New business qualification registered

People will soon be able to study for a new business qualification. The National Certificate in Business (level 3) has recently been registered by NZQA.

Qualifications Development Facilitator Michel Norrish says the certificate was designed fill a gap for business qualifications at level 3. It is likely to be suitable for senior secondary school students, students taking introductory tertiary courses and for workplace training.

The certificate requires 46 credits in all, including 15 compulsory credits from Business Studies and Communication Skills. At least 22 further credits can be chosen from a variety of business and related areas (including Business Studies), with up to nine credits, if desired, from any level 3 standard, or above, on the National Qualifications Framework.

"It has been made as flexible as possible so that people can select standards that support their work role or personal interests. School students will be able to include credits from traditional school subjects, such as accounting, economics and computing."

The credits from the non-compulsory sections have to be at level 3 or higher, and can be from unit and/or achievement standards. Credits can also count towards NCEA .

Mr Norrish says NZQA consulted widely during the development of the certificate, and it is likely to be extremely popular. Many schools or tertiary institutions may already be accredited for the subfields and domains of the certificate.