Specific requirements
Application requirements 
First steps
Interview
Police check
Literacy and Numeracy assessments
English Language Competency for Teaching

Before you begin your teaching qualification at the University of Auckland, the  Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand has a list of requirements that you must complete. This will allow you to apply for provisional certification as a teacher in New Zealand.  

It is important to apply for your programme early to allow plenty of time to complete these requirements. 

If you have any questions, please email education@auckland.ac.nz or visit your nearest Student Hub.

Applicants for the Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmes - Bachelor of Education (Teaching), Graduate Diploma in Teaching (Early Childhood, Primary, Secondary and Māori-medium) - will need to complete the following requirements:

• Literacy and Numeracy test (Online)
• Interview (Online)
• Safety checks under the Children's Act 2014
• Overseas Police Clearance if applicable, and New Zealand Police Clearance
• Provide references from two referees
• Meet English language requirement – For University Entrance and additional requirements for initial teacher education programmes
• Provide work history (CV/Resume)
  
• Child Safety Assessment form
• Application Declaration

Here are the steps to complete your application.  

1. Submit your application – Please include: 

- Transcripts of all prior studies.
- The Child Safety Assessment form
- Application Declaration
- Work history (should be completed as part of your application)

Note: The referee form and the NZ Police vetting consent form will be provided at the application stage.    

Do not delay. Please start on the following tasks whilst we assess your application.

2. Request your Overseas Police Clearance document (if applicable)

3. Ask your referees to submit the character references using the form downloaded from the Apply To Study portal.

Submit your New Zealand Police Vetting form. If you are an International applicant, this task can wait until you arrive in New Zealand. This will not delay the application progress.

When you receive your conditional offer, please complete the following urgent tasks:

• Complete and pass the Literacy and Numeracy tests.  These tests are a New Zealand Teaching Council requirement. All applicants must pass these tests. A link for booking the test will be included in your conditional offer. 
• You are able to take the tests again if you dont meet the entry requirement after your first attempt. But please note,  there is a mandatory waiting period of two to four weeks, depending on the test (see table below) 
• Book your test early and make sure you have enough time for several attempts. There are strict deadlines for enrolment and programme start.
  

4. Complete and pass the Interview.

This is a NZ Teaching Council requirement. All applicants must complete the interview process.  The Admissions Team will send you an invitation. You will have two weeks to complete the online asynchronous (not live) interview. Once the interview is recorded and completed, it will be reviewed and scored by the faculty. This requirement will  be marked as completed on the application portal once the interview has been reviewed. Some interviews may need additional review before the final outcome is released.
Please note this may delay processing of your application. It is therefore important to complete the online interview recording as soon as possible. 

5. You may be requested to provide evidence of your English proficiency to meet the Teaching Council English language requirement. This is a separate, additional requirement to both the literacy test and the University Entrance English level requirement. If we require additional evidence, this will be added to your offer conditions. For further information, please see the Teaching Council website. 

The University of Auckland will likely contact you either via email, phone, or text message regarding the progress of your application and the completion of the entry requirements.

Please ensure you check your emails regularly, including your email spam folder and respond to our calls or emails as soon as possible.

Start your application

The first step is starting your application. You will need to include documents that provide proof of your academic history; as you fill out your application, we will tell you what documents we need. If you don’t have all your supporting documents yet, you can save your application and come back to it later but do not delay as there are a lot of tasks to complete.

Referees’ report

You will need to ask two referees to submit a character reference about you. Referees must be people who know you well, but they cannot be a family member or friend. Examples of referees include: 

• Teachers
• Careers advisers
• Sports coaches
• Members of organisations you belong to
• Youth group leaders
• Church members

While completing your application to study, you will be instructed to download the referee form, which you can send to your two referees. Your referees will need to send the completed form directly to admission@auckland.ac.nz

You can also access these forms on our website. 

All applicants to the programmes listed above will have an interview before acceptance into their programme. This is to get to know a bit about you, your ambitions as a future teacher, and the skills or qualities you could bring to teaching. The interview will be conducted using Kira Talent and will be asynchronous in format. This means that you will submit a recording of yourself responding to a series of questions at a time of your choosing.

Once you have received a conditional offer, we will send you an invitation to Kira Talent with a unique link that is valid for two weeks. You can choose any time that suits you best within that two-week period to record your interview responses. Your responses will then be evaluated by two reviewers (e.g. academic staff, educational specialists, or education sector representatives), resulting in a final score that determines the outcome.

To help prepare you for your interview, we have put together some Interview tips for teacher education programmes.

Please note: 

• You will need to show two forms of identification at the beginning of your interview in accordance with the Children’s Act 2014. 
• Once you have started the interview process on Kira Talent, there is no way to pause or return to edit your answers at a later time. You must complete all parts of the interview in one session. You will have a set number of minutes for each response, and will not be able to re-record or edit your responses. 
• Passing the interview does not guarantee you a place in the programme. It is just one of the conditional requirements you need to meet. 
  

School/centre visit

Before recording your interview on Kira Talent, it is recommended that you visit a school or early childhood centre (depending on the programme you are applying for). This experience will give you an idea of what teaching is like, and your observations may be helpful to refer to during your interview.

If visiting a centre/school is impossible, you should familiarise yourself with some key documents about education in New Zealand. If you are applying for primary or secondary teaching, please look at this Ministry of Education page: The New Zealand Curriculum.

If you have lived in New Zealand for the past ten years, please complete the Police Vetting Service Request & Consent Form, and we will follow through this process with New Zealand Police on your behalf. The process can take 3–6 weeks, so it is best to complete this as early as possible.

If you are an International applicant, this requirement will be temporarily suspended until you enter New Zealand. This will not affect the progress of your application. 

If you have lived overseas for a period of more than 12 months in the past ten years (not including any time under the age of 16), you will need to arrange a police report from that country. Please organise this as soon as possible to avoid delays in your application process.

To meet the requirements of the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand you will need to complete two online assessments in literacy and numeracy.

All applicants must take:

A literacy test which will involve reading an article and answering some multiple-choice questions about the article.

A numeracy test which will involve basic mathematical concepts, such as addition, subtraction, finding equivalent fractions, multiplying decimals, understanding place value, and converting common fractions, decimals and percentages.

There are no waivers or exemptions for this requirement.

You will receive a link in your offer letter that will guide you through booking your tests on the correct test environment. The test environment (Canvas or LNAAT) will be different, depending on whether you have an NSN number (National Student Number).

About NSN (National Student Number) 

If you have studied in New Zealand (High School or Tertiary Education), you will have an NSN.  If you have never studied in New Zealand, you will not have an NSN. In both cases, you will receive a link that will guide you through the test booking for the correct test platform.

Finding your National Student Number (NSN)

You can find out your NSN number by visiting this website and following these steps:

You can: 

• Use NZQA’s chatbot, Awhina, to retrieve your NSN. 
• Contact NZQA directly at 0800 697 296. 
• Request your NSN through your current or previous school/education provider. 

It's important to note that most individuals who have studied in New Zealand will have an NSN.  

You will be asked to provide your NSN when you book your literacy and numeracy tests. Please keep your NSN number handy. 

If you have applied to multiple programmes:

These tests count towards all applications to a teaching programme (listed below). This means that applicants applying to more than one programme do not take the tests again for each programme.

You only need to pass each test once, and the result is valid across multiple applications. For example, someone who has applied to both the Graduate Diploma in Teaching (Primary) (GDTPR) and the Graduate Diploma in Teaching (Secondary) (GDTSE) will only need to pass one Literacy test and one Numeracy test. The test scores are applied to all programmes you have applied for.

Your successful results are valid for two years. If you unable to meet the literacy and/or numeracy requirements this time around, you can begin the process again for future intakes (i.e. the following semester/academic year).

TEST RULES

Applicants applying for more than one programmes will only need to complete and pass the Literacy and Numeracy once. The test scores will count for each programme they applied for.

A few more things about the Literacy and Numeracy tests: 

• We strongly recommend you book your tests as soon as possible. Leaving the test to be completed at the end of the year may impact your application progress. 
• Please note that applicants who have booked for a test and don’t attend the test on the day, may not be prioritised for another booking. Test no-shows may impact on application progress.
• Depending on having an NSN or not, you will need to book one or two test sessions: 
  • LNAAT Literacy is a standalone booking 
  • LNAAT Numeracy is a standalone booking 
  • Literacy and Numeracy in Canvas can be booked together into one session 
• Bookings for the Literacy and Numeracy tests are open three weeks in advance. 

Zoom 
Both literacy and numeracy assessments will be done via Zoom and will be supervised. You will need to use a laptop/computer that has a camera. Online Zoom assessment sessions will be run at least twice a week except during the University end of year closure.   

Once you have completed your assessment, you may leave the Zoom

Things to remember

• If you do not pass, you can resit the tests
• Please do not ask for your test result. Review your checklist items/to-do list via the application portal. NOTE: it may take up to 3 days for your results to be processed.
• If you pass, we will NOT contact you. Your checklist item will be marked as ‘Completed’. This means you have passed.
• If you do not pass, we will add a Resit checklist item and we will contact you via email.
• Please remember there is a stand-down period between attempts

Read our Literacy and Numeracy preparation guide here.

Steps

1. Submit your application. Upon the initial assessment, you may receive a conditional offer letter with a link to book for a literacy and numeracy assessment time. 
2. Take the assessments online via Zoom using a device that has a camera. Please be on time. 
3. Have photo identification with you as we will need to confirm your identity before the assessment commences. 

Teaching requires a high standard of English language competency in speaking, writing, reading and listening.  All applicants studying to be teachers or applying for registration and certification must meet the language competency requirements set by the Teaching Council. 

This is an additional and higher requirement than the English language requirement for University Entrance. Within New Zealand, applicants for Teaching programmes must meet both requirements. 

Teaching Council requirements 

The Teaching Council focuses on evidence-based proof and there are several opportunities to demonstrate English Language competency. You can find examples by visiting the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand website.

Please note, not all applicants will be eligible for an exemption. Please read thoroughly the Teaching Council Language competency requirements on eligibility before requesting an exemption. 

Assessment by our Admissions team

At the time of assessment, Admissions will determine if you meet the Teaching Council Competency requirements.

If you are currently studying a qualification that will meet this requirement, your English condition will remain pending until this qualification is completed. You will not need to request an exemption in this case.

If you believe you currently meet the requirements as set out in the above guidance, but this is not reflected on your application portal, please contact us.

We may simply require further evidence of this to confirm the condition as met, or we will be able to advise you on why this is not yet marked as met.

Exemption requests

Exemption requests are assessed on a case-by-case basis, with strict accordance to the Teaching Council’s regulations. This is to ensure all approved applicants succeed with their Initial Teacher Education programme and obtain registration.

The University of Auckland cannot approve any request without sufficient evidence that meets the Teaching Council’s guidelines.

Please note that the English Language competency requirement is a separate, additional requirement to the Teaching Council’s literacy assessment.

You will be required to complete the literacy assessment to be considered for an exemption to the English Language competency requirement. There is no exemption or waiver for the literacy assessment. Completion of the Literacy assessment is marked as the fourth requirement to be eligible to be considered for an exemption.

If you do not meet the requirements through one of the specific options for evidence as listed in the Teaching Council Language competency requirements, but have other evidence showing a high standard of competency,  you may be considered for an exemption from this requirement.

To be eligible to be considered for an exemption, you must meet all the following requirements:

1. You must meet University Entrance English requirements. Information for these requirements can be found at 2026 PG English Language Requirements.
2. You must have completed study in the English medium while living in a predominantly English speaking country. Applicants to the Graduate Diploma in Teaching must have completed study in English at Tertiary level (Diploma level or higher). Applicants to the Bachelor of Education may be considered for an exemption based on incomplete tertiary study and/or completed secondary study.
3. You must have completed and passed your interview. An assessment of your communication level during your Interview will be used as part of the exemption review process. Exemption requests received prior to completing and passing the interview will not be considered.
4. You must have completed and passed the Literacy assessment. Exemption requests received prior to completing and passing this test will not be considered.
5. You must be able to provide additional evidence from the below list: Please note, depending on the evidence provided and the strength of your application, one piece of evidence from the below list may not be sufficient alone. We strongly recommend applicants only apply if able to provide 2-3 pieces of evidence from the below list:

• Any expired or current approved English Language tests
  
• Evidence of other schooling in the English medium not included in your application (i.e Primary and secondary schooling – if you are unable to provide documentation for this, to confirm this to be true they may provide a legal Statutory Declaration).
• Evidence of study/training in the English medium that did not lead to an official academic qualification (i.e. professional certifications or transcripts of incomplete study)
• Testimonials from employers or academic supervisors regarding their English ability. These should include reference all skills: reading, writing, speaking, and listening. If eligible to be considered, admissions can provide you with a template to provide to referees as a guide.
• A CV showing work experience in an English-speaking environment, with country of origin specified.
• Any other evidence will additionally be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
  

How to apply for an exemption

If you believe you meet all the perquisites for the exemption labelled 1-4, and have evidence to provide, please contact the Admissions team for advice on applying for the exemption. DO NOT attach your evidence to your email. Evidence provided by email will not be reviewed. All evidence must be sent at once using the form.

Email the Admissions team at admission@auckland.ac.nz

The Admissions team will make a preliminary assessment of your eligibility. If you are eligible to apply for the exemption, you will be provided with an online application form, which will allow you to attach your evidence.