QUALIFICATION DETAILS
Qualification Title
New Zealand Certificate in English Language
(Professional/Academic) (Level 5)
Version
1
Qualification type
Advanced Certificate
Level
5
Credits
60
NZSCED
091506
Strategic purpose
statement
This qualification is intended for candidates of English as an additional
language, attending NZQA approved programmes delivered in Aotearoa
New Zealand or off-shore.
Graduates will have the language skills required to communicate
independently and effectively in a wide range of familiar and unfamiliar
situations with fluency and flexibility in professional and/or academic
English language contexts. This qualification is at a level comparable to the
Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) C1.
This qualification allows Aotearoa New Zealand community, employers and
educational institutions to recognise the level at which the graduate can use
English for professional or academic purposes.
Graduate
profile
Graduates of this qualification will have the English language skills to:
- understand the main ideas of complex spoken texts on both concrete and
abstract topics
- speak with fluency and spontaneity to communicate information, ideas
and thoughts in extended discourse on a range of familiar and unfamiliar
topics
- use appropriate skills and language to manage interactions in a wide
range of formal and informal settings
- read and understand complex texts independently on familiar and
unfamiliar topics
Outcome Statement
- summarise and synthesise information across a range of complex texts
for a specific purpose
- write extended, crafted, logically structured, coherent texts appropriate to
audience and purpose, synthesising, evaluating and applying information
and arguments from a range of sources.
Academic qualifier:
To achieve the New Zealand Certificate in English Language (Academic)
(Level 5), graduates must be able to use English relevant to an academic
context to meet the outcomes.
Professional qualifier:
To achieve the New Zealand Certificate in English Language (Professional)
(Level 5), graduates must be able to use English relevant to a professional
context to meet the outcomes.
Education
pathway
This advanced certificate builds on the New Zealand Certificate in English
Language (General/Workplace/Academic) (Level 4), and facilitates meeting
the language requirements for:
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- programmes/courses that are linguistically demanding and/or a
specialised field of study
- most postgraduate programmes/courses, depending on the focus of the
programme leading to this qualification.
Employment
pathway
Holders of this advanced certificate will have the English language skills to
work in positions that require:
- complex interpersonal communication
- understanding of complex context specific professional and/or technical
texts
- writing complex, context specific communications
- full participation, interaction and initiative in a team.
The New Zealand Certificate in English Language (Academic/Professional)
(Level 5) is designed to equip students with the English language proficiency
to enable them to seek professional registration with regulatory standard
bodies.
Qualification
Developer
NZQA National Qualification Services
Qualification Specification
Qualification award
This qualification will be awarded to people who have met the requirements
of the outcomes.
Credit gained for an outcome may be used only once to meet the
requirements of this qualification.
Awarding bodies for this qualification will be any education organisation
accredited under section 38 of the Education Amendment Act 2011 to
deliver a programme leading to the qualification.
The certificate will display the NZQF logo and the name and logo of the
awarding body.
Review period
3 years (36 months)
Evidence
requirements for
managing
consistency
Consistency events
Each education organisation must nominate a representative to attend a
scheduled consistency event. The consistency event will enable education
organisations to:
 share information regarding how well their graduates match the graduate
profile outcomes
 ensure that their graduates are comparable with graduates from other
education organisations.
Consistency events are scheduled by NZQA and facilitated by an
independent consistency reviewer. The schedule is available on the NZQA
website.
Education organisations must participate fully and constructively in the
consistency forum and meet the costs associated with participation, including
any time and travel costs.
Evidence for consistency
Each education organisation is responsible for deciding what evidence it will
provide to demonstrate how well its graduates meet the graduate profile
outcomes.
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Portfolios of evidence are expected to be based on self-assessment
activities, for example:
 graduate destination data
 graduate surveys or evaluations of the programme
 stakeholder or ‘next-user’ surveys and feedback
 evidence of any bench-marking activities with other education
organisations (e.g. benchmarks relating to graduate employment
outcomes, assessment practice, other benchmarks)
 graduates’ assessment evidence (e.g. completed assessment activities,
naturally occurring evidence)
 national external moderation results
 NZCEL programme evaluation reports, containing some or all of the
above self-assessment activities
Credit transfer and
recognition of prior
learning
arrangements
Education organisations must have policies and procedures in place for
managing credit transfer, and assessing recognition of prior learning and
recognition of current competency. These policies and procedures, and
associated fees must be available to the candidates prior to enrolment.
Where recognition of existing skills and knowledge is required by the
candidate, this will be arranged by the education organisation, delivering
the programme leading to the qualification.
To facilitate credit transfer, education organisations must clearly
demonstrate the equivalency between each of the outcomes in the graduate
profile, and the assessment components of their programmes.
Unit standards already achieved by the candidate, which are specified in this
qualification, may be credited to the qualification.
Minimum standard
of achievement and
standards for grade
endorsements
(where applicable)
The minimum standard of achievement required for the award of the
qualification will be the achievement of all the graduate outcomes in the
graduate profile.
Prerequisites to
meet regulatory
body or legislative
requirements
(where applicable)
There are no mandatory prerequisites to meet regulatory body, or legislative
requirements for this qualification.
Other conditions
for qualification
There is no required sequence of the assessment of graduate outcomes.
There are no grade endorsements for this qualification.
It is recommended that education organisations develop their own entry
criteria for this qualification, using the following guidelines:
- Achievement in New Zealand Certificate in English Language (Level 4), or
demonstrate equivalent knowledge and skills.
Graduate outcomes must be assessed in tasks, which may include real or
simulated situations, relevant to the context of the candidate.
Assessment of outcomes must clearly reflect the qualifier being studied.
All assessment activities, including instructions, must be conducted in
English only.
Responses may contain very occasional minor phonological, textual or
linguistic inaccuracies, which do not obscure meaning, or interfere with
fluency.
An English dictionary may be used, but not electronic devices, other than
for word processing.
Evidence from study in a mainstream academic discipline or other directed
study at NZQF level 5 may be used to meet any of the outcomes above.
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Sufficiency of evidence indicators
Listening skills:
- Assessment should include assessment of listening in authentic
situations.
- Text length: at least three spoken texts on different topics, with at least
one monologue, one dialogue and one multi-person discussion.
- Duration: approximately 10 minutes.
- Audio-visual materials may be used for assessment purposes, but these
should not include large amounts of text.
Speaking skills:
- Assessment should include at least one monologue, one dialogue and
one multi-person discussion.
- Duration: each of approximately 10 minutes.
- Interactive strategies, both verbal and non-verbal, should be assessed.
Reading skills:
- Assessment should include at least two texts on different topics, and of
different text types. Each should be assessed on a separate occasion.
- Text length: approximately 5000 words over two texts.
- Authentic texts that include words of appropriate frequency and
specialisation (see General Service, and Academic Word Lists).
- At least two different source materials should be used with appropriate
referencing for at least two assessments.
- Evidence of critical thinking in the evaluation, analysis, and synthesis of
information.
Writing skills:
- Assessment should include at least two texts on different topics, and of
different text types should be assessed.
- Text length and structure: appropriate to the writing purpose, but normally
each approximately 1000 words, with layout and linguistic features
appropriate to the genre.
Conditions relating to specific outcomes
Qualification Outcomes
(including indicative
credit values for each
outcome)
Conditions
Mandatory
or Optional
Understand the main ideas
of complex spoken texts on
both concrete and abstract
topics.
10 credits
Speak with fluency and
spontaneity to
communicate information,
ideas and thoughts in
extended discourse on a
range of familiar and
unfamiliar topics.
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10 credits
Use appropriate skills and
language to manage
interactions in a wide range
of formal and informal
settings.
5 credits
Read and understand
complex texts
independently on familiar
and unfamiliar topics.
Summarise and synthesise
information across a range
of complex texts for a
specific purpose.
20 credits
Write extended, crafted,
logically structured,
coherent texts appropriate
to audience and purpose,
synthesising, evaluating
and applying information
and arguments from a
range of sources.
15 credits
Republication information
Version 1 of this qualification was republished in December 2014 to update the Evidence requirements
for managing consistency.
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