Enrolment of adult students in mainstream secondary education
The primary purpose of enabling adult students to enrol as mainstream students in secondary schools is to provide foundation skills or "second chance" education. That is, individuals are afforded the opportunity to gain NCEA qualifications that they did not gain when they first attended secondary school as a regular student.
Adult student enrolment policy
In 2004, the Ministry published Circular 2004/07 which sets out the requirements for the enrolment of adult students as mainstream secondary students.
The policy aims to ensure that all adult students in secondary education:
- are assisted in gaining appropriate qualifications
- meet targets for minimum literacy and numeracy levels, and
- are attending classes with comparable secondary students.
Definition of adult students
An adult student is any student whose 19th birthday occurred before 1 January of the current year. This does not apply to students deemed to require special education under Section 9 of the Education Act 1989.
Adult student criteria
To be enrolled as an adult student in mainstream secondary education, an adult student must meet all of the criteria outlined below.
Nature and course of study
The course of study in which the adult student is enrolled must assist the student to reach the following minimum goals:
- Adult students must, for a minimum of 0.6 of their course load, be attending classes that will result in NZQA qualifications.
- If students have not achieved NCEA Level 1 or equivalent requirements for literacy and numeracy, classes that will allow them to achieve Level 1 NCEA literacy and numeracy requirements (or relevant English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) requirements to enable students to achieve these requirements) must be included in the students’ programme.
Nature of classes attended
- Adult students enrolled in an adult ESOL programme, or a designated refugee or recent migrant programme, are able to attend classes specifically established for those students.
- With the exception of classes described in 3. above, classes attended by adult students must be available, suitable, and appropriately timetabled for comparable secondary students within the school.
Enrolment requirements
- Enrolment processes (including fees) must be identical to those for comparable regular students;
- In schools with enrolment zones, adult students can be enrolled only in a situation where the availability of places at a particular level has been advertised and the number of applications is less than the number of places available;
- In order for adult students to be enrolled, they must present to the board valid documentation of citizenship, residency, or refugee status. The board must keep a copy of this documentation for audit purposes.
Record keeping requirement for adult students
Boards must keep attendance records for adult students in a separate register. In addition to the name of each student, the register must show the number of hours of class contact time per week, and the courses taken. This documentation is required for audit.