Consultation and sector engagement

Te whakawhiti kōrero me te mahi tahi

Last updated 21 November 2016
Last updated 21 November 2016

We have consulted and engaged with learners, careers advisors,  and other government agencies in the development of the project and Key Information for Students (KIS).

What have we been consulting on?

In June 2014, we engaged in an open consultation on publishing information that would help inform learners when making enrolment decisions, and outlined research undertaken by us in the development of this work.

The consultation document proposed a KIS to help learners make good tertiary education enrolment choices. 

The learner research insights advised the most appropriate place for learners to access the KIS was from the TEOs' websites.

Following the consultation, the project outlined plans to:

  • establish a TEO Working Group with representatives across the sector 
  • pilot the development of test qualification pages with volunteer TEOs
  • evaluate the effectiveness of the KIS with learners.

How have we been working with the sector?

We established a TEO Working Group in November 2014 to support progress of this project.  The group is made up of volunteer or nominated representatives from TEOs, peak bodies and the TEC. 

The Working Group provided advice on recommendations to the governance group at different stages of the project and communicated project information to the stakeholders it represents.

The representatives on the TEO Working Group are from:

Representing

Who

Universities New Zealand

Massey University

University of Otago

University of Waikato

Victoria University 

Independent Tertiary Education New Zealand

NZ Independent Tertiary Institutions

Te Wānanga o Aotearoa

Ara Institute of Canterbury

Northland Polytechnic

Southern Institute of Technology

Tai Poutini Polytechnic

Whitireia Community Polytechnic

Pilot and technical evaluation

We ran a pilot from June to September 2015.  Nine TEOs volunteered to take part, creating 43 qualification pages displaying the KIS. The pilot covered the technical evaluation of deploying the KIS, providing estimates on resources and time taken to complete activities. 

Learner evaluation

Independent research organisation, Litmus, conducted a learner evaluation from September to November 2015.  The purpose was to check whether learners considered the KIS provided on TEO websites allowed them to:

  • compare between qualifications and TEOs
  • access information to inform tertiary study decisions
  • make use of the information when making decisions.

Litmus surveyed 206 year 12 and 13 learners and undertook 28 in-depth interviews with learners and their advisors.  We analysed the results and findings and made recommendations that were incorporated into the final KIS. 

In early 2016, the TEO Working Group addressed some of the key themes raised in the evaluation and uncovered potential opportunities and constraints in the implementation process.

This collaboration is intended to ensure the outcome is achievable, effective and relevant to the intent of the KIS initiative.  

The TEC's research summary on the information needs of learners