Glossary of terms

Applying

When you apply for a programme at Otago Polytechnic, you will fill out and submit an application. Once this has been completed, you will get a letter via email or in the post letting you know that we have received your application. If your application is successful, you’ll get another letter from us, via email or in the post, letting you know that we would like to offer you a place on a programme at Otago Polytechnic. This means you have been accepted into the programme you have applied.  If your application is unsuccessful, or we require more information, we will let you know in a letter or application pack via email or post.

Career pathways

Otago Polytechnic’s programmes are grouped into career pathways. This is to make it easier for students to figure out how to turn their interest in a particular industry into the practical skills and knowledge they’ll need to secure a job.Many of our students are interested in more than one career pathway – that’s great too. We offer programmes that combine elements of business with sport, for example, or engineering with design

Certificate
Please refer to our Qualifications page.

Diploma
Please refer to our Qualifications page.

Degree
Please refer to our Qualifications page.

Graduate Certificate and Diploma
Please refer to our Qualifications page.

EFTS
Equivalent full-time students.

Hook-on fee
A one off payment that enables students to "hook-on" to the National Qualifications Framework (NQF).

IELTS (International English Language Testing System)
Measures the ability to communicate in English for people who intend to study or work where English is the language of communication. Otago Polytechnic also accepts other recognised international English Language test results, such as TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language). 

Iwi
In New Zealand society, iwi form the largest social units in Māori culture. The word iwi means 'peoples' or 'nations', and is often translated as ‘tribe’,or confederation of tribes. In Māori, iwi literally means ‘bone’. Māori may refer to returning home after travelling or living elsewhere as "going back to the bones" — literally to the burial-areas of ancestors.

Kāi Tahu

Ngāi Tahu, or Kāi Tahu, is the principal Māori iwi of the southern region of New Zealand, with the tribal authority, Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu, being based in Christchurch and Invercargill.

Kaitohutohu

As Kaitohutohu of Otago Polytechnic, Professor Khyla Russell is a member of Otago Polytechnic’s Leadership Team, with responsibility for overseeing the incorporation of the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the Polytechnic’s Memorandum of Understanding with Ka Araiteuru Papatipuraunaka in day-to-day operations. She facilitates relationship-building between the institute and the wider Maori community and tertiary sector organisations. She performs an advisory role in any Maori-related research embarked on at the Polytechnic and provides consultancy outside of the organisation.

Moodle
Moodle is an internet-based system Otago Polytechnic uses for delivering e-Learning programmes. This tool is used to present online content, as well as in blended learning environments.

Postgraduate Diploma
Please refer to our Qualifications page.

NCEA (National Certificate of Educational Achievement)
New Zealand’s national qualification for secondary school students.

NZQA (New Zealand Qualification Authority)
Quality-assures secondary and tertiary qualifications and education providers, evaluates overseas qualifications and administers the New Zealand qualifications including NCEA.

New Zealand students 
New Zealand students do not pay full fees as the New Zealand Government partially or totally subsidises Otago Polytechnic for the cost of the programme/course. Immigration New Zealand refer to these students as "domestic students". The Ministry of Education holds a complete list of who is considered to be a domestic student for the purpose of fee payment and enrolment. Visit Immigration New Zealand for more information. 

Study abroad
Please refer to the Study Abroad and Exchange page.

Study exchange
Please refer to the Study Abroad and Exchange page.