Special China September session for Engineering and Commerce students

The University of Auckland China September Session offers an opportunity for Chinese high school graduates to begin their studies with New Zealand's top-ranked university* even while borders remain closed due to Covid-19.

The semester will be held at Northeast Forestry University (NEFU) in Harbin and Nanjing University of Science and Technology (NJUST) in Nanjing from 7 September to 4 December and will enable students to study in two of our most popular programmes – the Bachelor of Commerce and the Bachelor of Engineering (Honours).

University of Auckland academic staff will teach core courses via online delivery, and students will have the social support of cohort learning with local tutors on a Chinese university campus.

Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand, spoke at the China Business Summit on 20 July encouraging the University’s efforts to support international students: “We will continue to explore our options to reopen travel for groups like students, but in the interim, I expect we will see innovative solutions established.

“For example, the University of Auckland’s two new learning centres in China are a creative and practical solution for its students unable to enter New Zealand, because of our border restrictions.”

Ten million students took China’s National College Entrance Examination, known as the Gaokao, earlier this month.

In 2019, all eight New Zealand universities agreed to accept Gaokao results for direct entry to undergraduate programmes. New Zealand’s collective approach, under the umbrella of Universities New Zealand, aligns our tertiary institutions with leading universities in Australia, Canada, the US and the UK, where the Gaokao is becoming increasingly accepted by quality institutions.

The pandemic delayed this year’s Gaokao exam, but as students hold their breath waiting for those important results, they can now consider another option.

Brett Berquist, Director International at the University said, “The establishment of a September to December session for Commerce and Engineering students is one more way the University is responding to the pandemic and adapting the way we teach to support our students off-shore.

“We look forward to partnering with NEFU and NJUST to enable high-achieving Chinese students to begin their studies with the University of Auckland this year.”

*2021 QS World University Rankings