The quality of a New Zealand university education is well recognised internationally. Many New Zealand graduates go on to postgraduate study at universities in Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States, being the most common destinations, prior to taking up careers either overseas or back in New Zealand. In addition many New Zealand graduates are awarded prestigious prizes and scholarships for further study in countries other than New Zealand. In developing countries of Asia and the South Pacific it is not unusual to find senior administrators, including cabinet ministers and even prime ministers, who have been educated at universities in New Zealand.

Academic Year

The academic year extends from late February or early March to November. The long summer vacation is from mid-November to mid-February .Auckland, Lincoln and Otago universities operate a 2-semester system, with intakes into both semesters in some programmes. This provides for 12-13 weeks of teaching in the first half-year, followed by examinations and study break from early June to early July, then 12-13 further weeks of teaching, followed again by several weeks of examinations. Each semester is itself in 2 parts, separated by a study break of 1 or 2 weeks. Canterbury has a 4-term year with a 3 week examination period in June and breaks of 1-2 weeks between terms. Victoria now offers a trimester system and Massey offers 3-semesters.Waikato offers a 2-semester system with summer schools (2 overlapping). There are some vacation courses for degrees although postgraduate research students continue work all year round. There is a restricted number of courses during the summer.

Entry Requirements

All students must be fluent in the English language if they are to succeed at a university in New Zealand. There are many courses available at public and private institutions in New Zealand and elsewhere to assist international students to reach the required level of English language competence. The universities have specified minimum levels of competence (eg. 6.0 in IELTS or 550 in TOEFL for most undergraduate degrees);  details of any higher requirements for specific degrees may be obtained from individual universities.

Applications for admission to universities should include certified copies of the highest secondary school certificates received (e.g. GCE 'A' levels, STPM, 1B) and official academic records of any tertiary study undertaken (e.g. university, polytechnic, technical college). The basic level of admission is the same across the New Zealand university system. However, individual universities may require higher standards for admission to courses which are in high demand.