studying NCEA Level 2 unit standards.

Learn more about NCEA

Pre-degree qualifications

Pre-degree qualifications are short courses that will help you get the academic and study skills you may need to qualify for admission to your chosen qualification.

Find out more about pre-degree qualifications