Language competency requirements
High quality teaching requires competency in the languages of New Zealand’s national curricula – English or te reo Māori. Find out how to provide evidence of your competency.
On this page
List of evidence to demonstrate English language competency
List of evidence to demonstrate te reo Māori competency
Exceptional cases for English language
Teaching requires a high standard of English or te reo Māori language competency in speaking, writing, reading and listening. All applicants studying to be a teacher or applying for registration and certification must meet the language competency requirements.
The Council focuses on evidence-based proof and there are several opportunities to demonstrate competency. Read more details in our Language competency for teaching in Aotearoa New Zealand policy.
Information about the Council’s English language competency requirements has been translated into nine Pacific languages by the Ministry of Education and can be found on their “Teach in Aotearoa” website.
Please attach a certified copy of evidence of your language competency with your application. This should be supplied in the form of official results statements, testimonials or reference letters.
List of evidence to demonstrate English language competency
Please provide evidence of one of the following to meet the English language competency requirements:
- New Zealand University Entrance literacy credits at either NCEA level 2 or 3
- New Zealand University Entrance via NCEA as defined by NZQA
- NZ tertiary entrance (this preceded University Entrance)
- International Baccalaureate full diploma in English medium (24 points minimum)
- Cambridge International Examinations Cambridge International Examinations minimum 120 points on the UCAS Tariff plus meeting the CIE literacy requirements.
- All primary schooling and at least three years secondary schooling completed in the English language and while living in New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, or South Africa. (For South Africa, applicants also need to provide a South African Matriculation Certificate Minimum Higher Grade D pass or Standard Level 5 in English or a South African Senior Certificate Minimum Higher Grade D pass or Standard Level 5 pass in English).
- Six years of secondary and tertiary education comprising secondary schooling to at least year 12 and at least two years of successful full-time tertiary education, taught in English as the primary language of instruction and through face-to-face learning and assessment such as tutorials, presentations, seminars, and supervisory meetings, and was gained while living in New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, or South Africa. (For South Africa, applicants also need to provide a South African Matriculation Certificate Minimum Higher Grade D pass or Standard Level 5 in English or a South African Senior Certificate Minimum Higher Grade D pass or Standard Level 5 pass in English).
- New Zealand Qualifications Framework (NZQF) qualification at or above level 7 Awarded a single qualification at NZQF level 7 or above which took two or more years of full-time study to complete and was taught in English as the primary language of instruction and through face-to-face learning and assessment such as tutorials, presentations, seminars, and supervisory meetings, and was gained while living in New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, or South Africa. For South Africa, applicants also need to provide a South African Matriculation Certificate Minimum Higher Grade D pass or Standard Level 5 in English or a South African Senior Certificate Minimum Higher Grade D pass or Standard Level 5 pass in English.
- Cambridge CELTA
- Trinity College CertTESOL
Or achieve an approved test outcome in one of the following test options within the past two years:
Test |
Listening |
Reading |
Writing |
Speaking |
Overall Mark (in one test) |
Cambridge English exams C2 Proficiency (CPE) or C1 Advanced (CAE) or Cambridge English exams B2 First (FCE) |
minimum of 185 |
minimum of 185 |
minimum of 185 |
minimum of 185 |
minimum of 185 |
International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Academic The Teaching Council will also accept any results from an IELTS One Skill Retake test. |
7.0 |
7.0 |
7.0 |
7.0 |
7.0 |
International Second Language Proficiency Ratings (ISLPR) |
4 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
Pearson Test of English (PTE) Academic |
65 |
65 |
65 |
65 |
65 |
Trinity ISE III (3) |
Pass with Merit |
Pass with Merit |
Pass with Merit |
Pass with Merit |
Pass with Merit |
LanguageCert C2 Mastery IESOL Update: LanguageCert has changed the way it reports test results, changing from the language of ‘pass/fail’ to a numerical score. This change does not change the score required to meet our requirements, it is simply a change in language. |
No less than 25/50 |
No less than 25/50 |
No less than 25/50 |
No less than 25/50 |
No less than 25/50 |
LanguageCert C1 Expert IESOL Update: LanguageCert has changed the way it reports test results, changing from the language of ‘pass/fail’ to a numerical score. This change does not change the score required to meet our requirements, it is simply a change in language. |
No less than 35/50 |
No less than 35/50 |
No less than 35/50 |
No less than 35/50 |
No less than 35/50 |
TOEFL Internet-based test (IBT) |
24 |
24 |
27 |
23 |
98 |
Online examinations
We know that the world has changed, and that Covid-19 has made traditional face-to-face assessment difficult. If your language competency is based on an online examination rather than a qualification, this can only be recognised if your provider has supplied evidence to the Council that provides assurance around the examination’s validity and security. At the time of writing, that includes the TOEFL Internet-based test, the ISLPR online test and IELTS Academic (IELTS on computer test).
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List of evidence to demonstrate te reo Māori competency
One of the following types of evidence must be provided to demonstrate te reo Māori competency:
- Achieved Whakamātauria Tō Reo Māori Level 3 (National Māori Language Proficiency Examinations)
- All primary schooling and at least three years secondary schooling in te reo Māori
- Five years of secondary schooling in te reo Māori
Exceptional cases for English language
If you cannot provide one of the above specific options of evidence of your English competency but have other evidence showing a high standard of competency the Council may consider it on a case-by-case basis. We consider exceptional cases to ensure we accommodate high-quality teachers with the right level of competency.
If you have not completed any schooling and studies in any of the countries listed in the policy (New Zealand, Australia, United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, Canada, USA or South Africa) and you have not completed an approved test/course then it is likely that you will not meet the requirements for an exemption.
The Council has expanded the range of evidence that can be considered for discretionary language competency exemption requests to include evidence from Realm and other Pacific countries, which is currently in review. Read more about this here.
Exemption requests for Initial Teacher Education must be made by the provider.