[tee and dee]

I know many of you out there have had dealings with NZQA but has anyone been in the same situation as me ? I submitted my application in August 2005 - then was told to find myself verification from my unis (which took months of telephone calls, letters, emails etc) - sent off what transcript info I could get in November and have still been in the verification stage since 7th Dec !!!!!!!! Why they let me try to verify it myself I have no idea as they want to verify themselves now and I am not allowed to get involved as I might muck things up ! We were assigned a case officer last week but she can't process any further without the NZQA report AND my NZ Teacher Registration (Which I can't apply for until I get the NZQA report). :wah PR seems a long way off still - will needan interview as I have no job offer (can't apply for anyhting without NZQA report and Teacher REg) - and so it goes on. OH doesn't want to put the house on the market until we definitely get PR and I can't see us getting over to NZ this summer as we planned - oh and last bit of moan - 15 year old daughter doesn't want to go anyway and if we leave any later she'll miss taking her GCSE's by only a few months (course work dwon the drain ? Or can anyone advise on this as well ) Rant over - feel better. Haven't started a new thread before - but any advice or commisserationsa will be gratefully accepted :(
Tracey

[clarkydicko]

Hi Tracey :)

The waiting around is just pants, innit? We had a bit of a fiasco with the NZQA too & I know many people on the forum will sypathise with your situtaion too.

We waited a total of four months to hear anything, only to have Simon's qualifications down graded as they couldn't match it with an NZ qualification! nightmare, so we had to start the job hunt!

I know it probably seems like there is no light at the end of tunnel, we felt like that for a long time too, but all of a sudden things will drop into place & the next thing you know you'll be on the plane! :yes we still can't believe that after all the set backs & problems we have encountered on the way that we actually fly out in three weeks time!

Sending you lots of good vibes & please let us know how things are going

Chantell :)

Chantell & Simon

[Cardy]

hello tracey i had similar problem but kept e mailing my case officer at nzqa for updates he was very helpful and replied very quickly . the delay for me was because the people at this end in england hadnt answered for ages and he couldnt do anything till they did. when i got my assessment it was worth waiting for they put me up a level on both qualifications and instead of 100 points i had 120 . I had to send lots of paperwork from my course work and supply my secondary school certificates that did take ages because i never collected them in 1977 when i left school. hope this is some help
good luck Paul bev and kids :cheers

[starkhorn]

Hi Tracey,

I do sympathize indeed, the waiting can be a nightmare. The only advice is to hang in there. The most important thing prior to applying (I know a little late for you) but it's to try to get them as much information and documents as possible up front to avoid any delays due to lack of info.

We had a bit of a nightmare as my wife's degree was done in France so every single certificate from high school had to be officially translated by an 'official' translator which cost quite a few quid. Some of them were a total rip-off with one person trying to charge us 1400 euros!!!

In the end after sending everything to NZQA and having everything correct and proper with no lack of information, it still took over 12 weeks of verficication stage to get the recognition so the verification part still takes alot of time.

Have faith and good luck!

Cheers
Starkhorn

[Ria]

Hi Tracey,

Like others I too had a bit of a 'to do' with NZQA. At first the guy was very helpful and pleasant, saying that he was awaiting confirmation from the UK. However after a few months, I got a bit t'ed off and contacted my examining body (who actually have a sister affiliate in NZ- but hey that wasn't good enough).

Anyway, spoke to a nice lady who said they often get emigration request and they try and turn them around within a week! And there was nothing in the pending tray! I got her name and asked if I could give it to NZQA - which she said was fine.

Gave this to the guy at NZQA, who promptly turned all prima-donnaish and said I shouldn't interfere as I could jeopadise the process and my outcome! Which t'ed me off even more. However...funnily enough, after I'd rocked the boat abit, I got the confirmation certificate back (2 levels above the preliminary, but I thought the pre-lim assessment had been low.

My advice would be to get a name and email address from your verifying body and pass this on by way of info to NZQA - in a 'no-hassle'kind of way - if you know what I mean.

The NZQA would not confirm how they sent their requests (made me feel that it was the 'if I tell you, I'll have to kill you' approach) don't understand the secrecy - but my UK lady told me he just sent an email - no formal request in writing. I'm firmly of the opinion that they send a 'general' request, that probably doesn't go to the right person in the first place - and it gets lost in translation (ha, ha :D ). Mr NZQA did say that they send a first request, if no answer, they wait 3 months :uhoh :uhoh before re-sending a request! Doesn't seem very efficient, but hey, we got there in the end ( 5 months later).

As others have said - hang on in there - but maybe a little nudge from the UK may help.

All the best

Ria

[KD17]

You're talking a subject very close to our hearts !!!

Our NZQA journey was long & tiresome, we had to get Keith's City & Guilds qualification assessed in writing, which we had done already via e-mail, this was back in June 05. We have, just today (30 Jan 06) received the written report and fortunately it has come back as per the e-mail assessment which is what we needed. (the background to that paragraph alone could take a chapter to write in full !!!)

From our own personal experience I would get whatever relevant confirmation in writing you can of your qualificaiton from your awarding body and forward this onto your Evaluator.

Our situation was that we had a deadline to meet or our application was going to be withdrawn, so we telephoned if we handn't heard for a while and we were told what the hold up was, which we endeavoured to obtain from the awarding body ourselves, which we then sent onto our Evaluator by fax or e-mail.

Had we have sat back & waited for a reply we would not have got an assessment at all. We endeavoured to go out to get what it was we were missing, but I know that can't be the same in all cases.

I wish you good luck with your qualification assessment. Don't give up, and take fate into your own hands & do what you can to help your own situation.

Keith & Debby

[john & becky]

Hi Keith and Debby,

My qual is City and Guilds plumbing, do NZQA have to assess this? Surely if they want plumbers to go to NZ (by puttingit on their shortage list) they should already know what the City and Guilds qualification is equivalent to?

[janjane]

they do sometimes look at c&g's so that they can be sure you are claiming something your intitled to and not something down loaded from the internet or scaned and altered from a friend. Must happen sometimes i surpose.
jane

[KD17]

City & Guilds is the awarding body, not the qualification. it's a very common mistake to make, your certificate will state what it is you actually hold and to what level.

As janjane says, unfortunately there are those who fake their certificates so they need to prove that you do hold what you claim you do which makes it tough on those of us who have genuine qualifications. Nothing is taken at face value I'm afraid.

Good Luck


Keith & Debby

[tee and dee]

Thanks guys for all the sympathy and advice.
I will try to be proactive in a "no hassle" kind of way but my prob is I'm not sure which part still needs verifying as I have a degree form one uni and a PGCE (teaching cert) from another - it could be both or just one !! I suppose I need to find out from the unis which dpt verified such things and then if I can get some names pass them on in a "helpful" sort of way. Thanks again - and I'm so glad I tried starting a thread - I've got the support and vibes I needed to keep me going ! I'll try to saty positive - oh and by the way for those wondering - the are asking for verification again on 7th Feb (2 months gap since the first time) - but have said they ask 3 times in a 10 month period. I just want to know that this is the last dreary grey British winter I'll have to put up with.

Cheers, Tracey

[willsken]

Hi Tracey

I know you are not supposed to interfere but I chased the Uni by being very nice to the lady who would have dealt with it. Told her I didn't want to interfere but could she just check it was being dealt with. I like you had a very long wait for my teaching qualifications to be verified.

[Rocketman]

NZQA is just a money making scheme. I paid a lot of money for a statement that my MSc was assessed at a level of a NZ MSc and my wife’s MSc was assessed as (wait for it) equivalent to a NZ MSc.

I know you have to do it for the NZIS but it’s a real pain in the %%%%.

[Graham Barnes]

Given the previous comments, I don't think that I would like to shout this too loudly.........but I was very impressed with the way in which NZQA assessed my degree and teaching quals! Yes...it's a money-maker, but I fast-tracked and got e-mail confirmation within 5 days, and my certificate in 10. I got the impression that much depends on your individual assessor...but read the guidance carefully, follow it to the letter and give them exactly what they want, and they'll be as happy as a pig in.............Basically, make their life easy for them!

OK, so my brother went through the process 2 years earlier, and had all sorts of problems and he gave me loads of advice, but here goes;
1. Give them everything. And then some-do not underestimate how much evidence they are looking for. Particularly when nowadays, people can buy realistic degree certs off the internet.
Certificates, FULL transcripts (not just a list of module titles), uni letters and contacts (DEF. e-mail), letters of past work experience. You cannot give them too much information!
2. Warn your uni contacts that they will get in contact. Which they will to confirm any degree information you have given. This will at least enable you to check that the e-mail addressses you have given NZQA still work! If there is any delay, NZQA will not say who they have contacted and what they are asking...all in confidence!
3. I will always be grateful to NZQA for assessing my 6 month Open University PGCE as being equivalent to the standard full-year version! Long story-previous experience in private schools, but given their website says they don't even look at quals which take less than 12 months, I thought that showed a degree of subjectivity you don't normally see in a Government Agency!
4. To T and D-NZQA shouldn't need NZTC Reg to assess teaching qualifications...ever. Horse and cart argument. In fact, they are more than happy to fax their assessment to NZTC save you time!

Graham

[Arclite]

I have another NZQA question

I have got certified true copies of my employment references but no originals. do NZQA really need the originals?, if they do then it's going to cause horrendous delays since some of the companies are from years back.

and - I only want my degree assessed so why do they need to see my GCE certificates and references anyway ?

You think you are almost there........ and then this happens

Arrrrgghh

Arc

[tee and dee]

Arc,
There is no method it seems and so yes they probably will want to see everything from the year dot (sorry- you're not that old) - NZQA are definitely pants ! But please don't tell my case officer I said so as he'll throw my file in the back of a very dingy filing cabinet, lock it and throw away the key ! Best of luck.

Nicola - just how long did you wait for your teaching qualification to be verified ? Good job we don't go through this rigmarole in UK or I'd have been on the dole these past 18 and a half years !
Tracey