Enrolling and studying in the Master of Nutrition and Dietetics

If you receive an offer into the Master of Nutrition and Dietetics programme, don't forget to accept your offer by the deadline.

Your offer will be subject to Police Vetting and Children’s Act clearance. You have already completed your part of this process during your application and MMI.

The Dietetics programme is a two-year full-time programme of study that will provide learning in a broad range of nutrition-related areas, including: medical and applied nutrition, public health, foodservice management and professional skills. The training will enable you to seek registration as a Dietitian with the New Zealand Dietitians Board.

What to enrol into

After you accept your offer of place, you will need to enrol for both semesters of your academic year. Each semester is 60 points, with a total enrolment of 120 points for your first year. 

Semester One

Semester Two

Detailed information on the courses can be found in the Curriculum Catalogue.

How to enrol

If you want to know more about enrolling in your courses, please see:

Faculty Orientation

• Date: Tuesday 24 February 2026 (morning)
• Location: Grafton Campus Atrium

The day will begin with a whakatau welcome ceremony for all Faculty of Medical and Health Science (FMHS) students. Faculty orientation sessions for professional courses will follow the whakatau. 

Dietetics Orientation

• Date: Tuesday 24 February 2026 (1.00 - 4.00pm)
• Location: 507-G080

Attendance on these days is compulsory. You will receive an email in the new year with more information about these sessions.  

Dietetics Start Date

The start date for Semester 1 of the Master of Nutrition and Dietetics is Monday 2 March 2026. Information regarding your timetable will be provided at the Dietetics orientation day.

Placements outside of Auckland

Please note this course includes medical nutrition therapy, public health nutrition and foodservice management placements, some of which are based out of Auckland. As a result, for at least one of your placements, you can expect to have to travel and stay out of Auckland for up to 13 weeks across the two year degree. We currently have placements in Waikato (Hamilton), Bay of Plenty (Tauranga or Whakatane), Rotorua (Lakes District), Gisborne, Taranaki, Wellington, Hutt Valley, Timaru, Dunedin, Invercargill, Christchurch and/or the West Coast. We are working on expanding placement sites so you could also be placed at any Te Whatu Ora Health NZ site around New Zealand. You will be given a chance to indicate your preferences in the first few weeks of the programme and these preferences will be taken into account as much as possible.

For most placements travel and accommodation costs will be at your own expense (a small number of placements have accommodation and travel funded).

Placements in Auckland will be across the Auckland region and will also require some travel. We will endeavour to place those who have family commitments (e.g. children) in Auckland. This will be explained in more detail on your orientation day. Your ability to successfully complete the programme’s placements is required to complete the Master of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Extended Timetable

In order to cover all the theory and practical requirements of the degree, please note that some teaching and practical placements will be outside of the normal University semester teaching weeks. This will be discussed in further detail on orientation day and in class. Please note, some semester dates for Dietetics may differ from the University schedule. The timetable can be found on the University’s web-based learning management system (CANVAS) calendar.

Graduation

The dietetic programme staff see graduation from your undergraduate degree as an important milestone in your academic journey. Graduation dates are not always available when the semester timetables are planned and in the past, there has been some crossover with scheduled placements.

2026 Year One medical nutrition therapy placement dates are set as:

• One week: 18 - 22 May 2026
• Two weeks: 17 - 28 August 2026

These placements require you to be onsite at a Te Whatu Ora Health NZ site 8.00/8:30am to 4.00/4:30pm Monday to Friday. Please consider this when booking travel for graduation ceremonies. If you have questions please get in touch via email: FMHS@auckland.ac.nz
 

As a Master of Nutrition and Dietetics student, you must be fully immunised to complete the requirements of the programme. It is your responsibility to make sure you are adequately tested and immunised.

Further information on the immunisation process will be sent to you via email in early January 2026. This information will summarise the immunisation requirements which you must comply with and you will be provided with a consent form. Full completion of the Consent form is required promptly as no lab testing can occur until after receipt of the Consent form.

The Children’s Act (CA) 2014 requires that all people who work or are likely to work with children must be safety checked. This includes Dietetics students on practical placements.

Overseas Police Checks

Please note a police check, or equivalent, is required from every country you have lived in for 12 months or more over the age of 16. For example, if you have lived and studied in New Zealand for most of your life, but spent twelve months teaching in Japan, you will need to apply for and provide us with a police checks from Japan.

Please email your overseas police checks results, if applicable, to FMHS@auckland.ac.nz with the subject line “Overseas Police vetting Master of Nutrition and Dietetics.

If you have additional questions regarding enrolling into and studying the Dietetics programme, please email FMHS@auckland.ac.nz.