Czech Republic: Qualifications Exempt from Assessment

At a glance

This page sets out the qualifications from the Czech Republic that are exempt from a full International Qualification Assessment (IQA) by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) when an applicant claims points under the Skilled Migrant Category (SMC). If a listed qualification meets all conditions, INZ will award the points indicated below without requiring a separate NZQA report. [C-czech-republic]

Definition

A Czech qualification is exempt from assessment and qualifies for the points shown if:

• the qualification is listed in the Academic Qualifications Table below;
• the awarding institution is listed in the Awarding Institutions Table;
• the qualification abbreviation appears in the right‑hand column for that institution;
• the qualification was awarded from the year shown for that abbreviation;
• the qualification is not excluded by any of the notes under the tables. [C-czech-republic]

Academic Qualifications Table

Qualification (abbreviation)	NZQF level	SMC points
Bacccalarii (Bac)	7	50
Diplom – akademicky titul bakalář / Bakalářka (Bc)	7	50
Diplom – akademicky titul bakalář umění (BcA)	7	50
Diplom – akademicky titul inženýr or inženýrka (Inz)*	9	70
Diplom – akademicky titul magistr / magistra (M)	9	70
Diplom – akademicky titul magistr umění (MgA)	9	70
Magistri (Mag)	9	70
doktor teologie (ThDr), doktor medicíny (MUDr), doktor zubního lékařství / zubní lékař (MDDr), doktor veterinární medicíny (MVDr), doktor práv (JUDr), doktor filozofie / Philosophiae Doctoris (PhDr), doktor přírodních věd (RNDr), doktor farmacie (PharmDr)	Requires assessment	N/A
Doctoris (Ph.D/PhD) (Doc)	10	70
Doktor / doctor (PhD / Ph.D) – including ThD / Th.D (D)	10	70

• Award may also state ‘magisterském studijnim programu.’

If an applicant believes their qualification may be higher than the level stated they should apply to NZQA for an International Qualifications Assessment.

Note:

• Award certificates must be provided in their original language; translations must not be used to determine qualification names.
• All honorary degrees, any qualification where study was completed at an institution outside the Czech Republic (including overseas campuses), any qualification containing cross‑credited courses or papers, all initial teacher training degrees, and all qualifications awarded after 2018 must be referred to NZQA for an IQA. [C-czech-republic]

Awarding Institutions

Institution (previous names/dates in brackets)	Qualification awarded from
Akademie Múzických Umění v Praze	BcA: 2005, D: 2001
Akademie Výtvarných Umění v Praze	MgA: 2007, D: 2007
České Vysoké Učení Technické v Praze	Bc: 2005, Inz: 2007, D: 2001
Česká Zemědělská Univerzita v Praze	Bc: 2007, Inz: 2007, D: 2001
Janáčkova Akademie Múzických Umění v Brně	BcA: 2005, D: 2001
Jihočeská Univerzita v Českých Budějovicích	Bc: 2005, Inz and M: 2007, D: 2001
Masarykova Univerzita	Bc: 2005, M: 2007, D: 2001
Mendelova Univerzita v Brně (Mendelova Zemědělská a Lesnická Univerzita v Brně 2001‑2010)	Bc: 2005, Inz: 2007, D: 2001
Ostravská Univerzita v Ostravě	Bc and BcA: 2005, M and MgA: 2007, D: 2001
Slezská Univerzita v Opavě	Bc and BcA: 2005, Inz, M and MgA: 2007, D: 2001
Technická Univerzita v Liberci	Bc and BcA: 2005, Inz, M and MgA: 2007, D: 2001
Univerzita Hradec Králové	Bc and D: 2005, Inz and M: 2007
Univerzita Jana Evangelisty Purkyně v Usti nad Labem	Bc, BcA, Inz, M, MgA and D: 2016
Univerzita Karlova v Praze / Universitatis Carolina Pragensis	Bac: 2005, Mag: 2007, Doc: 2001
Univerzita Obrany v Brně	Bc, Inz, M and D: 2015
Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci	Bc: 2005, M: 2007, D: 2001
Univerzita Pardubice	Bc: 2005, BcA: 2008, Inz, M and MgA: 2007, D: 2001
Univerzita Tomáše Bati ve Zlíně	Bc, BcA, Inz, M, MgA and D: 2016
Veterinární a Farmaceutická Univerzita Brno	Bc: 2005, D: 2001
Vysoká Škola Báňská – Technická Univerzita Ostrava	Bc: 2005, Inz: 2007, D: 2001
Vysoká Škola Chemicko‑Technologická v Praze	Bc: 2005, M and Inz: 2007, D: 2001
Vysoká Škola Ekonomická v Praze	Bc: 2005, Inz: 2007, D: 2001
Vysoká Škola Uměleckoprůmyslová v Praze	BcA: 2005, MgA: 2007, D: 2005
Vysoké Učení Technické v Brně	Bc and BcA: 2005, Inz and MgA: 2007, D: 2001
Západočeská Univerzita v Plzni	Bc: 2005, BcA, Inz, M and MgA: 2007, D: 2001

Application in decisions

When assessing an SMC application, an immigration officer must check whether the applicant’s Czech qualification meets all four conditions (qualification, institution, abbreviation, year). If it does, and no exclusion applies, the officer awards the points listed in the Academic Qualifications Table without requesting an IQA from NZQA. If any condition is not met, or the qualification falls into an excluded category (e.g. awarded after 2018, honorary degree), the applicant must obtain a full IQA from NZQA before points can be considered. [C-czech-republic]

Interpretation & edge cases

• Language of certificates: INZ requires original‑language award certificates; translations alone cannot be used to identify the qualification name. [C-czech-republic]
• Doktor titles: The professional doktor titles (ThDr, MUDr, MDDr, MVDr, JUDr, PhDr, RNDr, PharmDr) are not automatically exempt – each requires a full NZQA assessment. Also, earlier doktor awards (Státní rigorózní zkouška) may appear on certificates and must be treated with care. [C-czech-republic]
• Post‑2018 qualifications: Any qualification awarded after 2018 must be referred to NZQA for assessment, even if it otherwise matches a listed entry. [C-czech-republic]
• Cross‑credited study and overseas campuses: If the qualification includes credits from another institution or was studied at an overseas campus, the exemption does not apply; an IQA is required. [C-czech-republic]
• Honorary degrees and initial teacher training: Both categories are excluded from exemption regardless of appearance in the tables. [C-czech-republic]
• Higher‑level claims: If an applicant believes their qualification should be recognised at a higher NZQF level than shown, they must seek an individual IQA from NZQA. [C-czech-republic]

Citations

• C-czech-republic — Czech Republic