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4.8million 155,178 16,116

(2013) (2006) (2016-17)

01
               
Education System
New Zealand’s education system is world-class, modern and responsive. It combines proven,
traditional principles with innovation, creativity and fresh thinking to produce leaders and citizens
equipped for the 21st century. Education in New Zealand is student-centered. It is focused on
supporting students to problem-solve, process information, work with others, create and innovate. Students have
the opportunity to develop their potential along a number of possible pathways, academic and/or vocational.
In New Zealand, higher education focuses on the individual, challenges to traditional ideas are welcomed, and a
climate of healthy, open debate helps you make your own discoveries.

College Fit: The top universities in New Zealand

At the higher education level, students have a wide (in no particular order) are:
range of options when they choose a college or University of Auckland
university. Although there are agencies that attempt University of Otago
University of Canterbury
is also important. The GPA* of admitted students are Victoria University of Wellington
Massey University
students enrolled, and campus culture are all factors
Auckland is the centre of all the renowned academic
in a prospective student’s decision. Some colleges
institutes. Most of the best colleges in the country
and universities are publicly funded, while others are
are situated in cities like Wellington, Christchurch,
privately supported.
Hamilton, and Napier-Hastings. About 16,116 Indian
*                     students were studying in New Zealand during the


      academic year 2016-17. Engineering, Business Studies,

IT/Computing, Tourism & Hotel Management and
Visual Communications are the popular courses
Indian students pursue in New Zealand.

Safety in New Zealand

New Zealand has a low crime rate, few endemic diseases and a great healthcare system. It is a safe
place for students, however, you should take some care with personal safety and possessions. Take
copies of your important documents, like your passport and credit cards, and keep them separate
from the originals. In an emergency, dial 111 for help.

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 Weather
Both the North and South Islands of New Zealand enjoy moderate, maritime climate and
temperatures. The country is located in the southern hemisphere. This means summer starts in December and
winter begins in June. New Zealand has moderately high rainfall and many hours of sunshine throughout most
of the country.

Auckland: The Auckland region enjoys a warm,
coastal climate without any extremes. Summers in
Auckland are generally warm with high humidity,
while winters are mild and damp as it rains a lot in
winters. The average temperature in summers is
around 24°C to 15°C; in winters it’s around 14°C to 9°C.
Christchurch: This region has temperate, bright and
sunny days. The climate is relatively dry with lesser
rainfall than other places in the country. Temperatures
in summer are often moderated by cool sea breeze.
Snowfall is usually expected once or twice a year. The
average temperature in summer season is around
22°C to 12°C; in winter season is around 12°C to 3°C.
Wellington: This region has mild weather, temperate
marine climate and is well known for being windy.
The best weather in Wellington is during October to
April. The average temperature in summers is around
20°C to 13°C; in winters it’s around 12°C to 6°C.
Queenstown: During winters, Queenstown
has snow-capped mountains and bright, clear
days while during the summers, days are warm
and weather is pleasant. Weather is the main
reason why Queenstown is a popular holiday
destination at any time of the year. The average
temperature in summers is around 22°C to
10°C; in winters it’s around 10°C to 1°C.

Lifestyle tips
Working hard and getting ahead is considered a virtue in New Zealand. NZ is a well-developed

Zealand is about balancing a day’s hard work with socialising, spending time with your family and friends, and
making the most of all the recreational activities. People enjoy the support of a great range of public services
which includes developed transportation that makes getting around easier, and access to welfare support.

Indians living in New Zealand

There were nearly 155,178 Indian immigrants living in New Zealand in 2013. Almost one-third of all Indian
immigrants resided in Auckland, representing the second-largest immigrant group by country of origin, after China.

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 Student life
Accommodation
Firstly, you need to decide
whether you want to live in university managed
accommodation, or with a private landlord.
Choosing university managed accommodation
can also give you a catered or self-catered
option. Catered accommodation offers the
benefits of your meals being cooked for you
and a degree of certainty with meal costs.
If you have an idea about what you prefer, the
accommodation office at your university will be
able to tell you what accommodation they have
available – so that’s the place to start. If you are
thinking of renting from a private landlord or if
your chosen university can’t offer you anything
in its own residential facility, the accommodation
office should be able to provide you a list of
private properties and landlords in the area.
Wherever you choose to live, you should make
sure that you know your contractual rights and
responsibilities. In most cases, you will be asked
to enter into a tenancy agreement, which you
should read thoroughly before you sign.
Orientation
Orientation week is mandatory for international
students so ensure that you arrive before it starts.
This is the time where you will be introduced to
the university and its services, as well as enroll
in your classes. It is essential that you read your
guidebook, which is provided by the college. The
guide explains each part of the admission process.
Activities
Along with sport, colleges offer extra-curricular
activities to offer students a wide range of
experiences. Music, drama, science and literary
societies are offered in all colleges, and there
are opportunities for outdoor education and
other leisure activities. Visits to theatres and
concerts, to places relevant to the courses of
study such as art galleries and museums, religious
centres or historical sites, scientific companies
and projects are all part of college life.
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 Admission process
Requirements
These vary between study programs
and levels. For each course, Indian students will
need to meet a minimum English language
requirement. Along with that a minimum academic
record of 65% and above in Class XII will be
required. Foundations and Diploma programmes
are available for students who have secured below
60%. Students should have completed 18 years
of age before joining a degree programme.
It is important to note that these numbers are
just for reference purpose, the actual numbers
The following documents also need to be submitted:
• Attested copies of mark sheets of Class X,
XII, and Bachelors degree (if applicable)
• At least, two academic reference letters from
professors who have taught you most recently
• If you have work experience then two letters
of recommendation from the employer/
manager who know you well and can
comment on your professional abilities
• Statement of Purpose
• Resume
• Photocopied score reports of GMAT / IELTS / TOEFL
• Portfolio (in case of students applying for art and
design courses and architecture programmes)
•
and national level and extracurricular activities)
• Proof of funds
Timeline
Most of the colleges in New Zealand accept
online applications. You will have to visit each
college’s website to apply. In most cases, you will
have to make an account on the college website
to provide your basic information, submit the
scanned version of your documents, and pay
application fee. You will be informed about the
application process and stages through this
account. Please refer to the website of the colleges
of your choice to know the process of applying.
Application fee: All colleges require that you
pay an application fee while applying. The fee
and course being applied to, so check with
individual colleges about their application fee.
Steps: The common steps to applying
for admission are given here:
• Search for colleges and courses
• Contact schools and visit websites for information
• Narrow down your list of schools
• Take the entrance exams like
GMAT, GRE, TOEFL, IELTS, PTE.
• Write SOPs and ask for LORs
•
• Appear for video interviews for the
colleges that shortlisted you
• If accepted, apply for student visa
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Admission process
SOP: A Statement of Purpose (SOP) is your
introduction to the college and admission officers.
It is always written in first person and describes
the reason for applying to a particular college. It
needs to highlight why you are a perfect fit for
the college and why the college should accept
you. The style of writing could differ from formal
to casual, but it is important to remember that
it should reflect your personality as well.
Essay: Essays are also required to be submitted
by a prospective student. Essays are an important
part of the university admissions process.
Students may be required to write one or two
essays, along with a few optional essays too.
Common topics include career aspirations,
strengths and weaknesses, skills, experiences, and
reasons for considering a particular school.
LOR: A letter of recommendation (LOR) is a
reference letter written by a third party describing
the qualities, characteristics, and capabilities of
the prospective student to recommend him to
the college in terms of that individual’s ability to
perform a particular task or function. The third
party could be a professor, direct manager etc.
Intake seasons
New Zealand generally has two intakes i.e. January
and July, with few universities offering multiple
intakes in September and November. You should
start your admission process around six months
before the application deadline. Typically, most
universities have three deadlines during one intake.
It is up to the convenience of the students which
deadline to aim for. You should be done with your
language and aptitude tests by three months before
the deadline. The last three months should be
dedicated to filling out the application form properly.
It is essential to ensure that the ‘complete
application process’ along with appearing for
interviews and visa application process should be
complete by Oct-Nov for the February intake.
If you are looking to get admission into vocational
courses, then some courses may have admissions
open even in March, April, May or July.
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 Exams
Language exams
International
English Language
Testing System (IELTS), Test of
English as a Foreign Language
(TOEFL) and Pearson Test of
English (PTE) are all standardised
language tests, which are
required to be taken for the
purpose of getting admission to
formats, structure and result
in various ways but many
colleges ask for any one of the
results. So it’s up to the student to
decide which exam to appear for.
Repetition of exams: IELTS can
be taken unlimited number of
times. TOEFL can be retaken
as many times as wished, but
cannot be taken more than once
in a 12-day period. It’s the same
with PTE; it can be taken as many
times as one wishes to. You must
wait to receive your scores before
you can book your next test.
Fee: The exam fee is Rs 12,650
for IELTS, Rs 12,410 for TOEFL
and Rs 10,950 for PTE.
Time to apply: Ideally, if you
are aiming at the January intake
you should appear for these
exams by June, so that you can
The universities you will be
applying to will mention which
exam results they will accept.
But if they give a choice to go
for either of these, then the
choice depends on you. The time
required to prepare for IELTS/
TOEFL/PTE would depend on
the existing English language
to four months of preparation
before the exam date.
General exams
GMAT: Graduate Management
Admission Test (GMAT) is used
to measure the abilities of the
potential MBA aspirants to
undertake higher education
management. It measures
mathematical, English, and
reasoning skills of the candidates.
GRE: Graduate Record
Examination (GRE) is another
test required to be taken by
students applying to graduate
schools to pursue MA or MS.
Increasingly, many business
schools are also accepting
GRE scores for the purpose to
granting admission for MBA.
Repetition and Fee: You can
give GMAT unlimited times,
a gap of 30 days between two
tests. The cost of GMAT is Rs
18,250 and GRE is Rs 14,235.
Average Scores: The average
GMAT scores accepted across
universities is 520. Average GRE
score is 145 for Verbal, 160 for
Quantitative and 4.0 for Writing.
It is important to note that these
numbers are just for reference
purpose, the actual numbers may
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 Cost of living Particulars Cost (NZ$)
The cost of living depends heavily Pizza 16
on what part of New Zealand will Milk (one litre) 3.5-4.5
you be living in, along with the how much you will Coca Cola can 3.75
socialise. Some of the basic elements for living as an 3.50–5
international student in New Zealand are: Lunch from campus café 7–12
• Meal at a restaurant 15–40
• Groceries and food Cell phone plan (per month) 19-80
• Utilities like power, water, gas, internet One way bus fare (depends 2–10
• Phone bills on the distance)
• Text and reference books
Monthly bus pass 60-300
• Airfare for traveling back to India
Movie ticket 10-20
Other Doctor’s consultation fee 45–85
person would be:
• Dinning out Health insurance
• Travel and vacation You are required to hold appropriate and current
• Car rent and car insurance medical and travel insurance as a condition of your
• Cable TV connection visa regardless of the length of your stay in New
Zealand.
School expenses
The New Zealand government’s “Code of Practice for
universities, courses and the city. The tuition expenses the Pastoral Care of International Students” requires
in New Zealand might be up to 10.78 Lacs per all international students to have health and travel
annum for an under-graduate course. insurance during their period of study. It is the
And if you are thinking of applying for a post-graduate university’s responsibility under the Code to ensure
course, the cost would be approximately 11.42 Lacs all enrolled international students have proper health
per year. and travel insurance policy for the duration of their
student visa. Most of the times universities provide the
Living expenses health insurance to students and the cost is included
With your application for a student visa, you must
popular insurance provider in New Zealand.
to support yourself throughout your stay in New
Zealand. If your programme of study is longer than
36 weeks, you require NZ$ 15,000 for each year (40
weeks) of study. For a single student this would
translate to approximately NZ$ 300-350 per week for
general living expenses.

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Cost of living
Scholarships
Merit-based and need-based fee waivers are awarded
to international students. Candidates with strong
academics, good performance on standardised
exams and extracurricular achievements would
has to make sure to send all the required documents
by particular deadlines. In addition to this, the
presentation of the application is also important
because one is judged by the image one projects.
Documents required: Here is a list of the
documents usually needed for a scholarship
• Academic records and photocopies
• A recent CV
• A letter of intent, which acts as a cover page
•
(TOEFL or IELTS scores)
• Letters of Reference (LOR)
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 Loans
Student eligibility
criteria:
thing is to be aware of whether
you are eligible to apply for the
loan or not. The general eligibility
criteria that are followed by all the
banks are:
• You should be an Indian
national
• You must have a strong
academic record
• You must be seeking
admission to a professional,
technical or other course of
studies. Most banks maintain
that the selected course
should be job oriented
• You must have secured
admission to a foreign
university institution
• You must be above the age of
18 years or else your parents
can avail the loan
Eligibility of course: You may
not get a loan on every course.
Here are the kinds of courses that
qualify for the education loan.
• For Graduation: Job oriented
professional or technical
universities
• For Post Graduation: MCA,
MBA, MS or even diplomas
• These courses could be
from foreign universities or
institutes approved by the
state and central government
Loan amount: If your total fee is
give a loan of 80% of the amount
and you will have to put in the
balance 20%. This is called the
margin amount. The maximum
studies abroad is generally
around Rs 20 lakh. If your tuition
fee amount is Rs 30 lakh, you’ll
have to manage the rest of the
funds by yourself. Some banks
charge a processing fee, while
amount or a percentage of the
total loan amount. So if the bank
charges you 1% as processing
fee, that will be an additional cost
you’ll have to cover.
Documentation required:
You will have to provide the
acceptance letter sent by the
been selected for the course and
the schedule of fees. You will also
need to show the mark sheet of
the last qualifying examination to
show your academic record.
requirements for documentation,
Repayment: Repayment starts
only after the course period. If the
student gets employed within
one year after completion of the
course, the repayment should
start immediately after the expiry
of one month from the date of
employment.
If you do not secure a job
within a year of completing the
course, then repayment starts
irrespective of whether or not
you are employed. The loan is
generally to be repaid in 5-7
years after commencement of
repayment. If the student is not
able to complete the course
within the scheduled time,
extension of time for completion
of course, he may be permitted
for a maximum period of two
years. Generally, you will get up to
a maximum number of 10 years
to repay the loan.
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 Visa
Conditions
If you want to attend a university
or college in New Zealand you will need a student
visa. Following documents will be required for the
application purposes:
• Valid passport – Your passport must be valid for
at least three months beyond your period of stay
in New Zealand
• Completed Student Visa Application Form (INZ
1012)
• Application fee payment receipt, as you are
required to pay Rs 11,760 before your interview
• to work in a temporary job while you look for a job in
place from a New Zealand institute/university.
The forms are usually issued after the tuition fees
have been received
•
status as a study abroad student
• Health insurance receipt
• You may be required to show Health and
intention of staying in New Zealand is genuine
• Two passport sized photographs
Note: Additional documentation may be required.
During the personal interview, additional documents
may be requested by the interviewer. These may
be documents to prove evidence of academic or
• are enrolled in a full-time programme of study of at
from schools you attended
• Scores from tests that your college required, such
as TOEFL, GRE, or GMAT
• How you will pay all educational, living and
travel costs
Process
The average time taken by the New Zealand High
Commission for the visa procedure is anywhere
between 8 to 12 weeks depending on the individual’s
background. So the students need to apply for their
visas at least three months prior to their course
commencement.
As an international student, you must complete your
course within the minimum course duration listed on
your acceptance letter. If you do not yet have a job
granted are valid for up to 12 months and allow you
Work permit
You can work part-time for up to 20 hours per week if
your programme of study meets one of these criteria:
• It is at least two years in duration
•
Skilled Migrant visa.
• It is a tertiary institution, and the main purpose is
to develop English language skills – you must also
have an International English Language Testing
System (IELTS) overall band score of 5.0 or above in
the general or academic modules.
You may work full-time during all vacations if you
least one academic year’s duration. If your full-time
programme of study has a duration of at least eight
months, and is a minimum of two semesters, but is
less than 120 credits, you can work full-time over the
Christmas and New Year holiday period.
Visa for spouse
In most cases, the spouse and dependent children
of a student will be granted a visitor visa for the same
duration as their partner or parents’ stay. Spouses
of student on Work Visa can work full time in NZ.
However, the dependents of students on visitor visa
have no work rights.
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 Things to check after Get your documents in order and make photocopies
submitting application to store in your baggage and keep at home, including:
1. Passport
Pre-departure list 2. Airline tickets
• Book airline tickets 3.
• Arrange accommodation in New Zealand 4. Letter of Acceptance (LOR) by the educational
• Arrange transportation to/from the airport to institution
home in New Zealand 5. Important addresses and phone numbers
• Arrange your banking requirements – consider 6. A bank statement showing proof of funds
buying traveler’s cheques 7. Prescriptions for any medication you are
• Check baggage and customs limitations carrying
• Clear all paperwork with your home educational 8. Traveler’s cheques—if applicable
institution 9. Medical and immunisation records
10. Academic history and university transcripts

Once you
land
Homesickness:
Homesickness is a predictable
problem faced by most students
at one point or another. It
may occur at the beginning
or even later during the year.
Homesickness will pass. Be
patient. Give it at least two weeks.
If you are feeling sad, explain
what is happening to your
friends. Do not hide in your room;
if you do, the homesickness will
only worsen. Find your counselor
about homesickness or other
problems. Homesickness might
be made worse by frequent,
long telephone calls home. Most
homesick students feel more
homesick after a call home than
they did before they picked up
the phone. Try to limit yourself to
one call home every week. The
sooner you integrate into the
university experience, the sooner
your homesickness will pass.
Shopping in New Zealand: Large
shopping malls like The Base,
in New Zealand are one-stop
shops for all of your daily needs.
Be vigilant to ensure that all of
your shopping is properly billed
and that you retain the bills with
you.
Learning basic cooking:
Cooking for yourself will save you
money. Indian food is expensive
in New Zealand. It will also satisfy
your urge to eat ‘your food’ during
moments of homesickness.
Indian spices are not commonly
available in smaller cities, but
where you can get ingredients
used in most Indian food.
Travel: Each large city has and
public transportation, such as
buses, taxis or trains. You might
wish to rely on a private car for
transportation. Even with the
rising cost of petrol, private
cars are the most economical
and convenient mode of
transportation because you get a
your car. You can travel wherever
and whenever you want, and
don’t have to depend on the
schedule of public transport.
However, before you buy your
own car, you will have to use
public transportation or ask
friends for rides.
Stay on Student Visa: When
you enter New Zealand, you
may remain there as long as
you are enrolled in the school
to complete your academic
programme. After the
programme ends you may apply
for the temporary Post-study
work visa (open) for a maximum
of 12 months. If you are a student
may be eligible for a Post-study
work visa (employer assisted) for a
maximum period of two years.

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 Post Study options Work Visa
Placements: Indian students are
used to the concept of campus
placements and on-campus recruitment for getting work visa for a maximum period of two years. You will
jobs. There is no concept of placements in New need to provide evidence of the relevance of your job
Zealand, like most other foreign countries. Most
New Zealand universities have a cell called a Career
Services Center, which helps you get jobs and
helps you prepare for interviews. The on-campus
recruitment is always driven by student interest.
Companies that recruit through the university do not

Companies like to see your work for few months

before they hire you full time.

To explore more study options in New Zealand, click the following links.
MBA in New Zealand BE/BTech in New Zealand MS in New Zealand

Did you find this guide useful? We would love to hear from you. Write to us at studyabroad@shiksha.com

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