Australia qualifications exempt from assessment

At a glance

Applicants holding an Australian qualification from a listed institution may be exempt from NZQA assessment and can claim points under the Skilled Migrant Category (SMC) if all five conditions are met [A-australia].

• What: Exemption from an International Qualification Assessment and automatic point allocation as shown in the Academic Qualifications Table.
• Who: Holders of an Australian qualification that appears in both the Academic Qualifications Table and the Awarding Institutions Table, awarded within the specified dates, and using the listed abbreviation.
• How: Provide award certificates in the original language. Some qualifications must still be referred to NZQA (see Interpretation & edge cases).

Definition

The Australia exemption is a closed list of qualifications and awarding institutions [A-australia]. A qualification is exempt from assessment and qualifies for the indicated points only if all of the following are satisfied:

1. the qualification is listed in the Academic Qualifications Table;
2. the awarding institution is listed in the Awarding Institutions Table;
3. the qualification abbreviation is listed in the right‑hand column of the Awarding Institutions Table;
4. the qualification was awarded from or within the year range stated in the Awarding Institutions Table;
5. the qualification is not excluded by any notes under the Academic Qualifications Table.

The Academic Qualifications Table sets out the qualification name, abbreviation, NZQF level (7–10), and points under the SMC (50 or 70). The Awarding Institutions Table shows, for each institution, which qualifications it can award and the eligible year ranges.

Common bachelor‑level exemptions include Bachelor of Arts (BA), Bachelor of Commerce (BC), Bachelor of Laws (LLB), Bachelor of Science (BS), and Bachelor of Engineering (BE). Honours degrees are treated as Level 8 (50 points), master’s degrees as Level 9 (70 points), and PhDs as Level 10 (70 points) [A-australia].

Application in decisions

An immigration officer will accept a qualification listed in the tables as meeting the stated NZQF level and award the corresponding SMC points, provided the applicant supplies an original‑language award certificate and the qualification meets all conditions [A-australia].

If any condition is not satisfied — for example, the institution’s date range excludes the year of award, or the abbreviation does not match — the exemption does not apply. The applicant must then obtain an International Qualification Assessment from NZQA.

Where an applicant believes their qualification sits at a higher level than the table indicates, they should apply to NZQA for an assessment rather than relying on the exemption [A-australia].

Interpretation & edge cases

• Honours: Degrees marked with a double asterisk may be awarded with a class of honours; this does not affect the exemption [A-australia].
• Level disputes: If an applicant claims a higher NZQF level than the table shows, the exemption is no longer available — an NZQA assessment is required [A-australia].
• Original documents: Award certificates must be provided in the original language. Translations alone are not sufficient [A-australia].
• Mandatory NZQA referral: The following must be referred to NZQA for an International Qualification Assessment, even if the qualification appears in the tables:
  • all honorary degrees;
  • all listed qualifications where study was completed at any institution outside Australia, including overseas campuses of listed awarding institutions;
  • all listed qualifications that contain cross‑credited courses or papers;
  • all qualifications awarded after 2017 [A-australia].

Citations

• A-australia — Australia